Page 94 of The Soul Never Forgets

He moans my name, and I know that in that moment, I’m his everything all at once. Because that’s what he is for me.

He and I are fused, two hearts beating as one, and I promise myself—and him—that it will always be like this between us.

I shatter beneath him as he continues to move. My second climax prompts his first and he finds his release inside me. Again. And that’s where he stays until he becomes soft and eventually slides out.

Dawsey supports his weight on his lower arms, hovering above me, and gazes down into my eyes. “I love you, Cara. I have from the moment I laid eyes on you. The words have been in my heart and soul since that day in my office, but I was afraid. I couldn’t say the words until now because it’s been hard for me to wrap my head around. It was so confusing in the beginning. And then when I did understand what was happening, I didn’t want to say ‘I love you’ because it was the fated thing to do. I wanted to choose you. Idochoose you. And I want you to choose me.”

“Fate has written our love in the stars, and nothing can keep us apart but I choose you, Dawsey. Not because we’re fated to be together but because I love you.”

Dawsey presses a quick kiss against my lips. “I have something for you.”

“Another surprise?”

Dawsey chuckles. “Yes and no, but don’t be afraid. I’m not taking you anywhere.”

“Good thing because there’s no way we’re leaving this bed tonight. I’m not done with you yet.”

He moves over and reaches for something on the nightstand and then sits on the bed beside me, his hand palm-side up, holding out a black velvet box.

“Dawsey––”

“I choose you to be my wife.” He cracks open the box, revealing the most perfect filigree engagement ring, the center stone square. “Caroline Alexis Beaumont, will you marry me?”

No hesitation. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Again. And again. And again.”

He removes the ring from the box and slides it down my finger. “It fits.”

“Of course it fits. You’re good at this by now.”

“It’s different from the one Gussy wore.”

Frank was poor when he and Augustina married. It wasn’t until later that he had enough money to buy her a nicer wedding ring. By that time, she wasn’t willing to part with the one he gave her when they eloped.

I study the ring for a moment, admiring the way it looks on my hand. “This ring is perfect for this lifetime. I love it.” I sit up and reach for his face, cupping my hands on each side of his cheeks, placing a kiss on his mouth. “I love you so much, Dawsey.”

“And I love you, Cara.”

“We’re staying the night in the former Lebeau house, made an offer on a house, and got engaged. All in a single day. This has been an eventful getaway.”

“Indeed it has been.”

“This has been the best day of my life, and it’s because of you.”

“And to think we wouldn’t be together if you hadn’t kept pushing for the truth about what happened to Gussy. She would have died in 1939, and that would have been that.”

“I’ve been thinking about something lately, and it bothers me a little.”

“What is it, my love?”

“History was changed, which means Frank lived until the year you were born and Gussy lived until the year I was born. But Gussy originally died in 1939 and Frank originally died in 1985. You would have been born again in 1985, and I would have been reborn in 1939. I think that means there were lifetimes for us that… I don’t know, were skipped. Or disappeared from history.”

“I’ve never considered that.”

“If that’s the case, what does it mean?”

“I have no idea. I only know that we wouldn’t be together here and now if you hadn’t done the things you did. I have no regrets about you living out a full life as Gussy. And I also have no regrets about not spending my life in the penitentiary for a crime I didn’t commit.”

“I know. I don’t have regrets either, but it’s something I think about sometimes.”

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