Page 111 of Thrones We Steal

I lob a clod of dirt back and forth between my hands, waiting until she has another hole ready for planting. She insisted she be the one to do the digging, saying she has the expertise needed for proper hole depth. Apparently I can’t be trusted to estimate twelve inches.

“I tried to make it work with Beck, I swear. But Henry brings me to life in a way I didn’t even know existed. When I’m with him, I feel like I’m waking from a hundred-year-old spell.”

“He’s your great love.”

The great chasm in my chest shifts, reminding me of its presence, just in case I get too comfortable. “How do I turn it off?”

At this, she cackles. “Turn off love? Oh honey, that would be like turning off the sun. Which I wish was a possibility at the moment,” she mutters as she scoots over to start a new hole.

“Okay, then. How do I forget about him? For real this time. Not that nonsense about taking a new lover. I feel like I’m drowning on land.”

“Why do you need to forget him?” She stares at me, a quizzical expression on her face, or that might just be the sunlight making her squint in spite of the giant straw hat on her head.

“Haven’t you been listening to anything I just said? He filed for divorce. He doesn’t want me. He’s currently hooking up with my sister and probably half of London as we speak.” I plop the plant down in the empty hole with more force than necessary.

She grunts as she struggles to pull a large stone from the hole she’s digging. I’d offer to help her, but I value my own neck too much to imply she needs assistance.

“If you think for a second he filed for divorce because it’s what he wants and not what he thinks you want, you’re not as bright as I gave you credit for.”

I choose not to be offended by that comment. “Let’s be honest. Henry isn’t the type to settle down and stay married to one woman for the rest of his life. This annulment is as much in his favor as mine.”

“No, not just any woman. But I’d bet my villa in the Mediterranean he’d do it for you.”

“That’s not very reassuring, considering we’re currently sweating enough to fill the Mediterranean.”

“Do you really think his filing for annulment had absolutely nothing to do with your plans to do the same?”

“He doesn’t know anything about that.”

“You’re positive?”

My shoulders pull downward in tandem with my mouth. “I can’t afford to hope for an alternative.”

“Celia, I have never known you to give up so easily without a fight.”

I remove another bush from its pot. “I don’t want to fight for Henry. It’s humiliating.”

“Sometimes the greatest battles are won through humility.”

I’m not in the mood for thought-provoking quotes or mind-numbing questions. I need a way to move forward. “He’s already rejected me twice. I don’t have it in me to try a third time.” I hold up my hand to stop her next words. “Please. Please, don’t say third times the charm.”

A sardonic smile plays at the edges of her mouth. “I was only going to ask if you’re afraid of the challenge or the potential outcome.”

“What makes you think I’m afraid?”

“Your body language screams it, dear.” She waves her trowel at me.

I force my shoulders to relax back into their normal position and soothe the muscles of my face into an expression that hopefully looks less like I want to murder someone. I throw in a smile for good measure.

She watches this procedure with scrutiny. “Better. But you still didn’t answer my question. Are you scared of approaching Henry or what he’ll say if you do?”

“I know what he’ll say.”

She tosses her trowel to the ground and turns to face me. “Celia.” She would have made a great headmistress. “Think of the most famous love stories of all time. Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Romeo and Juliet. Heathcliff and Catherine. Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara.”

“Common denominator?” I grumble. “They all ended in tragedy.”

“Wrong.” She wipes her brow with the back of her wrist. “Okay, you’re right, but the point is, none of them would have been happy with anyone else. Even your own Helena put her life at risk to be with the man she loved because she knew she couldn’t be happy any other way. How many people get to experience a great love? You do. And you’re throwing it away.”

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