Chapter 30 Loving Me #6
When I finished, my wrist ached. I folded the pages and handed them to him. He took them carefully. I stood before he could begin reading.
"April."
I shook my head once, unable to stay and watch understanding happen in real time. Then I turned and walked home through the trees with my pulse loud in my ears.
Nearly an hour later, a knock sounded at my door. I rose from the sofa and went to open it.
"You left before I could give you something."
Bramwell reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stone. It was smooth in places, but not entirely. It caught the light faintly when he turned it in his hand.
''I found this a while ago," he said. "It's malachite.
A green copper mineral that forms under pressure and change.
The colour is the same shade as your eyes.
It's the kind of stone that only exists because things were intense enough to transform it.
I suppose I kept it because it reminded me that even pressure and disturbance don't always destroy what they touch. ''
He placed it gently into my palm. My fingers closed around it without meaning to. Bramwell tilted his head slightly, a faint tired smile forming.
"I read your letter," he said, a little more carefully than usual, "and first of all, thank you for trusting me with it. I'm genuinely humbled and, I suppose, a bit honored too."
He shifted his weight, then let out a small breath like he was trying to stay brave about what came next.
"It only confirmed something I've been trying very hard to ignore," he added.
I looked at him, confused despite myself. He met my eyes properly then, a little softer now.
"I am fully aware I have competition," he said simply. "Ellis, your history with him, your memories, all the things I wasn't there for."
Then his mouth curved faintly, almost shy despite himself.
"But I am here anyway," he said, "and I am officially admitting that I intend to woo you, Miss April, properly, in the way someone like you deserves to be treated."
A beat passed.
"So go to sleep now," he said gently. "You've had an emotionally charged day. I'll see you soon, my quiet guardian of forests, my storm-walked wanderer. Rest properly."
Then he left.
I didn't move. My thoughts drifted without direction while I looked down at the stone resting in my palm, steady and quiet against everything inside me that wasn't.
Chapter 23: Soft Terrain
Over the following days, Bramwell's attention became something steady and reliable. He checked on me regularly without ever becoming intrusive. His messages were practical and straightforward.
Bramwell: Did you sleep? Has the pain lessened? You should try to eat something.
Me : A little. It's manageable. I ate. How about you?
Bramwell : My mom treats feeding people like a legally binding obligation. She’s been cooking extra for you every day, so at this point I think refusing would actually offend the entire household.
She did indeed send me food almost every day without fail.
Me : Thank your mom for me, please.
Bramwell : I will.
Neither of us suggested meeting again during those days. I think we both understood, without needing to say it, that healing came first. Getting stronger mattered more than anything else.
A few days later, I got a different type of message.
Bramwell: I have identified a location that should not exceed your current limitations. The terrain is stable and the distance manageable. I would like to take you there.
Before I could answer, another message followed.
Bramwell: Sending the route in advance since the area is unfamiliar to you. Coordinates attached. Reception is strongest near the clearing where we’ll stop. I’ll also make sure July knows where we’re going and when we’re expected back.
A map appeared beneath the message along with photographs of the trail entrance, nearby landmarks, and the turnoff leading into the site.
Bramwell: Whether this is a date depends entirely on how charming you will find me.
I read that one more carefully than the others before answering.
Me: Okay.
He arrived exactly when he said he would.
When I opened the door, his attention moved over me briefly, taking in how much I had recovered.
He looked better too, healthier somehow.
Still broad enough to fill the doorway, though the beard was shorter now.
His curls, however, remained completely untouched.
"Consistently beautiful. Very impressive, Miss April," he said.
I looked away before he could catch my reaction and stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind me.
We took his truck, and after a while the road opened onto a wide stretch of land edged with cliffs and scattered rock formations.
It was quiet, rugged, beautiful in a way that felt untouched.
We started walking, and he fell easily into step beside me.
He glanced toward the trees ahead of us, his expression softening slightly.
"Most people skip this part because it doesn't impress immediately," he said.
"It takes a little patience before you notice the details.
My father used to bring me here when I was younger and insist the best landscapes were the ones that revealed themselves slowly.
He said flashy places exhausted themselves too quickly. "
His gaze lingered on the path for a moment before he added, quieter, "I've always thought people can be a little like that too."
We kept walking after that, the gravel shifting softly beneath our shoes. After a while he spoke again, his voice calm, almost thoughtful.
"You already know my intention, April. So I suppose I'm allowing you the opportunity to gather data and eventually conclude I'm a fairly reliable option to keep around."
He glanced down at me, then back at the path ahead.
"But I should also disclose, for the sake of scientific accuracy, that I'm tall enough to be statistically inconvenient in small spaces, my eyes are a reasonably stable shade of brown, and my curls are against all known logic still functioning.
I'm still a catch, in my own way, though you're just in a much higher geological category. "
I smiled politely, though I wasn't entirely sure what to do with his certainty.
It felt strange, almost like he was describing someone else entirely or some version of me I couldn't quite recognise.
Especially the way he kept referring to my so-called beauty, as if it were an established fact rather than something. .. I don't know, unproven.
There was a small pause before he reached into his bag. He then took out a folded map.
"I thought this might be useful," he said, offering it to me.
I unfolded it carefully. It was far more detailed than anything standard, not just paths and elevation but a carefully constructed version of the site. Certain areas were highlighted and beside them were small annotations that did not describe the land so much as how it might suit me.
Better light here in the afternoon. I think April would prefer that Less exposed section, easier to remain still here. Quieter stretch, fewer interruptions from movement or sound.
I didn't look at him right away, keeping my focus on the map instead. There was something oddly reassuring about it, almost sweet in a quiet unfamiliar way. He shifted back slightly and left the map entirely in my hands.
We kept walking and he kept talking, his thoughts wandering so naturally from one subject to another that I stopped trying to predict where he would go next.
At some point I found myself giggling despite myself, shaking my head as he continued his strangely serious analysis of completely ordinary things.
"There's a universal moment where you wave back at someone who wasn't waving at you and suddenly your entire ancestry feels embarrassed."
A few minutes later he added, completely unprompted, "There should be a socially acceptable number of times to replay an embarrassing memory before your brain is legally required to let it go."
"I think we all dramatically overestimate how often other people are thinking about us. Most people are too busy wondering if they sounded weird three hours ago."
"I think humanity is fascinating because we are simultaneously incredibly intelligent and deeply ridiculous.
Someone looked at a potato once and somehow turned it into fourteen different foods, yet we also invented alarms and collectively agreed to wake up angry every morning for the rest of our lives. "
I actually snorted at that and covered my mouth quickly, which only seemed to encourage him.
"The human body is unbelievable too. You can survive heartbreak, illness, emotional trauma, but sit slightly wrong once and suddenly your neck stops functioning for three business days."
He stopped when I stopped because I found the place very beautiful. He set his bag down and took out food and drinks. Strangely enough, we ate without much conversation
After a while, when the silence had settled into something comfortable, I reached into my bag and took out a book. I held it out to him without explanation. He looked at it, then at me, a brief flicker of confusion passing through his expression before it softened into something almost amused.
"This is an unusual method of repayment," he said. "I was not aware we had reached the exchange phase of the outing."
I shook my head slightly.
"Read..for me, please." I said.
He paused for a moment longer, as if recalibrating the situation, then a small smile formed, quiet and unforced, the kind that appeared before he fully decided to allow it.
"As you wish, guardian of moss and branches," he said.