Reiter’s face was gentle. “I understand,” he said. “I would not ever wish to make you uncomfortable or do something you did not wish to do. If I have offended you or disturbed you in any way, I offer my sincerest apologies and will never mention it again.”
“No!” The exclamation came out of me before I had even thought it. I blushed and ducked my head a little. “I mean, that is… I am… flattered?” I wasn’t sure if that was the word I was searching for, my loquacious vocabulary suddenly failing me.
“Are you?” he asked.
“I believe I am. It is simply entirely new to me to feel this way.”
Reiter gave me a smile that sent a shiver down my back. “You are amazing, even if you do not realize it about yourself.”
I flushed again. “Surely not.”
“Ichabod. While I admit that my interactions have been limited for a number of years, I have not forgotten what humans are like. And I have not met one as clever and kind as you, either before or after my death.”
I licked my lips with the tip of my tongue, and it did not escape my notice that his eyes tracked the movement. “How can that be? I am a simple man.”
“Not to me,” Reiter said. Something in my chest felt warm as I gazed back at him.
“I am not saying no,” I ventured. “It is simply a lot to process on top of my precarious position.”
“I understand,” Reiter said again. “Take all of the time you need. If you do not return my feelings, I will not be offended or put out. I know that my own situation is hardly a favorable one.” We had circled back to the door of the church now, and he held it open for me to enter. I moved over to the fireplace to warm my hands, and he tossed several more pieces of wood onto it to build it up for me as I settled in front of it.
“When you were… alive, did you… keep the company of men?” I asked as he sat a few feet away. The question felt rude to ask, but my curiosity was getting the better of me, to learn more about this man, his lonely existence, and anything that he might remember from his life before his tragic curse.
Reiter smiled at that. “Yes,” he said. “Though, as far as I can remember, there was no one for whom I felt any sort of desire for a relationship. And, of course, the religious fervor made it difficult to find those willing to take the risk.”
I frowned thoughtfully as I pulled off my shoes to warm my feet. It was only the two of us here; no one would be able to enter the church and disturb us. We were free to discuss it as much as we liked. “I am sorry you had to endure such hatred. I know that love is not easy to find.”
“Is that sort of relationship more acceptable out there now?” he asked me curiously.
I sighed. “Not really. Some people don’t mind, but the religious leaders are still quite against it.”
Reiter laughed at that. “Of course, they are. But it is not like any of them helped me when I needed it either.” He sobered again, gazing solemnly at me with his dark brown eyes. “I have flustered you enough, but what are your feelings about love?”
I ran my hand through my hair as I thought about my answer. “I admit that I have never been much of a romantic. But if two people find each other and bring each other happiness, I wish every good thing upon them. We all deserve a little happiness in this world.”
Reiter’s mouth quirked a bit. “We do.”
I hesitated for a moment. The path ahead of me was so uncertain. Well, I realized, it was actually quite certain at this moment. I was going to die in the not-very-distant future. I felt something fluttering inside of me, though it was unfamiliar. “May I kiss you?” I asked Reiter before my nerves could get the better of me.
He blinked in surprise at that. “You wish to?”
I nodded. “I have not experienced it before. Perhaps it will give me further insight into my feelings.”
Reiter was silent for a moment before he said, “I would like it very much if you kissed me.”
“I do not promise anything more than that,” I warned.
He gave a soft chuckle. “I do not expect anything more.”
I smiled at that. He was not the monster of Sleepy Hollow. He was more the gentleman than any I had met in my travels. I looked over him, my lips curving into a frown as I registered the odd predicament. “How should I do it?” I asked, giving a vague wave of my hand at his disarticulated form.
Reiter coughed softly, his cheeks turning delightfully red. “Shall I hold my head in place?”
“That isn’t comfortable for you,” I pointed out.
“This is about you, not I,” he said.
I felt my own cheeks warm, and then heat further as I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to show him my level of comfort with his form. “May I hold your head?”
