I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet as I wait to disembark the ship. My trip back to Faerwyvae—to my new home—was perfect. No storms, no delays. My citizenship has been approved and processed by all necessary means. I’m already cleared by customs. Everything has been so easy, I fear something will inevitably go wrong.
And if anything were to go wrong, it would be…
William.
Not that I have any reason to believe that will happen. We’ve exchanged letters as promised over the last six months, and even though his physical distance was a constant ache in my chest, our emotional proximity never wavered. Not once. If anything, we’ve grown closer. After three months of our correspondence, Will sent me a poem. It was a humorous limerick harkening back to the poems we edited in my annotated copy ofA Portrait ofJune, all about the baby carrot in love with the redhead. In this one, the carrot asked his lover to share a home with him.
Which is when I realized…
That was Will’s way of asking me to live with him once I returned.
I’ve never kicked my feet so hard or squealed so loud as I did then.
That excitement hasn’t abated in the slightest, nor have William’s reminders of his affection and anticipation of our life together.
But I’ve felt this before, haven’t I? Certain of a man’s affection based on his words in writing?
William isn’t Dennis, I remind myself, and my anxiety eases. This isn’t the first time I’ve faced fears regarding our relationship, and it’s gotten easier to move past them. It helps that William has already seen and loved the real me.
His face is the first I see when I finally emerge from the ship onto the pier. He stands amongst all the other figures waiting to greet loved ones. Everything inside me yearns to race ahead, but that would break protocol. Not only that, but without the escort of a full fae immigration officer to usher me through the invisible perimeter of protective magic that surrounds the isle, I’d find myself slamming into an unseen wall. I do my best to maintain my composure as the officer slowly walks me down the pier.
William’s eyes lock on mine, his grin as wide as my own. As soon as the officer nods for me to proceed, I run the rest of the way to my beloved. He lifts me in his arms at once, pressing his lips to mine as he spins me in a circle. Our cheeks are wet with tears, my spectacles crooked as he sets me down on my feet.
“You’re really here,” he says, voice choked. “I missed you so damn much.”
“I missed you too,” I say, swiping at my cheeks and eyes to get a better look at him. He’s even more beautiful than Iremembered, his dark hair in windswept disarray, his earrings sparkling in the midday sunlight, his eyes as bright as the sea behind us.
He pulls away and pushes an enormous bouquet of peonies into my arms. “These are for you.”
“Are these intentional,” I ask with a wry grin, “or are you just happy to see me?”
“Both.”
I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him again.
“All right, all right. You’ve had your sweet reunion.”
I recognize Cassie’s voice and angle my head to see her strolling toward us, cane in hand. My heart stutters as my eyes fall on the three other figures with her.
“Can we interrupt now?” Zane asks, a bright smile on their face.
“Welcome home,” says Jolene. She has her arm linked through an unfamiliar—yet incredibly handsome—man’s arm.
“Jolene!” I say. “This must be your husband.”
William and I aren’t the only ones who kept a correspondence while I was in Bretton. I wrote to Jolene too, sharing details of my romance with William—details I admit I may have laced with boasting—while she told me about the start of a very happy marriage.
“Edwina,” Jolene says, “this is George. George, this is Edwina Danforth, my dear friend and romance author.”
I greet him with a handshake, then pull the others into hugs one at a time. I’ve never been one for hugs, but I’ve also never really had friends either. Even with my college friends, I was always the odd one out due to my own choices, valuing writing over socializing. After we graduated, I never reached out to keep in touch with any of them.
Now, more and more, I’m learning to value other things aside from my career.
“It’s so lovely to see you all again,” I say, though my chest tightens at Monty and Daphne’s absence. We’ve kept in touch, but I doubt either could be here today. Both have been quite busy at Fletcher-Wilson headquarters lately. I’ll still see them plenty when I meet with my publisher.
With more passengers being escorted down the pier, the sidewalk is getting crowded. Zane links their arm through mine, and we make our way toward the heart of Port Dellaray, the busiest port town in the Summer Court. William and I will be staying here for a night while we wait for my luggage to be brought from the ship to our hotel. Then after that…
I glance over my shoulder at William. He walks with Cassie, his hands behind his back, probably to keep his overprotective tendencies at bay. “Where will we go after this?”
