Page 107 of Fall for You
Pausing for a moment, she turned to look through the trees and could see Rose in her mind’s eye. Her voice rose through the branches as she smiled up at the sun, her arms outstretched.
No wonder Charlie fell instantly in love with her.
With a dreamy sigh, she hunched down beside the box, fully meaning to safely stow the letters and then go before anyone realized she was gone.
But one glimpse of Rose’s letters tucked inside the treasure chest and she couldn’t help herself. She sank down next to the tree and sifted through them. Rose and Charlie’s letters side by side. The sight had her tearing up.
Eric would laugh if he saw her. The thought of his response had her swiping away the tears with a wobbly smile.
He hated tears. But he was so sweet in the face of them. So much gentler and kinder than she ever would have imagined when they’d first met.
With a sniffle, she read Charlie’s first letter and then Rose’s reply.
She didn’t stop until she reached the end. But it was a bittersweet feeling. There was no resolve. No answers.
All she knew for certain was that they’d both died, and that their love story had ended in tragedy.
But if it hadn’t…
If they had survived…
Would it still have been a tragedy?
Not for the two of them, maybe. But for the families?
They would have had to cut ties with their parents and siblings in order to be together. Surely their families never would have understood, which meant no matter how this love story ended, someone paid a very high price.
There was still loss…a breaking of trust.
Had that already happened before they left, or would it all have come out after they ran away together?
Hearts were broken either way.
Parents would have lost their children. Siblings would have mourned.
But at least Charlie and Rose would have been together, right?
They would have been happy.
“Bittersweet happy,” Willow murmured, leaning her head back against the tree trunk. What she wouldn’t give to be able to talk to Charlie and Rose. Just once. She had so many questions…
And now, with the kisses she’d shared with Eric lingering in her mind, those questions seemed more urgent than ever.
She stared down at the letters.
No. She and Eric weren’t caught up in some secret love affair. Not yet.
She pressed her lips together. But was this how it had started for Charlie and Rose? Sweet stolen moments. A forbidden, delicious kiss…
At what point had they realized there was no turning back? And had they grappled with how they’d tell their families?
Willow couldn’t imagine how she could ever make her family see reason when it came to the Spencers. Especially Eric.
Would she go against them just to spend more time with him?
The thought hurt. She loved her family. They were her whole world.
But the thought of telling Eric she couldn’t see him again…?
