She caught her breath and slowly lifted her gaze. Her bright eyes shone with a sudden sheen of tears and cautious hope. “I feel the same,” she whispered. “Oh, Flynn. You have no idea how much those letters meant to me. How much my life centered around the thought of you.”
A crooked smile curved his lips. “I think I have some idea. You were my lifeline, Daisy. The only thing sweet and bright in my life.”
“I’m so sorry, Flynn.” Her voice broke, and his heart ached for the hurt he’d caused her, both now and in the past. “I never meant to lie to you, never meant to hurt you. I just cared about you so much.”
He grabbed her hands, holding them tight. “There’s nothing to apologize for. I understand why you did it, and I’m very grateful that you did. You gave me a reason to keep fighting, Daisy. You gave me something to live for.”
Her tears broke free, streaking down her cheeks as her beautiful dark eyes stared deeply into his own. “What are you saying, Flynn?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m saying that I fell in love with the girl who wrote those letters, Daisy. I’m sorry that I was so angry when I found out the truth. I just wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“I didn’t blame you,” she whispered, her tears falling harder. “What I did was inexcusable. I never should have lied to you.”
He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. “What’s in the past is in the past. I’m not worried about that. I just want to look forward to the future, and I can’t see that future without you.”
She trembled against him. “You can’t mean that, Flynn. You can’t.”
He sighed and pulled back just a bit, staring down into her beautiful face. He lifted his hand and touched the crown of flowers in her dark hair. “Oh, but I do, darling. I want us to start over, get to know each other for real this time. Please, tell me you’ll give me that chance.”
A sob broke through her. “Oh, Flynn. Nothing would make me happier.”
With a soft smile, he bent toward her, his lips hovering just an inch from her own. “May I kiss you? It feels as though I’ve been waiting all my life to kiss you.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Oh, yes.”
* * *
DAISY FELT AS THOUGHshe was in a dream, that she’d somehow conjured Flynn to the meadow with her desperate need of him. She’d hoped he’d come to the May Day celebration, had looked for him all day, then run off to the place where he and Violet had broken her heart to remind herself that he was not for her, had never been for her.
But now here he was, and he was asking to kiss her.
She could never tell him no. Perhaps it even made sense that this would be the place where he first did so. This place that had once hurt her so badly would be washed clean by this new understanding between them.
Leaning forward, she closed the last of the distance between them, pressing her lips to his. His mouth was warm and firm, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly as he showed her just how thorough a kiss could be. The dance of their mouths grew more and more intense, and when his tongue gently trespassed past her lips, she was at first shocked and then intrigued.
He tasted of mint and sunshine, of her every dream finally come true.
When at last they broke apart, gasping and trembling, all the fear and sadness she’d felt before had disappeared. Everything had changed, and she realized that she’d never be alone again.
He smiled, that beautiful smile that she’d first fallen in love with. “Will you go back to the celebration with me tonight? I’d like everyone to know that we’re courting.”
“Are we?” she whispered, her heart pounding in her chest, still shocked by how quickly things between them had changed. All her dreams were coming true, and she didn’t quite know how to handle it. “Are we really courting?”
He nodded and gave her another lingering kiss. “Daisy, please give me another chance. I promise that you won’t regret it.”
“Of course,” she whispered. And as he kissed her yet again, as she let herself get lost in the taste and feel of this man she’d loved for so long, she felt as though she truly was a queen.
