Read Letters to Zell for Free Online Page B

And at the end of the day Jason loves you doubly with his hands, his body, in order to see you with his mind, remembering his former blindness.
    If any of that is incorrect, please feel free to elaborate.
    Rory and Bianca, of course, came to the birthday dinner Edmund threw for me, but they gave me their gifts during a quiet moment in the garden. Rory gifted me the most beautiful apron that she commissioned from Rumple’s.
    “For your next culinary adventure,” she said.
    I tried hard not to cry, but it seemed so hopeless. The most beautiful apron, green with polka dots and a giant thick bow and ruffles—almost like a dress in itself—and no possibility of ever using it. “It’s so pretty” was all I could choke out. Rory’s face fell from expectation to puzzlement to that horrible, guilt-inducing concern. You know the look.
    Before I could start genuine waterworks, Bianca stepped between us and shoved a big envelope into my hand. It was a welcome packet for a yearlong cooking course Outside at Le Cordon Bleu in West Hollywood—not far from where we took the soufflé class. A letter inside said that my schooling had met the admissions requirements, my tuition for the year had been paid, and there was one last test to take before my enrollment was complete. When I’m finished, I’ll have a diploma in the Culinary Arts.
    I can’t believe it. I have no idea how I’ll get the last test completed or how I’ll get to and from the classes or how Bianca even managed the application or anything but, Zell, I’m so excited. I’ll figure it all out. With everyone’s help.
    With Bianca’s help, at least. I’m not sure Rory is on board with the plan. (She didn’t say much, and her eyes got really big before she started gulping air like a beached carp.) We agreed to keep it a secret—well, excluding you—so don’t say anything to anyone until I figure out how to break the news.
    It was good Rory’s apron was so extravagant. Edmund saw me putting it in my dresser after we retired to our chambers.
    “What is that?” he asked, uncorking one last bottle of champagne.
    “Oh, it’s just a gift from Rory.”
    “Is it a dress? It’s very . . . green.”
    “Not quite.” His face registered brief confusion.
    “You could give me a fashion show,” he said, and winked.
    I closed the drawer and turned to him. “Did you have a good time at the party?”
    “Of course,” he said. “Did you? I was worried when you disappeared, but then I noticed Thing One and Thing Two were also missing.”
    “Stop,” I said, laughing. “You can’t call them that.”
    “Forgive me, your highness.” He looked at me intently, waiting for me to meet his eyes. But I was still so overwhelmed.
    I gave him a quick smile. “I’m sorry I worried you. We had some, you know, secret girl stuff to attend to.”
    “Of course. It’s silly. I know you aren’t skulking around or anything. I guess if I’m honest I just, well.  . . Never mind.”
    “What? No. Tell me.”
    He took a long sip of his champagne. “I don’t want to sound controlling. I’m not. We have friends whose relationships aren’t like ours. The fisherman’s wife is always fencing his worms because she wants him to take a day off. The shoemaker is always ordering gifts for Gretel from Jimmy Choo and passing them off as his own. The point is, other couples keep things from each other. And I don’t want that for us.”
    “I don’t want that, either,” I said. I could feel my neck and ears flushing. My gifts were evidence of a crime I hadn’t yet committed, but most certainly meant to.
    “I can make soufflé,” I blurted. “It’s hard to do.”
    “Of course you can,” he said, putting his arm around me. “You could make a thousand impossible soufflés. But now let’s leave the difficult stuff to someone else.”
    Zell, I let him kiss me then. I didn’t try to argue. We’re not speaking the same language right now. Perhaps when I can prove to him, to