Morana…
“Well, that was interesting,” I venture.
“That would be one way to put it,” Cameron agrees dryly.
We’re walking hand in hand in Iveagh Gardens, a secret paradise in the middle of the city. “This reminds me a lot of what Central Park was meant to be in New York City,” I say, “but magical in a way that can only come from being three hundred years old with waterfalls and a proper yew maze.”
“Look at you, ya’ beautiful botanist,” he grins, leaning down for a kiss. He made up for two hours of Nolan O’Rourke’s company by taking me to Love Lane to see the artwork inspired by shameless romantics and then this beautiful place.
“Do you feel like…” I’m searching for the right way to ask something so serious, even though I know it’s going to ruin this beautiful bubble he’s created for me. “Are you on the right course? Do you know where this is all going to end?”
Cameron gives me the courtesy of thinking about it. “Aye. I’ve gone over this battle plan with my brothers and our lieutenants for countless hours. I can recite every move, every step, it’s ingrained in my memory so deep I’ll never pry it out again. We have gone over every action and counter-move they could make. I know how this will end. And it will be soon.”
He slows to a stop, holding my hands. “I dinna’ want this to overshadow the rest of our night.”
“I know. I’m grateful though, and oddly, I’m happy.”
Frowning, he cocks his head. “How so, wife?”
“Because you trusted me with the truth, and because I should have seen this so much sooner. I should have known,” I say sadly. “I could have tried to help these girls, maybe I could have saved so many of them if I’d not been so stubbornly blind.”
“No, you dinna’ blame yourself. Ivanov kept you away at school for all those years for a reason. He would never risk you discovering what he was doing and making a run for it. He wanted to keep you complacent, right up to the point he sold you off to that vile old feck Stepanov. But now ya’ know. And you have already been invaluable.”
“I want to do more,” I say. “Will you train me to be stronger? I can go on missions with you, or work with these girls in rebuilding their lives.”
“Lass, ya’ need not-”
“No, husband. I do. I have to redeem myself for all those years I knew nothing. When I did nothing.”
Cameron smiles down at me, and there’s light in his eyes that illuminates him and makes me see what those terrified girls must experience when he rescues them. A second chance at life.
“I have one more place to show you tonight,” he says, kissing me tenderly.
“Oh?” It’s nearly midnight and I’ve been thinking a lot about that enormous suite he booked for us at the Clontarf Castle Hotel.
“We canna leave Dublin without paying homage to the patron saint of lovers,” Cameron grins, pulling me into the Carmelite Church. It’s closed, but a priest is waiting for us by the massive front doors.
“Welcome, my children. I’m Father O’Cleary. I understand you would like to take a moment at the shrine of Saint Valentine?”
I grin up at my suddenly romantic husband. “Thank you, Father, we would.”
We stand together in front of the shrine with the beautiful painting of St. Valentine in robes of red and white gazing down on us, and the smell of roses and beeswax candles perfume the air. There’s such a peace here, a comforting presence. Finally, Father O’Cleary gently clears his throat. “There is one last place your husband wished you to see.”
We walk in the tiny chapel to the front of the altar, a glowing pathway of candles guiding our way.
“I- what’s happening?” I look around awkwardly, unsure what I’m expected to do.
“I would like to marry you, Mrs. MacTavish,” Cameron says gravely.
Barely stopping myself from rolling my eyes, which seems very disrespectful in front of this kindly priest, I say, “We are. Married, I mean. You convinced me of that, you know.”
“Aye,” he kisses my hand, “but I will always want to marry you again.”
This is… so absurdly, beautifully romantic that I’m speechless. They both wait for me to regain my senses, and I nod, trying not to break into a round of unseemly tears. We say our vows again, he slips my ring back on my finger and I carefully place his wedding band back on his.
Looking at his beautiful face in the candlelight, I know that when I spoke the vows of love tonight, I truly meant them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
