His hands rose to cradle my face. Every instinct urged me to retreat; instead I found myself leaning into his touch. He gave me ample opportunity to pull away, to retreat behind caution and uncertainty.
I did none of those things as he slowly leaned closer. Rather, I found myself doing something I never would have imagined only days before. Instead of waiting for life to happen around me...I chose it and closed the final inch between us.
For one suspended moment, the world seemed to narrow to the quiet space between us. My pulse fluttered wildly as his gaze dipped briefly to my lips before returning to my eyes, silently asking permission.At my tentative nod, he smiled. Then, with all the tenderness in the world, he caressed my lips with his.
The moment his lips touched mine, something inside me unfurled. The kiss was tentative yet achingly gentle, a first step rather than a destination. Something settled into place, as though my heart had finally found the destination every map I’d ever drawn had secretly been leading towards. I had spent years believing maps existed to keep me from getting lost. Only now did I realize the truest map had always been my heart, patiently learning the way home.
I’d once believed the purpose of my heart was to be emptied, because empty hearts couldn’t be broken. But enfolded in his arms, I realized that a heart wasn’t something to protect from breaking, but something to fill. Gabe had become the person who taught me that a full heart, even one that risks grief, was infinitely richer than an empty one.
When we finally drew apart, I was left breathless. I found myself staring at him in wonder—not borrowed wonder, butmine. And for the first time, I understood why people were willing to risk heartbreak for moments like this.
His thumbs brushed away tears I hadn’t realized had fallen before moving to smooth back my hair. “Are you alright?” he murmured.
My arms instinctively tightened around him and I burrowed closer against his chest, wanting to stay suspended in this moment forever. “This feeling,” I whispered. “It’s so…”
There were no words to describe the thrill filling my heart—more potent than discovering the most beautiful landscape, sweeter than honey, and more delicious than any dessert I’d ever baked that I couldn’t be satisfied with a single taste.
There were no words adequate to describe it, only the desperate wish to hold it forever and never let it go. Everything in my life until this moment felt smaller by comparison. I wanted to preserve this feeling as more than a notation upon a map recorded in ink. I wanted to revisit it again and again; more than that, I wanted to create new moments alongside him—a map of life that didn’t end with each changing moon.
For the first time since the bakery had begun carrying me from place to place, I wasn’t thinking about recording this moment before it vanished. I simply wanted to remain inside it.
For years I had searched for beautiful places, carefully charting each one before the bakery carried me elsewhere. Yet I realized Gabe had somehow become my favorite destination of all—the place that felt most like home.
For a long moment I remained there, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath my ear, each conveying a message: love wasn’t the racing pulse, the fluttering anticipation, or the dizzying happiness threatening to carry me away. If that were true, then I could never have loved anyone before.
Yet I had. I loved Grandmother, Nutmeg, the people who came seeking help from my bakery, and the parents I’d lost. Notbecause I felt some grand emotion every moment of every day, but because I chose them, worried over them, remained beside them, and sacrificed for them.
Love wasn’t merely a feeling—it was a promise, a commitment to place another person’s happiness alongside your own. The realization settled over me with startling clarity: no matter how much I thought the magic stole from me, I always had love…it was only now that I finally realized it.
I finally tipped my head back to look into Gabe’s dear face. The joy shining in his expression left me awestruck and feeling incredibly cherished.
Was this also love? Even as I recognized it, I almost didn’t believe it could belong to me. My emotional numbness aside, we’d scarcely known one another for a few short weeks.
As though sensing my uncertainty, his expression softened. “Emotions don’t arrive fully formed,” he explained gently. “They’re like yeast added to dough to help it rise. At first the change is almost invisible. But gradually, given enough time and care, they grow into something larger than where they began.” His hand found mine and intertwined our fingers. “This is only the beginning, Cecelia. Love grows, but only if we nourish it. Please don’t sacrifice this feeling before you’ve had the chance to discover what it might become.”
I yearned to believe him and embrace his promise. Yet beneath the sweetness lurked an old familiar fear, bitter as burnt sugar hidden within an otherwise perfect confection. Loss, the same fear that had haunted me since my parents’ deaths—the fear that anything precious would eventually be taken away.
“There are spells to create,” I said quietly. “Customers who need help. Grandmother’s health continues to worsen. The bakery survives because of magic.”
The words sounded practical and reasonable. Yet even as I spoke them, I knew they weren’t the whole truth. I was afraidthat if I allowed myself to fully embrace this feeling, it would eventually be taken from me just as everything else had been.
I lowered my gaze. “And your curse still hasn’t been broken. The bakery will move again soon. Even if I wanted this...” My voice faltered. “What future could we possibly have?”
His expression grew fiercely determined, filled only with conviction. “No matter how many times the bakery moves, I’ll keep finding you.” The certainty in his voice stole my breath. “I’ll follow every trail. Search every forest. Cross every kingdom if I have to.” He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss against my knuckles, his gaze locked with mine. “I spent years wandering without purpose. But now I’ve finally found what I’ve been searching for.”
“Gabe—”
“Anything.” His voice was quiet. “I’ll truly do anything to stay with you.”
His words enfolded me, giving me the courage to venture beyond the certain path I’d relied on for so long. “I think I love you too,” I confessed. “I’ve loved you for a long time, even before I recognized what this feeling was.”
I closed my eyes as he tenderly stroked my hair, feeling that whether or not I could experience every emotion fully, I had finally learned what love meant…an emotion that was a gift more precious than anything I’d ever owned.
CHAPTER 17
The next morning I woke with hope and dread swirling through me in turn. Yesterday’s joy of realizing that Gabe and I loved each other sweetened the morning, but it was tempered by the sobering realization that the month was nearly over. Gabe and I had finally found one another, yet it seemed doubtful that we could be together while his curse remained unbroken and I was destined to follow the relentless movements of the bakery.
Tears filled my eyes as I looked out the window and noticed Gabe clearing some of the foliage that had begun to grow back over the path to the bakery. We’d had remarkably few customers this month in our remote location, but he still faithfully kept the way clear and marked in case anyone needed my services. I watched the person I loved, an ache tightening my chest. Was this the life we were meant to live—either wandering from place to place together, never finding a true home, or going our separate ways?
