Fool's Gold

"Alright. We're here you big baby." I told Harry as we arrived at the destination I had picked. He had been complaining for the last twenty minutes of the drive. I was slightly annoyed with him because of it.
"Thank God! I have to wee." Harry groaned with relief. My step-mom cracked up laughing.
"Yes. I know you do, Bear." I huffed, letting him know how agitated with him I had become. I pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car. My step-mom started to laugh even harder when Harry nearly kicked open his door. "HARRY!" I snapped. "Be careful would you?" I climbed out of the car to see Harry gazing at me with soft eyes. "What?" I asked still annoyed with him.
"A vineyard?" Harry asked with an almost sad face.
"No. It's just a selling point. I didn't think that you and Sorcha wanted to sit in a car for six hours to actually go to wine country. I know the owner kind of and they have a small resturaunt here as well. Sorcha's never been here before and you like these kinds of things. I just thought it would be nice." I explained shyly. Harry grinned then wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I smiled a little when he buried his face in my neck. I wound my arms around his waist and rested my lips against his clothed shoulder. Harry squeezed me a bit tighter. I tried to do the same to him.
"Oh God, Noli, don't squeeze me! I'm gonna wee myself." Harry exclaimed trying to back out of the embrace. I laughed and released him completely. Harry took my hand in his then motioned for my step-mom to follow us.
As we entered the building, Harry's jaw dropped. He looked around in awe. I couldn't help but smile a bit. I looked back at Sorcha. She was smiling at Harry's expression.
Harry looked at me with wide eyes, "Noli, this is amazing. How did you...? What?" He was so shocked. I blushed and dropped my eyes to the floor. "Baby, it's so beautiful." Harry looked around the room still in awe.
"Harry, why are you so worked up?" Sorcha asked him, genuinely not knowing.
"She painted this." Harry pointed to the mural on the wall.
"How can you tell?" Sorcha asked lifting her eyebrow at Harry. Harry smiled and let go of my hand. He walked over to the wall and pointed to a flower.
"This swirl here." He stated. Sorcha nodded. "She flicks her wrist quickly to left." He mocked the movement he'd seen many times. He moved down the wall a bit more and pointed to the building in the painting. "And these long brush strokes." Sorcha nodded again. "She uses her left hand instead of her right for more texture because her left hand isn't as steady as the right." Harry pointed to the sky. "And this color blue. You won't ever see it anywhere but in her work. She makes it herself." Before Harry could say anything else the owner of the resturaunt and winery came out into the main hall. A tiny, frail man in his late sixties but he had the mental vitality of a man Harry's age.
"ENOLA!" He shouted with a smile. I grinned as he hugged me tightly around the shoulders. I glanced back at Harry to see the uneasy look on his face. I giggled and released the older man. "How are you my dear? We were wondering when you would be coming back to see the finished product. My son has been very eager to see you again." I heard Harry snort at the statement. "And by that noise, I assume that this is your husband?" Harry and Sorcha looked at me intensely. Harry motioned to the fact that I'd not taken my rings of like I usually did with him around.
I smiled at the owner, "Yes. That's Harry. He really wanted to see the place. I talk about it so much." MY step mother appeared shocked. Harry wore a confused and almost concerned expression.
"Ah Mr Harry! So lovely to meet you! Enola told me all about you while she painted this! Said that you two stayed in a villa quite similar in Italy over the summer, yeah?"
Harry's worried expression turned to a smile, "Yes. We did. A whole week surrounded by something almost as beautiful as this, Mr..." Harry blushed and worked his charm, "I'm sorry, I forgot your name. Enola talks so fast when she talks art that I miss things sometimes." I was stunned by his ability to play along but he was a trained for situations like this, being a superstar and all.
"Oh, I'm so rude myself. I should've introduced myself. I'm Gavin Swynford." Gavin then looked over at my step-mom. "And who is this lovely young lady."
My step-mom blushed a bit then held her hand out, "Sorcha. I'm Enola's step-mother."
"Ah. Shame your taken." Gavin began flirting with her.
I hit his shoulder gently, "Gavin. Stop that." He and I both laughed. He gave me another hug then grabbed Harry's hand.
"You think this is amazing. You should see the photos she took for the rest of the place." Gavin tugged Harry's arm then took Sorcha's hand. "Come on. I'll show you."

