The Hidden - Jessica Verday [89]
The hour was fading. And my heart started to hurt.
“Astrid,” he said suddenly, shifting his body away from mine. “I have something for you.” He reached into his jeans pocket. I could tell by the change in his body language that he was nervous.
I sat up. “What is it?”
He held out his hand, opening his fingers slowly, and there sat a ring.
The stone was oval-shaped, a color somewhere between ruby red and pink grapefruit. Delicate filigreed scrolls of dark metal flared out around it, holding the jewel in place. Eight tiny matching jewels dotted the edges. Even in the dim light, it sparkled.
“It was my grandmother’s,” he said softly. “My dad gave it to me a long time ago, and I kept it safe in the treasure box that we found back at my old house. I can’t exactly ask you to marry me, as much as I want to, since I spend most of my time hidden from the rest of the world.” I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he shook his head. “Just let me finish.”
I nodded, and he continued. “But I want you to have it as a promise of my forever. Whatever that is. Whatever I can give you. You have all of it. All of me.”
I held out a shaky left hand, and he slipped the ring onto my hand. It fit perfectly.
I reached out to cup his face, the ring solid on my finger. Like it had always been there. “I promise you forever too,” I vowed. “Whatever that is. Whatever I can give you. You have all of it. All of me.”
“Astrid,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “Astrid …”
I closed mine too, and our lips met, clung. Frantic words of love and eternity passed between us. Utterances of sacred vows that meant more than anything we’d ever said before. And when I started to taste salt, I knew where it came from.
I didn’t bother to wipe the tears off my face.
Chapter Twenty-three
THE DAY AFTER
The hour was as dismal as himself.
—“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
My feet were cold, and I wondered why the blankets weren’t covering them up all the way. I tried to dig my toes further into the bedsheets, but felt only a hard surface beneath me. Eyes opening, I looked around.
I was outside, on the porch swing. A flannel blanket was sliding off me.
Caspian sat on the front steps, staring out into the yard. He must have heard me moving, because he turned around. “Morning, beautiful.”
“Morning.” I wrapped the blanket more securely around my shoulders and walked down to sit next to him. “Sorry I fell asleep.”
His smile was sad. “It’s okay.”
Without even thinking, I leaned my head against him. Or at least tried to.
The sensation of falling over hit me, and I jerked upright. Our time was over. It was November second. He couldn’t touch me anymore.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide the tears, so I quickly stood up. “I’m going inside. I need to …”
But I couldn’t finish. I raced for the safety of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the toilet lid, weeping until my heart couldn’t break anymore and I had no tears left to cry.
When I was done, I still didn’t feel any better. All I wanted was to be able to talk to someone. Someone who had been through this. Someone who knew exactly what I was feeling. Katy. Go talk to Katy.
Katy was the perfect person to talk to! She had been in my situation. Exactly.
Stumbling to my feet, I barely managed to remember to run upstairs and get dressed. Caspian was sitting at the window seat, looking out the window. He must have come up while I was in the bathroom.
“I’m going to take a walk,” I said.
But he didn’t respond.
I threw on a different pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Grabbing my jacket, I went over to him. “Hey,” I said softly. “Are you ignoring me?”
He looked up at me, eyes faraway. “What? No. Sorry. I’m just distracted. Thinking.”
I wanted to touch his hand. His face. Anything. Instead I stuffed my hands deep into my pockets. “I won’t be gone long,” I told him.
“Where are you going?