Page 119 of Dreams of Falling

“You can use some of that legendary Darlington good fortune and wish it to be so.”

“I do love your optimism,” I said, kissing him softly on the lips.

His eyes stared into mine for a long time, as if he was waiting for me to say something else. When I didn’t, he said, “You know, for someone who’s so good with words, your vocabulary is sadly lacking.”

I stood back. “Please don’t tell me that Mabry read parts of that old manuscript.”

“You mean the one with ‘purple-headed love dart’? Nah—she didn’t have to. It’s been etched in my brain since I first read it ten years ago.”

I frowned. “Then what are you talking about?”

“After my fight with Jackson, when you were putting ice on my eye, I told you that I loved you, and all you said in response was, ‘Oh.’ I haven’t said it again, because I’m not good at rejection, but I guess being here and standing under this tree, I’m feeling optimistic.”

I stood on my toes and placed my arms around his neck, then kissed him in a way I hoped showed how I felt. “I love you, Bennett Lynch. I wish I’d realized it sooner, but know that I have every intention of making up for lost time.”

“Me, too,” he said. When he kissed me back, I imagined the ground trembling beneath my feet, my hands clutching at him tightly so I wouldn’t fall over.

He looked back toward the ruins of Carrowmore. “You know, this is going to be a lot of house for just one woman to live in all by herself.”

“You think?” I asked.

“Yep. I think maybe adding a guy who’s handy with a hammer and maybe a passel of kids would fill it out nicely.”

“A passel, huh? How many is a passel?”

“Not sure, but just so you’re forewarned, twins run in my family.”

“Oh,” I said, and we both laughed while a white-hot shard of longing shot through me at the prospect of raising a family with Bennett at Carrowmore, sitting on the front porch, and watching the seasons pass just as generations of my family had.

He stepped back, but his gaze was focused on something behind me. “Hang on a sec,” he said, then walked toward the marshy edge of the river and leaned down to pluck something from the sucking mud. “Look what I found.” He placed it in my outstretched palm.

“A shark’s tooth,” I said. “Aren’t those supposed to be good luck?”

Bennett nodded. “Even as a kid, I was always surprised to find them in riverbeds and marshes. It’s crazy how far they can travel. I guess the pull of the marsh will always bring the outcasts home eventually.”

I looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “Are you calling me an outcast?”

With a smile, he said, “No. I’m calling you mine.”

He kissed me again, until the sound of arriving cars pulled us apart. We left the tree and the river behind us as we walked hand in hand back to the house.

That night, I dreamed again of falling. But this time I wasn’t afraid. I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of weightlessness, almost as if I were flying. And when I awoke, I understood that I hadn’t been afraid, because I finally knew where I would land.

Throughout our lives we are all falling. Falling down, falling out, falling away. Falling in love. The trick is finding someone to catch us. And sometimes we surprise ourselves by finding out that person is us.