Page 57 of In Want of a Wife
“And I embarrassed you?”
“You will never embarrass me. It was the opposite actually.”
“I don’t understand.”
“They were so excited for me, and I couldn’t think of a reason to correct them.”
They paused on the beach. The waves continued to roar against the beach as the tide came in. But beyond the waves, it was silent beyond the sound of her heart in her chest as she tilted her head toward Rafe.
“I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry I didn’t?—”
She stepped up onto her toes, braced her hands on his cheeks, and kissed him there beneath the moonlight where everything seemed a little simpler.
When they broke apart a few minutes later, Rafe tugged her hand. “Come here, I have something I want to show you.”
She followed.
Lily was certain she would follow Rafe wherever he wished to go at that moment, however wrong that might be.
Lily under themoonlight was his favorite sight to behold. He doubted that would ever change now that he had discovered that fact. Lily in his arms, in the water, was even better.
But kissing her, well, that was something else entirely. Something so beyond the scope of what he had ever known that he could hardly put words to it other than perfect and terrifying. Which was true in equal measure.
He stepped into the boathouse, expecting to confront the damaged sailboat he had spent much of his early boyhood building with his father before his passing. He lit a lantern by the door, ushering Lily in and shutting the door behind them.
Instead, he was met with a sailboat in perfect condition.
“I don’t understand,” he said out loud.
Lily forced a smile, glancing between him and the boat. “This is your boat?”
“It’s not how I left it. Another fisherman from town found it washed up on shore after the storm. I assumed my mother had sold it for salvage. But…”
He approached slowly, his hand trembling to touch the shiny waxed surface. He had spent hours out on the water where the world made sense to him, and he had mourned its loss.
“Well, that’s a happy mystery.”
He clamped his eyes shut, self-hatred bubbling up within him. He had spent too much time already drinking to dull the pain, and it didn’t work. Nothing worked. And now the damn sailboat was back in the boathouse, taunting him as if his life hadn’t completely changed that day.
“I did not think it would be here. I…”
“Rafe?”
He glanced over his shoulder, scratching his neck. Everything within him felt too small, or perhaps the boathouse was falling in around him.
Coming herewas a mistake.
“You did not kill her,” she said gently. “Mari is still alive, and here, and thankful to see her older brother whom she loves very much.”
“I took her future away! I did that. I am to blame, Lily.” He rubbed his chest, certain he couldn’t take in a full breath. Certain he was underwater again, searching desperately for his sister as his lungs burned from the lack of air. “I told her no, and she didn’t listen, and I gave in. If I hadn’t, if I hadn’t been drinking, if I had decided to stay in when I knew the weather was turning…”
“It is not for you to decide how she lives her life now. It’s not up to you to decide what she lost.”
He had spent the past thirteen years loathing himself over what had happened. It wouldn’t change because his sailboat was magically restored. It couldn’t.
Rafe stared down at his feet, too afraid to look at Lily. “We have to leave in the morning. I wanted to stay another night perhaps, but I will retrieve my grandmother’s ring in the morning, and we will continue on.”
“Because you are afraid?”
