Chapter Thirty-One
Seth
Watching Ellie take in the glass, the lights, the sounds, as if they’re speaking only to her, is worth every minute of holding in the secret of this place.
But I’ve been waiting weeks to share something else with her, too.
I don’t want to break the moment, but my stomach has been tied in knots all day, and I can’t hold back.
I pull her closer and lower my voice. “So…Margaret told me about another secret spot on the property.”
“You’re kidding. What is it?” she asks excitedly.
“There’s an old covered bridge just beyond that hill.” I nod in the direction of the bridge. “Legend has it, if two people stand on opposite ends of the bridge and tell it their secrets, the sound meets in the middle and seals your fate.”
Ellie tilts her head, curiosity lighting her eyes. “That sounds romantic and slightly ominous.”
“Guess that depends on your secrets.” I brush my lips over her temple. “What do you think, sweets? Want to see if the legend’s true?”
“How is that even a question? Yes!”
I shoulder the backpack, and we hurry toward the hill like kids on an adventure, her hand warm in mine, laughter filling the space between us. My phone rings, and I check it quick. Shit. “It’s Rick Schaeffer. Sorry, El, but I’d better take it in case there’s an issue with the project.”
“Of course,” she says, reading the shift in my tone.
I step away as I answer. “Hey, Rick. What’s—”
“Seth, it’s Sheryl. She’s just been diagnosed with stage three lung cancer…”
I listen with my heart in my throat. He sounds terrified and hollow at once. “Damn. Rick, I’m so sorry. What can I do for you and Sheryl?”
He talks, I listen, pacing through the grass, swamped by the weight of his worries. When I finally speak, my throat feels raw. “Don’t give it another thought. I’ll take care of it. Take all the time you need, and give my love to Sheryl and the boys. I’m here for whatever you need.”
When we end the call, I press the phone to my chest, trying to breathe past the ache. Ellie’s already moving toward me.
“Seth?” She touches my arm. “Are you okay?”
“It’s Rick’s wife, Sheryl. They just found out she has stage three lung cancer.” The words taste bitter.
Worry riddles her face. “Oh no, that’s awful. They just moved to Australia. Does she have a good doctor? What can we do?”
“She didn’t move yet. She’s still in Boston with their kids. She was packing up the house to put it on the market before joining him. Her doctor’s trying to get her into Dana-Farber for treatment. Rick needs to step away from the project to be with her.”
“Of course.” Ellie’s voice softens. “We need to get Rick home. I’ll get him a flight. What can we do for Sheryl? You mentioned kids. Does she need help with them? Does she have family nearby?”
“Rick has a flight out Saturday morning, and Sheryl’s parents are flying in from Florida to help with their teenage boys.
But Rick—” I shake my head. “He sounded so lost. I can’t imagine getting that call from halfway around the world.
” I look at Ellie, and my gut twists. I can’t imagine getting that call about her ever.
She touches my hand. “I’m sure he’s devastated. Do they think she’ll pull through?”
“He said they’re hopeful, but…” I shrug, unable to finish the sentence.
Ellie swallows hard, nodding, but then she lifts her chin, and her eyes sharpen. “Okay, then we do what we can and get things in order. You can’t really plan for how long he’s going to be out, can you? I mean, it’s treatment dependent, right?”
“Minimum three or four months. Probably more like six or eight. More if she doesn’t…” I look away, unable to think about that outcome. “Fuck.”
Ellie wraps her arms around me, pressing her cheek to my chest. “Hopefully the treatments will work,” she says softly.
“Hopefully.” I wrap my arms around her. “I hate this.”
“Me too. Tell me what you need. How can I help?” She steps back, ready to pull my life together and forsake her own. “Do you have someone in mind for his position?”
“No. Rick’s been with me since the beginning.
He helped open my first warehouse in the States.
He’s earned more than a title and a paycheck.
He’s family.” I pace. “It’ll take weeks to find someone qualified and teach them the way we do things, and I know Rick.
He’ll worry every minute about his team and the project when he should be solely focused on his family.
I’m not putting a stranger in his job while he’s sitting in a hospital with his wife. ”
She studies me and nods as if she can read my mind. “You’re going to take over the project, aren’t you?”
“I have to, sweetheart.” It kills me to say it. “He’s given me his best every day for years. I owe it to him to make sure the project stays on track and give him peace of mind.”
Her eyes glisten, proud and breaking at once. “He’s lucky to have you.”
