CHAPTER SIXTEEN
COVIN
Lindy gaped at me. “You did what?” Her eyes flooded with tears again. A different sort this time, I thought. “Oh, Covin.” Her voice hushed as I held her.
“Yeah.” I leaned in to kiss her, then hesitated, all the things she’d ever hurled back at me running through my mind.
It’s too much.
You’re overwhelming me.
I can’t breathe.
I couldn’t back off from her right now, but I could go slower.
“May I?” I asked quietly, my heart slamming into my ribs like the first time I kissed her.
She nodded, a single jerk of her head, and pressed her lips to mine.
Thank Christ.
If she had pushed me away then I might have shattered on the spot.
Everything I did in the last two weeks since I came home from Scotland was to get to this moment. Here, with her. It had been a hellishly fast romance, and no way was I stopping now. I hadn’t really planned this last bit either, but I was glad we were both sitting down.
Slow, my ass .
Hell, she’d just have to get used to it.
I slipped my fingers into my pocket and withdrew the faded black velvet box that missed patches on some of the corners. Al’s journal wasn’t the only thing he’d given me before I left Witnot.
I held it out to her. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with glistening, unshed tears. Her mouth made no sound, and I didn’t rush to fill the silence that felt right around us.
“I left the castle cold and numb. It wasn’t the same without you. The flight killed me. Being here, home but not. It’s not the same if you’re not with me. Yeah, it’s been fast. Really fast, Lindy. And crazy but…that’s us. I think that’s just who we are together. And I want that. My life has been stagnant for too long. Let me share some of your crazy for this next part, as long as you want it to last, with me. Please.” I flipped the lid open to expose the Georgian rose cut diamond cluster set in the shape of a flower. “It belonged to Al’s mother who passed away shortly after he did. I– I have his journal.” It was my turn to tear up as I recalled the young man’s tragic story that ended too soon without a voice. But he would be heard if I had my way. “She knew about him and his lover. This was going to be the ring he would propose with in secret but that never happened. And so he gave it to me, for you.”
Her tears fell, and mine, mingling over our clasped hands as she touched the ring in trembling fingers.
“Alright.”
“Yes?” I asked, feeling as young as the ghost who gave it to me was old.
“Yes,” she whispered, leaning into me. “Can we go back?”
“As many times as you need, love.” I slid the ring onto her finger, squeezing her hand firmly as I kissed her long and slow.
“I love you,” she whispered, and I realized with a jolt that despite all the words that had just fallen out of me, I somehow missed those important ones, but I also figured she got the message.
Then I said them anyway, because this life was too short to waste on boats, moats and root beer floats.
“I love you too, Lindy.” I kissed her again and whispered word that would either end the day on a better note?—
Or screw it all to hell.
“I have your blue sky painting.”