Nathaniel
PS - I hope the reason you are not writing is not because your father’s next apprentice has stolen your heart away from me.If that is the case, be aware, because I shall be coming back as soon as I am able to steal it right back, no matter how many times I have to trip you.
A tear ran down her cheek, and she wiped it away, even as she smiled at his words.
They had been so young and naive.Perhaps she should have known better than to expect nothing would change with distance.But that was the foolishness of youth, wasn’t it?To think that everything would go well simply because you were in love.
And if she had not fallen in love with Nathaniel, she wouldn’t be the person she was today—even if the person she was today was less optimistic about the world than she might have been, had she not had her heart broken.
But it hadn’t been Nathaniel’s choice to break her heart, and he had proved over and over again in the past years he still had feelings for her.
He was willing to do whatever it took to show her—even, for instance, coming into her room to bring her food and water because she was sick, and taking care of her cat, and giving her a discount on the rent for her building.
Not that she was supposed to know about that, but she’d asked Gertrude.The rent she paid was significantly lower than the previous tenant had paid before he passed away.
Nat still loved her.He had proven it again and again.
And now she could decide to love him again—even if it meant risking her heart breaking again.
It would be worth it to love Nathaniel and to be loved by him.
She sighed as she picked up the next letter.
It had only taken one letter to bring her to this realization.What was the next letter going to reveal?
My darling Thea,
We lost my father today.He went on longer than the doctor thought he would—long enough for him to continue to remind me that he thinks Roan is my superior, and long enough for him to put the tavern entirely in Roan’s name.
But I suppose I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.So instead, I will think of better things to come.
I’m looking forward to coming back to you and your family, and I hope that in my absence, the bakery has thrived.
Though I’ll admit, I hope that you have not thrived without me.
Unfortunately, I cannot leave yet.My mother needs me.
But as soon as I am able, I will return to the bakery.
Return to you, my love.
I cannot say how much I miss you.I miss the way your smile lights up the room, especially because your smile is so often hard-won, and I miss the way you feel in my arms.
I miss kissing you.
Your love,
Nathaniel
Thea started work the next morning with a pounding headache.
She had stayed up far too late reading Nathaniel’s letters and crying over them.It was perhaps not the best thing to do when you were recovering from being ill, but she hadn’t been able to stop.There was letter after letter where he poured out his heart, where he told her about his mother passing and about his struggles with Roan, trying to not let him help with the tavern, and needing something of his own.
He’d written about starting the orphanage, and how she had inspired him when they had visited Lady Manning’s home all those years ago and met the tiny orphan Sophia.
Thea had startled at the reminder.She’d forgotten that they had met Sophia long before she had come to the Northlands and become Lord Rendon’s goat girl.Sophia must not have remembered her, or she would have said something over the years.But now that she had truly become who she was meant to be and found the love of her life, maybe a reminder of the past wouldn’t be unwelcome.
And the thought that they had crossed paths in Riyel, and then again in the Northlands, was too much of a coincidence to not mention to her friend.