“No. I’m lucky to have people worth standing up for.” My fucking heart is breaking at the idea of leaving her. I draw a breath, knowing my next words will gut us both. “Come with me, Ellie. I know it’s a lot to ask, but—”
“It’s not a lot to ask,” she says, holding back tears. “But I can’t leave my dad for months at a time.”
“Then we’ll bring him with us” comes out as desperate as I feel.
She shakes her head. “He’d never go,” she says, her voice barely a whisper.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. That was unfair.” I draw her into my arms, touching my forehead to hers. “I don’t want to leave you, but I have to do this.”
“I know.” Her voice trembles.
“I don’t know how to make it easier.”
“It’s not your job to make it easier. You have bigger things to focus on.”
Her voice trembles, but as she steps out of my arms, it’s her strength that nearly does me in. She isn’t just compassionate, in the same way she doesn’t just see beauty. She feels it in her bones, and I want to protect that special part of her with everything I have.
“Not bigger than you,” I say, holding her gaze.
She forces a smile. “I knew you were a generous, rootless wonder when we got together, and you knew I was chained to my father. That’s who we are. But we’ve been apart before, and we’ll be apart again, many times over. This time will just be for a little longer.”
God, I love you. “I’ll come back as often as I can,” I say, my voice rough with emotion.
“Don’t stress over it. We’ll be fine. When do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow. The sooner I get there, the sooner he can wrap things up and get home.”
Tomorrow swells like a villain between us.
Ellie turns suddenly, looking around, waving her hands, as if she’s flicked an internal switch, and says, “We should go so I can get your travel arrangements underway.”
My heart breaks for Rick and his wife, but I’m not going to let that steal this time away from Ellie. I take her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles. “After we see the bridge.”
We walk in silence, making our way over the hill. Ellie’s delicate fingers tighten around my hand, and I feel the weight driving them. The same weight that’s pressing on my chest.
There’s no meadow at the bottom of the hill, just overgrown brush and woods waking from winter. The air cools as we descend into the shade. Patches of snow linger in the shadows, a creek snaking through them like a guide, waiting for us.
We follow the creek, ducking beneath branches, stepping over rocks and twigs, and we come to an ancient covered bridge that looks like a relic to a hundred forgotten springs.
Wild tangles of brush push at the base, and weeds snake up the weathered wood siding.
The roof sags, and the floorboards bow in the middle, but it’s impossible to look away from it.
Its bedraggled bones have stood the test of time, which is exactly what I hope for me and Ellie.
The test of time, not the bedraggled bones.
Ellie and I exchange smiles as we step onto the bridge. The boards creak beneath our feet, the trickling creek whispering through the silence.
“It’s beautiful,” Ellie says, her eyes wide with wonder.
Damn, I love that look on you. I commit it to memory. “Yes, you are.”
She gives me the look that says I’m being silly, but I can see she’s trying to get out from under the news, trying to smile as she says, “You’re not so bad yourself,” and leans in for a kiss.
I can’t resist taking the kiss deeper, wanting to memorize the feel of her in my arms, the taste of her lips on mine. I kiss her so long, she comes away breathless. “Now, that’s a great look on you.”
An almost silent laugh slips from her gorgeous lips.
Not for the first time, and definitely not the last, I think about how lucky I am that she’s mine. “Ready to test the legend, Nunnally?”
“Yes, Mr. Braden. I can’t wait to hear your secrets.”
“I’ve only got one good one.” I give her hand a squeeze and then release it and walk to the opposite side of the bridge, the boards creaking beneath my boots.
When I turn around, my heart does a double take. Ellie is illuminated from behind, like an angel. My angel. My goddess. My best friend. My everything.
“Ready?” I say, hoping this doesn’t scare her off.
“As I’ll ever be,” she calls out.
“One,” I call out, and my stomach knots up.
“Two.” My hands sweat. Maybe I shouldn’t risk it.
Fuck it.
“Three!”
The words I’ve held back so long they’re etched into my being shoot from my lips—“I love you!”—intertwining with her words, they echo around us.
It takes a second to think past my thundering heart and process that she’s still here, and she said it, too.
“You love me!” flies from my lips as I run across the bridge.
She laughs as I haul her into my arms and spin her around.
“I do!” she exclaims. “I love you more than the sun and the moon and stars put together.”
“That’s a lot of love. I’m one lucky bastard.” I crush my lips to hers.
Our kisses are messy, our laughter is pure, and our I love yous echo in the woods around us, a sound I’ll carry through every hour, across every mile, and over every ocean that dares come between us, until she’s right back in my arms where she belongs.