“This will be a terribly long wedding trip.” Another smile flashes. “Whatdoyou remember? Help me see it.”
I close my eyes again and breathe. “Misty and floral and the smell of fish and…blue. But not just any blue—a very bright, iridescent blue. Almost…magical. No, celestial.” A sense of foolishness bubbles up inside. This sounds like a dream. “But an undertone of bright, bottle-green.” And it likely is. “And sparkles.”
I crack open one eye to see if he’s rolling his eyes, but his gaze is bright. He’s leaning in. “Cornwall. That’s most definitely Cornwall.”
I stiffen at the nearness of his barely-contained delight. Doesn’t he realize what he does to me? “Why Cornwall? There are beaches along every coast of England. It might be anywhere.”
“Merryn,” he says, tracing my knuckles with one fingertip. “Sing, luv. Close your eyes and sing the one you sing when you think no one’s looking.”
I draw a breath, pause to let my soul settle back into my body, and sing in the midst of the chaos.
First thing in the morning, on Chapel Carn Brea,
To gaze at the Scillies in the blue far away,
I am tangled up in the haunting melody, and the words fall from my lips.
For this is my Cornwall, and I’ll tell you why,
Because I was born here and here I shall die.
The song melts away after the verse resolves and my eyes blink open. AJ is watching, his face aglow. “You see? It would explain so much—you’re from Cornwall, my love.”
Cornwall.I taste that word. Perhaps I’ll put it in my jar. “Wherein Cornwall?” I shiver as the name slips on like a tailor-made gown.
“That’s what we must find. What do you say? Shall we go and fetch your past?”
I blink. “You mean…just ride along the whole coast? Without a schedule or a plan?”
“Correct.”
“And where’ll we stay? Are we certain there are inns along the way that’ll have us?”
“We’renotcertain.”
“AJ! We cannot make such a trip. It’s absurd. It’s—”
“Fun?”
“Absurd!”
“You said that already.”
“We can’t just—just—”
“And why not?”
I exhale. “And what if there’s nothing familiar in the whole of Cornwall? What then?”
He slides closer on the bench, eyes alight. “Then I shall have an exceptionally long time alone with my wife. And a better chance of convincing her of my husbandly merits.” He brushes his lips on my forehead, down the side of my face, and nuzzles my neck until I’m tingling. Breathless.
Then he rudely pulls himself away with a whoosh of frigid air and smiles at the warm desire on my face. “Keeping my distance. As promised.”
I must breathe normally.
“Boarding!”A huff of steam rolls over our feet.
“That one goes direct to Newquay, in far West Cornwall, I believe. I’d rather start at the beginning of Cornwall, but—” He jerks his head.
