Page 13 of However Long the Wait (Sweet Treat Novellas #4)
G rant felt the shortening of days acutely as the summer wound to its inevitable conclusion.
Carina had not said what she intended to do.
Did she have reason enough to remain in Wilkington?
Her efforts in the Ladies’ Aid Society would be greatly missed by the people she’d helped.
Miss Chadwick would sorely miss her; the two ladies had become dear to each other.
The area’s many gardens and vistas would be the lonelier were she to leave.
None of that pressed on Grant’s heart as he made his way along the pond in the east garden of Chadwick House. Many people would miss her, but Grant would be devastated, broken. He knew what it was to lose her; he could not bear it again.
She stood precisely where she always did before their evening walks in the gardens.
Here in Wilkington, they’d claimed a spot as their own, just as they had in Rafton.
When he last met her in their designated place five years earlier, he ran to her, spinning her about with unfettered excitement.
He’d been so certain of the future then.
This time, he was the one facing the possibility of her departure. The prospect tore at him. He’d tried so hard over the past weeks to win back her regard. He felt he’d succeeded to a degree. But was it enough? Would it ever be?
“Good evening,” he said.
She smiled softly. Uncertainty tore at Grant’s nerves. He meant to ask her about her plans, her future. Their future. Though the answer might break his heart, he had to know.
“I have something for you.” He swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat.
“Have you?”
He pulled from his jacket pocket a folded and sealed letter and held it out to her.
“A letter?” She eyed it with obvious confusion.
“The letter I ought to have sent you five years ago.”
She took it but didn’t immediately open it.
Grant took a fortifying breath. “The summer is all but over, and I know full well you might be leaving. Too much was left unsaid a half-decade ago; I cannot let that happen again.”
Her hands shook a little as she flipped the letter over and broke the seal. The wind tugged hard at them both, whipping the tree branches and bushes nearby, not unlike the day they’d parted in Rafton. How he hoped this evening would bring greater happiness than that day.
She did not read his words aloud. She didn’t have to. Grant knew the short missive by heart.
My darling Carina,
I love you. I know there are more elegant and poetic ways of expressing what is in my heart, but urgency compels me to unromantic frankness.
I have loved you all these years. Losing you left a hole in my very heart—one that you and you alone can fill.
Whatever you choose to do, wherever you choose to go, know that I love you with all my soul and will do everything in my power to make certain you never doubt that.
Your affectionate and loving,
Grant
She did not look up for several long moments, far longer than was required to read the single paragraph. Her wide-brimmed bonnet hid her face, rendering him unable to see, let alone interpret, her expression. Had he said too much? Too little?
“Do you wish for me to remain?” She spoke quietly without looking at him.
“I wish for you to be happy.”
“That is not what I asked.” She met his gaze at last. She watched him so intently he wasn’t even certain she was breathing. “Do you wish for me to remain?”
He took her hands in his. “My darling, I walked away from you—from us—five years ago. I lost everything that mattered to me. Second chances are rare in this world. I doubt fate will give us a third.”
Worry pulled at her brow and the corners of her mouth.
“Allow us a chance to grow closer and find each other again.” He closed his eyes as he tenderly kissed her fingers. “Please stay, my beloved. Please stay.”
“Your letter says that you love me.”
He looked at her once more, hoping she could see and feel the sincerity of his words. “Of course I do. I love you, Carina Herrick. I love you with every breath, with every thought.”
Her smile blossomed once more. “I’ve waited years to hear you say that.”
“I should never have left it unsaid so long. I never will again. Not ever.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Will you stay?”
“I would not wish to be anywhere else.”
He bent and brushed a kiss to her cheek.
She set her hands on his chest, gazing into his eyes, then slipped her arms about his neck. “I love you, Grant Ambrose.”
He kissed her as the sun set. Fate had, indeed, been kind. He’d lost the love of his life, and the heavens had crossed their paths once more. Life would, no doubt, bring difficulties and worries in the years to come, but neither of them would face those challenges alone again.