Page 10 of Eternal Love (Timeless Duet #1)

T hey lay with their legs tangled in the sheets, bodies draped over each other like they were preventing one another from drifting away while they were locked in the realm of dreams. Julia slowly opened her eyes, her bedroom coming into focus.

Then a noise. A doorbell.

Someone was at the front door.

Her heart lurched as she glanced at her phone. Way too early for Tabitha to come by.

She untangled herself from Theodore, and he stirred.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“More like who’s that?”

They dressed and made their way to the front door. Theodore pushed her behind him. A mischievous glint shone in his eyes. “At least here I can defend you.” She didn’t doubt he would. His already tall frame lengthened, his body going taut, like a predator about to strike down its prey.

He threw the door open, and the morning sunlight streamed inside, like it was intruding into the house. And there, encircled by the light, stood Camilla.

Camilla .

Red-hot shame washed through her. How could she forget her best friend’s visit? She tried to swipe away the surprise from her face, but for better or worse, Camilla knew her better than that.

“Hello bestie.” Camilla smiled. Her gaze fell on Theodore. “And hello ghostie.”

Theodore raised his eyebrows at her in question, his eyes widening, before his gaze landed on Julia. The look he flashed at her seemed to say: She can see me?

“Camilla,” Julia told him, as if that explained everything, and it sort of did, she supposed, as she’d told him so much about her.

“Camilla has always been ... sensitive to the other side,” she told him, like that covered everything.

She supposed it did, the main fact that Camilla could see him, at least.

“Camilla.” He nodded. “Very pleased to meet you.”

He held out his hand, and Camilla took it, whispering under her breath to Julia, “Nice job.”

Julia couldn’t help it; a laugh bubbled out of her as she pulled her into a hug. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you more,” Camilla told her, as they dragged her bags inside. A lot of bags. She looked like she was moving in. Once inside, Theodore took them up to one of the guest rooms.

They watched him go up the stairs.

“But you’ve been busy, I see. And so have I.” Camilla squeezed her hand. “The tour can wait. I need caffeine.”

An hour later, Julia still couldn’t believe her eyes.

She’d sat at the kitchen table with Camilla and Theodore, and they read through the article that Camilla had commissioned at her paper.

It detailed everything about Theodore’s murder.

“We’re just waiting on the letters, I think you mentioned?

” she asked, taking a big gulp of her coffee and making a face. “I miss Starbucks.”

“First of all, rude, and second of all, I actually have something better than the letters.”

She showed Camilla the instruction list keeping Theodore under the curse.

“Holy shit,” Camilla breathed, coffee forgotten.

Julia finished telling her everything about it, and the fact that Tabitha was coming along later. Camilla huffed a breath. “Let me go and get my camera, so I can forward this to my team.”

As Camilla left the room, Julia reached for Theodore, who was quiet. It made her heart lurch.

“Are you okay?” she whispered.

He pulled her up and into his lap, clutching her so tightly like he didn’t want to ever let her go. She cupped his face in her hands. “You can see them, can’t you? Your family.”

He nodded. “But I don’t want to go ... I don’t want to leave you. It’s like every time I think about it, a piece of my heart cracks.”

Julia took a deep breath. She knew exactly what he meant. She opened her mouth to reply, but Camilla rushed back in.

“Who were those people? They were very rude, I tried to say hi, but they ignored me and just kind of disappeared.”

Julia’s eyes widened. Camilla really could see all spirits. Not just any spirits, but Theodore’s family. In typical Camilla fashion, though, she didn’t give her a chance to respond.

“Right,” Camilla began briskly, clearly in boss mode, but then she caught the looks on their faces and her expression softened. She walked to Theodore’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t have to publish it. The choice is yours.”

“It’s both of ours,” he said, looking at Julia.

“I like him,” Camilla declared.

A knock at the door sounded.

“The witch, I presume?” said Camilla, shaking her head. “Honestly, I feel like I’ve walked into a parallel universe...”

She returned with Tabitha in tow.

“Hello again,” Tabitha said.

Julia offered her a smile. Tabitha’s gaze fell on Theodore. There was something unsure in her gaze, but Theodore rose, walking toward her with his hand out. “Tabitha, I presume. Thank you for coming.”

Tabitha took his hand and swallowed. “You should know I—”

He cut her off with a shake of his head. “I hold nothing against you.” He walked back over to Julia, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.

Tabitha exhaled, and it was like a weight fell off her chest. Then it was like she was taking them in for the first time. She gave Julia a knowing smile that crinkled her features. She held her hand out for the instructions and nodded.

“Even so, I may have something I can do to make up for what my family had a hand in. A spell. I can tether you here, on this earth, until you wish to leave.” She looked pointedly at Julia.

“Until you are both ready to go. You can age, you will be visible to people, but your soul will still be tied to this place, and you will need to remain here on these grounds.”

“Is it enough?” His voice cracked as he asked the question. “My soul, my heart, is yours, Julia.”

She had to stifle a laugh that turned into a sob. “Oh, is that enough? Yes, of course it’s enough. But you’d be binding yourself to this house again...” She trailed off.

