Fable stared at him. He was bluffing, of course. He’d just gotten his father back, and was about to find his mother. He would never leave them now. Would he? No! She wouldn’t lethim stay behind when they returned home. But that meant she would have to say goodbye to him and watch him leave her. How could she?
She quickly swiped a falling tear or two from her cheeks and looked away to slow her thrashing heart, missing the tender way Ben and Bernadette gazed at her.
“Do something,” Ben said to the waitress. “Help us. Send her back with me and I will do everything I can to save Captain Ashmore. You have my word.”
“I’ll do my best to help.” Bernadette turned to Fable and expelled a sigh. “I don’t know all the details, but you’re here for a purpose. I get why you went back–it was to save this man…and my relative. You’ve changed this hardened warrior and if Thoren lives, it will be because of you. I’ll remind my Aunt Tess of that.”
She was here for a purpose. Her. A homeless, illiterate beggar. She was important and not only to Ben but for another man who came to life in her mind, her heart raced at the sound of his name.Thoren Ashmore.Fable had the feeling that Bernadette knew more and wasn’t saying. Did Bernadette know who the two red-haired girls were? But instead of questioning the waitress further, Fable smiled at her. “Can you really communicate with animals?”
Bernadette nodded. “Not as well as my grandmother. I’m kind of new at this.”
“Witchcraft!” Ben’s father blurted out angrily.
“It is not!” Bernadette defended. “Men like you were responsible for the deaths of many women believed to be witches because they were able to do what you couldn’t.”
“Killing the likes of you is better than falling under the whims of witches,” he countered. “Just look at my family for proof. Look at the life of this poor soul.” He touched his finger to Fable’s arm. “You or your kind obviously dragged her into this. Did any of you think about her feelings…or Benjamin’s?”
Bernadette said nothing but stared at the table. Finally, she said in a small, soft voice, “If you meet Lizzie tonight, put all your questions to her.” And with that, she rose and went to another table to take an order.
Ben had had enough and took Fable’s hand to lead her out. “Let’s go find this Lizzie.”
His father agreed and the three left the diner without another word to Bernadette.
Before they stepped outside, Fable turned to look over her shoulder. Bernadette’s gaze found hers. Fable wasn’t angry with her, or suspicious of some malicious plot. No, rather she felt a comforting closeness with the waitress and an unexplained familiarity with a dead stranger named Thoren Ashmore. She smiled at Bernadette and then followed Ben out.
Lizzie’s B&B wasn’t far from the diner. Fable led her two companions onward, stopping now and then to say hello to a dog someone was walking.
She didn’t feel the need to hurry up and meet Lizzie and find out things she didn’t think she was prepared to hear. But they did finally arrive at the quaint townhouse that served as a B&B. Thankfully, Lizzie wasn’t there. After a call to Bernadette, the girl who introduced herself as Harper and checked them in didn’t charge them for either of their rooms, one for Ben to share with his father and one for Fable. They had nothing to unpack and after washing up they met in the hall and headed out to do a little sightseeing. The Lt. Colonel wasn’t up for the walk and hoped they would forgive him for staying behind to rest.
Assuring him that him they would, they left the B&B happily with Ben’s arm around the back of Fable’s waist. They walked back to the east side and she answered Ben’s endless questions about electricity, colored lights, video billboards, quietly flushing toilets, and a dozen other things.
He also seemed especially interested in where the nearest church was. When they came to one, he pulled her toward the entrance. “Fable.” He smiled at the sound of her name coming from his lips and drew her into his arms. “I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.”
She thought of what Bernadette had said about her possibly not being sent back. “But, Ben–”
He stopped her by gently pressing his index finger to her lips. “I will not be separated from you. I will not leave without you, Fable. Trust me.”
Yes, she would. He hadn’t let her down yet. He even followed and found her in the future. She looked into his eyes. She’d known from the day she woke up in his kitchen and looked into his eyes that he had a kind heart entrapped by cool detachment. Each day in his care proved her first opinion of him was correct. He’d protected her from his sister, let her beat him at fencing, read with her by candle light on the rose-strewn floor of his bedroom–where she bound herself to him.
“Let’s go inside and speak our vows of marriage before the Lord God’s eyes.”
She nodded at his smile and let him lead her into the church.
They didn’t speak before a priest, but before God they vowed to love each other until they died–with Ben assuring her they would live long, happy lives.
When they left the church, Fable’s heart leapt within her every time she thought of being his wife. And it broke for the same reason. She remembered Bernadette’s prophetic words. But Fable didn’t need a woman with whatever powers she possessed to tell her she’d never be accepted by Ben's family. She was friends with his father, but the Lt. Colonel knew how she felt when it came to his son. He hadn’t offered her his blessingto marry Ben. Marrying Ben meant being married to people who looked down on her too much to let them be happy.
She straightened her spine as they walked. His arm tightened around her waist. He smiled at her. “What is it, my love?” he asked.
She would do anything for him, give anything for him, but she wouldn’t let him leave the beloved parents he’d just found, and was about to find. He’d be stuck here with her for the rest of their days. He’d never see his family again.
“Loving you sometimes overwhelms me,” she confessed.
He leaned down toward her face and ran his fingers over a tear rolling down her cheek. “I’ll carry you if that’s what you need, Fable.”
She shook her head. “I like walking with you.” She curled her arms through his and kept her pace even with his. “What will you tell your father?”
“The truth. I think he will be happy for us,” he told her with a reassuring smile. “No more worrying over my family. I’m all you need.”
