Chapter 10 #2
“I drew it from memory, so it’s not entirely accurate,” she said, leaning in and pressing her side to his arm.
Though he couldn’t take his eyes off the page.
The detail was extraordinary. It was, obviously, the night that they met, complete with a stool set between them.
She was wearing the lovely wedding gown she’d shown up in, while he was sitting next to her in his jeans, sweater, and a beer in his hand.
She even managed to get the group of men in the back of the bar who’d been playing cards.
“Kels…” His eyes roved over the page, taking in everything. She got the high-top tables against the far wall, the windows, and the decorative frames around them that told the story of the building’s age. “You did this?”
She nodded. “In my free time. Drawing helps me to destress, so I started doing a lot of it shortly after I started my program.”
“This is incredible,” he said, marveling at the picture. “That’s you and me,” he said of the two people in the center, their faces studying the television screen behind the bar. “You even got the fight we were watching.”
“Of course I did,” she said, biting her lip in excitement at his reaction. “That fight was a good reason why we met in the first place.”
Sev shook his head in awe as he turned to the next page, stopping to take in another drawing. This one was done in pen and ink, and was clearly of the home she and her father had rented on The Point.
“This is us when I dropped you off,” Sev said, lost in his memories. “When we made the pact.”
“It is. I can’t believe you got it.” Kelsey smiled at his recollection. “To anyone else, it would just look like a house and a shadowy couple of figures.”
“No, I can see what it means,” he said, eyes glued to the picture. “I remember it, too.”
Giving her a quick smile, he flipped to the next page, expecting another fabulous drawing. But instead, he stopped cold and read out loud the line at the top.
“Things I’ve always wanted to say to Stewart Severance.” His face turned contemplative as his eyes grazed the words she’d etched into the drawing paper. “I love his smile.”
“True,” she chirped, as she suddenly didn’t have much of a voice, emotion wedging its way in her throat.
He turned to her and grinned. “I love your smile too.”
Of course, that made her smile despite her watery eyes. Reaching an arm around her again, he tugged her to him, her side pressed to his, and their heads nearly touching. Holding the book between them, he began reading aloud her most personal thoughts, each line a gift.
“When I feel down, he always lifts me up. Whether it’s a joke or a story, or just something to make me stop and think, I know he believes in me, even when I don’t believe in myself.
“He’s always on my side. Even when he probably shouldn’t be. Even when I don’t deserve it. He always has my back, and I hope he knows I’ll always have his, too.
“When I think of the future, I don’t want one unless he’s in it.” The words rolled off his tongue so easily, but his brain could not connect what he was seeing. He stopped, rereading the last sentence, turning his head, and locking eyes with hers. “Do you mean this?”
“Every word,” she said, steeling herself in her honesty. One thing about Kelsey was that she didn’t play games. She wasn’t subtle or coy about things that were important to her. “Over the past year, you’ve become this incredible part of my life, Sev. I… I want more of you.”
“You want to be mine?” he asked, his face just inches from hers.
“Yes,” she answered without any hesitation.
“Two years ago, I wandered into a bar in my wedding dress, broken-hearted. Not because my fiancé had cheated on me. But because I thought I was living my best life, and I realized, in that moment, I wasn’t.
And at that painful, awful time, you were there for me. ”
“I did just what anyone would do.”
“See, that’s the thing,” she said, shaking her head. “A stranger wouldn’t have indulged a bet. He wouldn’t have taken me to dinner. And he certainly wouldn’t have spared the time to get me away from my ex.” She paused. “That’s something only you would have done.”
He pondered the idea, listening to her words. Her heart.
“Do you remember what you told me that first night we were together? When I came up with the idea to meet up again in a year?” She cupped his cheek and stroked the hairs on his jawline mindlessly, like the sensation focused her.
“You said to take some time and rediscover myself. Anyone else would have just looked to take some random guy’s place. But you wanted what was best for me.”
“Of course, I do,” he said, as if the idea were preposterous otherwise. “I knew no matter how I saw you, if you didn’t believe it, it didn’t make a difference.”
“It took me some time to figure that out,” she said, shifting her hand to the back of his head, her nails gently scratching against his scalp just the way he loved. “It turns out, I needed this hard year to really turn my life around. To start going after what I wanted.”
Sev’s heart was pounding like a bass drum in his chest. “What do you want, sweetheart?”
“You,” she said without hesitation. “I love you, Sev.”
Dropping the book to his lap, Sev wrapped his arms around her, kissing her with a passion he’d never felt before. She held onto him, spearing her fingers into his hair as she met his kiss with a fervor that, before this moment, he didn’t realize she possessed. She wanted him. Needed him.
And after this, there wasn’t a chance on earth he’d let her go.
Toppling over onto the ready-made couch, Sev sought to land off to her side, so as not to crush her. While his lips were still fully engaged, her words sank in, and his mouth spread wide in an uncontrollable grin.
When he finally pulled back and looked at her, panting like he’d just run a marathon, he admitted to her something that he had been holding in his heart for way too long. “I love you too, Kels.”
The look of pure love on her face, reflected back in his eyes, made everything worth it. All the time they’d been apart. The slow pace they’d gone. The work they’d done on themselves. It all culminated to this very moment.
And in his heart, he promised himself that it would be forever.
“You know, it dawned on me,” he said, pulling back only as much as necessary. “We have some evaluating to do.”
“Ugh, do we have to?” She sighed, giving him a bleak smile as she laid next to him. “You go first. We already know how my year went.”
“Technically, you know how mine went as well, but getting closer to you is what made it good for me,” he said, stroking his nose up the length of hers, and then down the other side.
