“Absolutely.”
As he spoke, April listened—truly listened—allowing the sound of his voice and the rhythm of the story to wrap around her like a shawl. It was easy to forget her misgivings when he looked at her that way and when laughter settled between them like an old, shared secret. And yet, somewhere deep inside, she still felt like she was standing before a door he had not yet opened.
What are you keeping from me, Theo? And why does it feel like I’m afraid to find out?
She offered a story of her own next, recounting the time she and May tried to fashion a swing from bed curtains and landed directly in a fountain.
“The entire east wing smelled of lavender water for days,” she said with a grin.
Theo chuckled. “I rather think we would have been insufferable as children had we grown up together.”
“You mean more insufferable than we already are?”
He gave her a long, amused look. “You are not insufferable. You are?—”
But whatever he meant to say next faded as the wagon rolled deeper into the shallows, and April turned her head. The sky met the water in a seamless horizon, vast and shifting, endless.
Her hands clenched on her skirts. “I do not like this.”
“You are perfectly safe,” Theo said.
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
She couldn’t seem to draw in a full breath. The air felt thinner, the light too bright, the sound of waves too loud. Her eyes darted to the corners of the wagon.
It’s only water. Only the sea. You’re not alone. He is here. He won’t let anything happen.
Still, the memory of being submerged at the pond, the weight of her dress dragging her downward, stole into her mind with suffocating familiarity.
“I cannot breathe,” she whispered.
Theo shifted at once, taking her hands in his. “April. Look at me.”
She did.
“Good. Breathe with me.”
She tried. Her chest moved, but it wasn’t enough.
“Listen,” he said, his voice lower now. “You are not in the pond. You are not drowning. You are here with me.”
She nodded, still unsteady.Then he reached up and cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing the side of her face. His gaze dropped to her lips.
“If I kiss you now,” he murmured, “will it help or ruin everything?”
April’s heart stilled. He was so near, so tender, and his scent was wrapping around her like loving cloak.
I want you to kiss me. I have wanted it longer than I knew.
She gave a small nod, and he leaned in.Just before his lips met hers, April closed her eyes to truly live the moment.
Let this be real.
Thirty-Five
Theo kissed her.
And it was everything she had ever hoped for. Warm and sure, the press of his lips made the world fall away. The sea, the wagon, the salt on the air—all vanished beneath the slow miracle of his mouth on hers.