He shook his head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The way I see it, I’m binding myself to you. And it’s my choice this time.”

She tugged his face down to meet hers. It was a desperate kiss, full of tears and truth.

Camilla cleared her throat. “Right, well, now that’s settled, can you two please leave each other alone for a minute so we can get this spell done?”

Theodore pulled back, gazing into her eyes. “I make no promises.”

Julia grinned, then turned to the group. “Um, there is also the small matter of the crime I committed...” she trailed off. If she were honest, she didn’t know how she wasn’t already in handcuffs. Clearly the Pitt family was one to hold a grudge.

A knowing smile passed over Tabitha’s face. “You won’t need to be worrying about them, dear. I took care of them.”

Camilla’s brows raised. “Took care of them how, exactly?”

“Well, I did what any nosy neighbour would do. When I saw the red and blue flashing lights outside their home and Luke and Sandra talking to a policeman, I just so happened to have a flask of my calming brew to hand.”

Camilla clasped her hands in glee. “So, you drugged them!”

“In layman’s terms, yes, I just slipped a little forget me spell in there. Quite a simple little thing, really, although its potency can vary.”

Julia bit her lip. “You mean it might not last?”

Tabitha loosed a sigh. “Really, dear, by now you’d think you’d be confident in my abilities, no?”

Fair enough.

Tabitha continued, “No, I simply mean, until they see you, we won’t know how much they remember of you. That incident has been wiped from their minds, but they might not remember you at all. So just be wary.”

Julia pulled Tabitha into a hug. “Thank you. What would we do without you?”

Tabitha patted her back before beginning to chant over the instructions, and the paper seemed to wither in response, like it was struggling against her words, until it went up in flame and smoke.

She picked up a knife and held it out to Theodore. “I’ll need a few drops of your blood. You need to bind yourself to this earth, to this property, to this house.”

He followed Tabitha outside, and Julia watched with Camilla at her side as Tabitha continued to chant and Theodore pressed his crimson palm to the earth.

Camilla took her hand in hers. Julia squeezed it. Her heart was thrumming. Did it work? Would he be able to stay?

He came in and his grin answered all her questions.

“I love you,” she told him, the words falling out of her mouth like they couldn’t wait to escape.

His eyes widened, and his lips parted. He was looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” He shook his head, clearing the distance between them. “I’ll never let you go. I love you, Julia.”

Her tears spilled down her face as she stroked his cheeks, his hair, his lips.

Camilla cleared her throat, breaking them out of their reverie. “Right, well, now that’s taken care of ... Tabitha, why don’t you and I take a look around the house? And while we’re at it, I wouldn’t mind you putting a curse on a few people...”

Tabitha raised her eyebrows at her. “Curses are no joke. Hasn’t this taught you anything?”

Camilla waved her hand, flashing her expensive manicure. “Oh please, nothing so dramatic, maybe just a little pox or something...”

Their voices floated away further into the house, but Julia was only focused on the man in front of her.

“Are you sure?”

He held one of her hands, and with his free one stroked the pad of his thumb over her cheek. He was warm. So much warmer now, like life, true life, was draining back into him.

“Are you sure?” he countered. “I can never leave these grounds. You would be stuck here if we were to remain a couple.”

She shook her head in bewilderment. “How is that even a question? Besides, this manor has more than enough rooms for when I get sick of you...”

He grinned, flashing his perfect teeth and ... one dimple! She hadn’t noticed that. She traced it with her finger.

Sighing, she said, “How could I ever get sick of this face?” more to herself than to him.

A flush crept over his cheeks. A blush. He was blushing.

She might have squealed in delight. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy making you do that!”

He groaned, pulling her close to him, shutting her squealing up with a kiss. “Are you, now?” He broke the kiss to ask her the question and got right back to kissing her like he had nowhere else to be.

He looked deep into her eyes, into her soul, like he was staring at their soul connection. She could almost feel the tug, the pull, like a physical thing, as he said, “My soul, my heart is yours, for however long I’m on this mortal plane, I bind it to you, Julia Jones.”

“And I to yours, Theodore Harrow.”

He grunted. “I think we need to do something about those last names ... seeing as we’re joined and all.”

She tilted her head. “Oh, yes?”

“Marry me, Julia.”

She didn’t know what she’d expected from his proposal, but this was it. This was perfect. No show, no pomp and circumstance, just the man she wanted to spend forever with, asking her simply. Her answer seemed to sing down their bond before she voiced it, and he smiled.

“Yes.”

He wiped the tear from her face and traced kisses where it had fallen.

That evening, surrounded by love, they toasted to their engagement.

Julia watched with a smile on her face as Camilla spread out a vast array of wedding magazines like a fan and was nattering to Theodore about the different types of wedding gown trim, and he looked as bewildered as the first day they met.

Julia bit her lower lip to keep from smiling too widely.

He looked up and caught her gaze, and it was like she was looking at the other half of her, the piece that had been missing all these years.

Yes, she was sure.