Chapter 47
“Curtis, I…I want to apologize,” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.
His eyebrows lifted. “For what?”
Heat crawled up my neck and my eyes dropped shamefully to the ground.
“You were so sweet after that day. With Father, and my injury and everything. You came to visit me, sent gifts, and you even sent me letters after we moved. But I never responded or let you come in when you came to visit. In fact, I only just read your letters today. I didn’t know your arm had been shot during the attack, or anything like that.
I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to think of you, and none of what happened was your fault at all.
I want you to know that I am so, so sorry.
You were such a good friend, and I wasn’t. You deserved better.”
I hung my head.
For a long moment, silence stretched between us. Then Curtis stepped closer. His hand brushed against mine before he gently took it. Then he cupped his other hand under my chin and tilted my face up.
“Hey,” he said softly, eyes catching mine like a tether. “You were my best friend. You had a rough patch and I knew that. Of course I wished you’d written back, but I understood why you didn’t. You had a lot to deal with.”
The tenderness in his voice unraveled something in me. I squeezed his hand. “I’ve missed you so much, Curtis,” I whispered, the confession slipping free before I could stop it. “More than you know.”
His gaze softened, his voice just as quiet. “I’ve missed you too. I never forgot you, Truly. Not for a single day. I kept waiting, hoping you’d come back. I loved you then, and that never changed. I still do.”
The world tilted. My breath caught. “I love you too.”
We stared at each other, hearts pounding. Every nerve inside me screamed that this couldn’t be real. I had come here today only to congratulate him on his engagement and to apologize. And here I was proclaiming my love.
He smiled, that slow, earnest smile that had always made my heart race.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment for years. I thought if I ever saw you again, I’d drop to one knee right then and there.
” His gaze lingered on mine, soft but burning with intensity.
“But I don’t want to rush you. You’ve been through too much to be swept off your feet and pushed into a promise before you’re ready. ”
My breath caught. “What do you mean?”
“I want forever with you, Truly,” he said firmly. “But more than that, I want you to feel whole again. I want you to have time to heal, to remember who you are, to step into every room with confidence, knowing your worth.”
My heart clenched. “What if that takes a while?”
“Then I’ll wait,” he said without hesitation.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes. Because I don’t just want to marry you, Truly.
I want to live with you. I want to laugh with you and see you walk in every day with that spark in your eyes again.
I’ll pick up right where we left off, and one day—when you’re ready—I’ll ask you the question my parents are dying for me to ask. ”
The lump in my throat made it impossible to answer, so I simply nodded, clinging to his hand as if it were the only steady thing in the world.
Curtis leaned closer, pressing a kiss to my temple, then resting his forehead against mine.
“No matter how long it takes, Truly,” he whispered, “you’re worth waiting for.
When you left, it was like a part of me died.
Every day since then, I wished that you would come back.
I need you in my life. You make me a better person and you give me a reason to wake up in the morning and be the best I can be.
If you disappeared again after tonight, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. ”
A lump of guilt clogged my throat. Did he know about my scars?
He must—Comfort had told him. I bit my lip.
“Curtis…you’re saying everything I’ve ever wanted to hear, but I don’t want to mislead you in any way.
I don’t always look like this. I wear a lot of cosmetics. Especially here.” I touched my cheek.
He studied me, eyes gentle, then rubbed away a little makeup. His thumb lingered over the puckered skin.
“It used to be worse, right after the attack,” I told him to fill the silence. “It has faded a lot since then.”
Curtis locked his eyes with mine. “It doesn’t matter if you have scars, if you have wrinkles or spots or if you develop a thousand pimples. I will always, always love you. There is no face in this kingdom I would rather look at. I think you’re beautiful.”
He bent toward me, his eyes lowering to my mouth.
As he placed his hand at the back of my neck, I could feel how large his hands were.
I placed my own palm against his chest, remembering all the stolen moments in the year before the accident, and knew what to do as though no time had passed.
Curtis pressed his lips to mine, pulling me close and wrapping me in a tight embrace.
My arms wrapped around him, wishing this moment would stretch on forever.
There was no stable boy to interrupt us now, no teenage worries at all about being seen, so we kissed again and again. I somehow felt like I was breathing too fast and not breathing at all, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. Nothing mattered except for this moment.
After a long time, we broke apart, but still looked at each other. “Wow, I really missed you!” Curtis said, and gently pecked my lips again.
I smiled widely. “And here I was thinking you would just replace me with the first pretty face that came along.”
“There is no face prettier than yours,” Curtis said fervently. “I love you.”
I leaned into him, my heart lighter than it had been in years. “And I love you.”
He took my hand and we continued walking, finally arriving at the bench beside the pond where Father had proposed to Mother.
I sat down and kicked off my shoes again.
Why had I ever decided to wear those infernal things?
Then I remembered—Comfort chose them, not me.
No wonder my feet were in agony! Comfort and Mother, finishing school instructors that they were, were always daintily stepping around in high-heeled, pointy-toed shoes that pinched their toes and gave them blisters.
I had always preferred big comfy shoes that I could conceal under my skirts.
Curtis pulled one of my feet up onto his lap and began rubbing it.
His large hands putting pressure on my sore foot felt wonderful.
“Where did you learn to give foot massages?” I asked.
“Hubert likes his feet being rubbed,” Curtis answered nonchalantly.
My mouth hung open, horrified. Curtis looked at me then burst out laughing. “Got you!”
I let out a long breath. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Here I was, picturing you two having foot massage parties.”
Curtis chuckled. “Well, I would like to claim that I have an extensive education about this matter, but alas, I am just making it up as I go.”
He massaged my feet for a few more minutes. We listened to the frogs croaking, the crickets chirping, the occasional sound of a carriage departing from the ball, trundling off toward the main road. It was peaceful.
“I’m surprised there weren’t more girls here tonight,” I said. “The invitation said all eligible maidens, and I know there are more girls in Islandria than who showed up tonight.”
Curtis failed to hide a smile. “We didn’t invite everyone in the kingdom. The castle would’ve been overrun. I made sure to tell one of the couriers where your house was so that he would be sure to invite you. Just to be sure, we invited every girl in your town.”
“But, the invitation said…”
“That was just another tactic from the Council. They had us pick out a few towns nearby, and we sent invitations exclusively to them. We couldn’t possibly accommodate all the thousands of girls that would have showed up otherwise.
So I picked your town, and Hubert picked another.
I think he threw a dart at a map to pick. ”
I laughed, marveling that Curtis went to such great lengths to make sure I was invited to the ball. Now the smaller number of girls I had noticed milling around the ballroom made sense. He hadn’t wanted every eligible maiden in the kingdom.
He had wanted me.
I had my best friend back.