Gavin finally released Harry and my step-mother's hands as we reached the dining room. He had shown them every room in the building to let them see all of what I had done for him. Harry was amused by Gavin, thought he was a cute old man. Sorcha was taken with Gavin as well but she also looked upset. I made a note to myself to ask her why as soon as I could.
"Alright. You three pick any table you like and I will go get Enola's favorite California wine." Gavin instructed us. Harry agreed then thanked him. Gavin rushed off as fast as his sixty eight year old legs could carry him. Harry motioned to a table near a window. Sorcha and I quickly scooted to the table. It had a great view of the grounds.
"Noli, this is crazy. I can't believe you did all of this." Harry beamed as he took his seat beside me at the table. I looked across the table to see Sorcha seemed almost disappointed.
"What's wrong, Sorcha?" I asked with a gentle voice. Harry looked over at her and frowned. He reached out for her hand. My heart warmed at the gesture of concern.
"I am feeling many things right now, dear. I'm sorry." Sorcha smiled, tears springing to her eyes.
"Don't be sorry. Just share." I chuckled trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"I don't like how easily the two of you lie. It's too natural." My step-mom began. Harry and I both frowned.
"But we don't lie to each other. We can't do it. It's alway literally the worst ones. Like, sorry I have to go home and help my mum...butter toast. It's awful." Harry laughed trying to make her feel better as well. Sorcha nodded and gathered her thoughts before speaking again.
"Enola, this is amazing. I never knew that you did this much. When your mother calls, she doesn't tell us the scope of what you do. She always plays it off like it's just a hobby. But this...this is amazing and I am so proud of you." Sorcha said holding back more tears.
"It's not that great. I did this for fun. It was a way to get out of the house." I stated brushing off her comment. I didn't know how to handle it. It was the first time someone in my family beside my grandfather had complimented me.
"Oh shut up, Enola Moon. This is incredible and you know it. Don't even try to act like you aren't amazing." Harry scolded me. I looked up at him feeling completely embarrassed.
"And you." Sorcha looked at him with astonishment. Harry gulped a little. "You are so good for her. I've never heard her talk so much, seen her smile so much. I can see your influence in her work, you know. As compared to the things she was doing before she met you. When she came to Ireland, she showed her father and I her work. It was nothing like these paintings or photographs. There's light, there's color. It's all different now. It's all her but just...It's more like her than it was before. Thank you." Harry and I looked at each other curiously. "As much as I hate the circumstances and the lying that goes with it, and though I don't know if you wanted it or not, you have my blessing to do whatever makes the two of you happy." Sorcha stated. I wanted to jump out of my seat and hug her, kiss her. But I didn't I stayed calm and stood from my chair. I rounded the table then knelt beside her chair. Sorcha wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly. She kissed my hair. "I want what's best for you, just like your mum and dad. He's what's best for you. Really." Sorcha murmured to me. I kissed her cheek after a moment. "Get back in your seat. MR Swynford is coming back soon." Sorcha instructed me after placeing a kiss on my face. I did as told.
I gazed over at Harry with a smile. He leaned over and kissed my forehead gently. I melted into him. I'd not been that close to him for most of the day. I missed his constant touch. As foolish and adolecent as it was it was the furthest apart we'd been in nearly five days and I hated it. We spent all of our time intertwined or basically sitting on top of each other.
"I am so proud of you too, baby. This is amazing." Harry murmured to me. I thanked him quietly. "But you should've asked to be paid for it instead of doing it for fun."
I giggled, "I did get paid. But I didn't do it for the money. I did it to test myself. Gavin wouldn't hear of me doing it for free." Harry shook his head at the mention of the kind old man. "And let's just say that he's so generous because the studio we've been living in, is not the one I was working out of when we met."
"Seriously? You moved out of the studio Charles bought for you?" He seemed stunned. I nodded, biting on my bottom lip. Harry kissed me hard on the lips. He took my breath away even though my step-mother was sitting across from us. It's like he finally realized that things were starting to go our way.

Notes