“Your kids.”
Zara swallowed hard, trying to push the lump growing in her throat. Warmth filled her chest, spreading across her body, enveloping her like a warm blanket on a frosty day.
Hektor powered through the song, dancing and singing with all his heart. He even jumped down from the bleachers, landed on the field and then ran around the band as they marched along.
As the song neared its end, he made his way to her, their gazes locking. They never broke contact the entire time. When he stood in front of her as he sang the last line, he never did take his eyes off her.
“Hektor…”
He handed the mic to Papá with a nod of thanks. “Zara, please. Will you listen to what I have to say? After this, I promise you, if you tell me to go away I shall never darken your door again.”
She could only nod as the lump in her throat grew thicker.
“Back in Drakkoria, I was confused and unsure, but not because I didn’t love you. I could explain it with so many words, we could be here all day. I could talk about how I was raised, how Drakkon culture had made it difficult for me to speak about my feelings.” He took a deep breath. “But those would just be excuses. The truth is, I was afraid of my own feelings. That I would be hurt again. But this time, with you, I couldn’t let it happen again because it would be different.”
“H-how?”
“Because you could hurt me more. Hurt me deeper. Because I love you.”
Before she could react, he took her hand and placed it on his chest.
“Someone once said to me that the heart cannot lie. So, Zara. What does my heart tell you?”
The urge to pull her hand back was strong.
She didn’t want to feel that emptiness again.
But she supposed, with everything Hektor had done at this point, it was worth giving him a second chance.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her palm into his rock-like chest. She held her breath, preparing to once again be assaulted by the cold emptiness.
But it wasn’t there.
No, his heart was now filled with warmth and sunshine and happiness and…
“I love you, Zara,” he confessed. “You are the love of my life. And I will love you beyond that, too, and if I were to be reborn into a new life, I would spend it finding you so we may be together.”
His heart spoke—no, itshoutedthe truth.
“Hektor.” Reaching up, she pulled his head down for a kiss. There was a desperation at first, the maddening urge to touch his lips to hers. Once their mouths did meet, she sighed with relief. The kiss turned frantic and breathless, their tastes and tongue mingling, arms winding around each other, trying to get as close as possible.
“Ahem.”
Zara and Hektor jumped apart. “Oh, Papá. And—Mom? Mr. Nelson?”
Her mother and Mr. Nelson stood just behind Papá. A fourth person also joined them, someone Zara had never seen before.
“I guess you two have made up.” Mom’s smile was as wide as the Grand Canyon. “Good job on the song, Hektor.”
“Thank you, Pam,” he grinned back. “And thank you, both of you, for helping me out.”
Papá patted him on the shoulder. “Our pleasure. Can I ask a favor, though?”
“Of course.”
“Please never sing it again in my presence.”
“Papá!” Zara admonished. “Hektor’s voice isn’t bad.”