He was certainly aware of her struggles this year, and he wanted to be respectful of that. He didn’t want to come off as braggy.
At the same time, he knew she was so proud of everything he had accomplished.
“I did get some good attention for some of our missions,” he said, not surprisingly vague.
It was so amazing to have someone he could “talk” to about this stuff without a demand to download every last detail he wasn’t allowed to disclose.
“Word has it I’m up for a promotion soon.
Plus, I’ve gotten to know some of the guys at work more.
I really feel like I’m settling into this new duty station. ”
“Well, I hope so, you’ve been there for two years now,” she teased.
“You’d be surprised,” he said, leaning his head on his arm and staring down into her stunning face.
“There are some I’ve been at that I never felt settled into, no matter how hard I try.
People just expect you to move on, so they never get close to start with.
There are some guys I can see myself staying connected with even after we move on. ”
“Like my dad and all of his buddies. My ‘uncles,’” she said with a grin, referring to the motley crew of close family friends her dad had served with.
“I can see them being around in a few years like that,” he said, laughing at the thought. “All of us getting together on the holidays with our families. Our ladies,” he said, pausing to take her in.
Because there was only one lady he wanted to spend his future with.
“I’m really proud of you,” she said. “Of all you’ve accomplished this year.”
“Well, it’s not just that,” he said, reaching up to cup her face. She leaned into the gesture, loving the feel of his warm palm pressed to her cheek. “I loved getting to know you more. Even though I know this was a hard year for you.”
“I loved that too,” she admitted, her eyes drooping in pure contentment.
“So, moment of truth,” he hesitated, giving her a half grin. “How would you rank your year?”
“Awful,” she said, shaking her head and trying not to laugh.
Sev figured it was either laugh or cry at this point.
“I had such hopes for it being the best year ever, but… right from the start, it was just terrible. Be it my classes or the weather, and then my dad getting sick… this year can’t be done fast enough for me. ”
“It’ll be over soon,” he reminded her, reaching for her hip and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Just a few days and we’re going to be in a brand-new year. One I know you’ll make your mark on.” He pulled a hand up and kissed her knuckles.
“There have been some good moments,” she admitted in a soft voice, locking eyes with him. “Every time I got a call or a text from you, I swear it gave me the strength to keep going. Just knowing you were out there, supporting me. Believing in me.”
“It’s what I’m here for,” he reminded her. “To help you weather the hard times.”
“Right up until last week, I wasn’t sure anything could redeem this year at all. But when Dad finally got the all clear, I just got this new perspective on how I wanted my life to be. It made me take a look at all the hard things I’d been trying to accomplish and ask myself… why?”
Sev’s eyebrows drew down, trying to understand where she was going with this conversation. “What do you mean?”
Kelsey lifted a shoulder as she mindlessly raised her fingertips to graze against his stubbled jawline.
“I realized that I really didn’t like the program I was in.
It seemed perfect on the surface. It’s what I wanted to study, and it was relatively close to my house.
I never visited, never talked to professors.
I took for granted that it would be a fit, and it hasn’t been. I think it’s time for me to leave.”
“Kels, you can’t leave your program,” Sev said, stilling as he took in her words. “You’ve worked so hard and for so long on this. Sweetheart, you were born to be an art therapist.”
“I know,” she said, smiling the widest grin. “That’s why I’m looking for a program that fits me better. I spent the last few days searching, and there are a couple in Massachusetts. There’s one not far from Newport, but also… there’s one just south of Portland.”
“Portland?” he said, his face lighting up and loving the idea. “Portland, Maine? Like, an hour from where I’m stationed?”
“Yes,” she said, unable to contain her excitement anymore.
“I’m planning on visiting a few of them in January.
If all goes well and I find a new one I like, I can start classes in a few weeks.
Do you…” she hesitated, knowing that this was a monumental step forward for them.
“Do you think you might like me being closer?”
“Sweetheart,” he said, pulling her into the largest embrace yet. “I love the idea of you being close to me.”
“I figure, even if I end up in Massachusetts, it’s closer than I am now.”
“Here in Newport is still close enough,” he said, sliding his hand up to cup her face and hold her gaze. “Wherever you are, wherever you go. We’ll make it work.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, a drop slipping from her eye that Sev’s thumb did not hesitate to catch. “I’ve wanted to be yours for so long now.”
“You’re mine, and I’m yours,” he insisted, pressing her hand to his heart.
“Forever yours.” She smiled, cutting through any possible misconception he could have on this topic.
“Just on Christmas Eve?” he teased.
“Forever Yours on Christmas Eve,” she said, punctuating the statement with a kiss. “And always.”
Reaching for the comforter, he bundled them up in the blankets as he held her in his arms long after the clock struck midnight. They talked and kissed, planning the rest of their year and into the next, excited about their new future together.
But as the night began to turn into morning, Kelsey finally gave up the fight, falling asleep curled into his side. He continued to hold her, stroking her back and staring out the window, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky. She was his, and the future was theirs.
As he leaned down, mindlessly kissing the top of her head, he thought back to his own family and the anticipation of bringing her home.
Of future holidays together as a combined family.
Where they might move together, and maybe someday work toward a family of their own.
But at the same time, he didn’t want to rush it.
He already knew how valuable every moment was with her.
He hadn’t wasted them up to now, nor did he have any plans on doing that in the future.
Because he knew, two years ago, when a beautiful woman sat down next to him at a bar, his life was going to be forever changed.
Thank you so much for reading Forever Yours on Christmas Eve!