Page 48 of If The Fates Allow
With Noah.
“That sounds amazing.”
“Dr. Parsons had actually offered me a job directly before I came down here, and if you do well in the area of his practice, I mean to take him up on it.” He rubbed his nose against hers. “So, tell me, Wilhelmina Fairweather. Will you be content being the wife of a lowly Ohio doctor?”
She pretended to think on the matter. “I’m not sure, but I will try my best.”
“Oh, will you?” He tickled her ribs, eliciting a squeal. “Well, I will have to do my best to keep you satisfied.”
Willa wrapped her legs around him. “I can think of a few ways you can keep me satisfied,” she said.
“No, you harlot,” he teased. “You’ll be too sore, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“But I would very much like to do more screaming,” she confessed, prepared to beg shamelessly. “Can we do other things?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Chapter 15
“Are you sure you want to just run off and not speak to your parents first?”
They were standing at the edge of the forest with Haven House resting quietly just beyond the lane. Willa felt what was now becoming a familiar jolt of terror whenever she thought of running off. She wondered if Grace had felt the same and how she’d overcome that raw fear.
“My parents would never understand.” He’d given further details of his family as they talked between their more intimate moments. Noah’s parents sounded lovely and quite normal—nothing at all like her own. “I’m sorry.”
“I only hate for them to lose two daughters the same way.”
Movement caught her eye in the dense forest behind him, and Willa stared at it. “They won’t.”
His large hand cupped her cheek, and he watched her intently, likely concerned with how pale she’d gone. “Are you able to breathe?”
Able to breathe? With him? Noah allowed her to fly—to soar—higher than she ever dreamed. Her eyes searched the void of darkness forming behind him, wanting it to understand how in love she was with this man. How she could never survive without him.
“I love you very much, Noah.”
Winding her arms around his neck, Willa kissed him, not wanting the night to end just yet. They had a few more minutes until the clock struck three, and the comforting pressure of his mouth on hers was all she needed to get through.
But then the song began softly.
Carrying through the midnight black of the forest, it mingled with the wind, gently tossing the branches above their heads. She had found peace in Grace’s song earlier, but now, with what would become the most monumental decision of her life looming, that peace shifted into dread as she finally understood.
Grace’s song.
A lullaby.
First sung by Bonnie, it was a melody for newborn babes, warning of life’s tumultuous paths should they not obey their parents. It was a tune each of them knew by heart, but Grace made the song beautiful with her enchanting voice.
Ending their kiss, Willa held Noah tight, keeping him as the only thing in her line of sight. “Can you hear her?”
His brows knitted together as he listened. “Jennie and Cal must be in the forest.”
“That’s not Jennie singing.”
He felt it then, his eyes going wide. The darkness. The past returning to haunt them. It was curious, pressing in to get a better look. To his credit, Noah stood perfectly still, his grip on her becoming like a vice.
“I lied to you,” Willa whispered. “We’ve lied to everyone.”
His gaze slid to the right as if assessing what was coming up from behind. “Willa?”
