Page 64 of Thomas
Cameron’s heart climbed and stuck itself into his throat, making it harder for him to breathe. He swallowed. “I believe you,” he confirmed quietly. “But if you change your mind, I want you to know that you are free to live your life as you please. I would support you.”
“Thank you, but that isn’t necessary,” Thomas said, standing straighter. He took a visible breath, then blew it out. “I would never run off and disappear on you because it’s convenient for me. I wouldneverdo that to you.”
The insinuation of “the way your parents did” floated in the air between them, but of course, Thomas didn’t need to say it. Cameron felt grateful to him for withholding that razor-sharp reminder.
“And the way in which we came together…” Thomas began, finding his words. “Thehowof it doesn’t matter. We’re together, Cameron. You and me, mutually. That’s all there is, and it’s what I want.”
“Okay, okay,” Cameron said, whining a little. “Please stop before you make my stupid eyes alight.”
The corner of Thomas’s mouth quirked up. “Your beautiful eyes, my darling. Mind your adjectives.”
Cameron waved his hand once more, ignoring the blush warming his cheeks. “Enjoy your meeting with Dawn tonight. I’ll explore with you tomorrow morning.”
“Do you promise?” Thomas asked.
Cameron smiled and exhaled the tension from his shoulders. “I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-One
It was near dark when Thomas left the bed and breakfast, the sky slowly morphing into a deeper shade of blue, but still warm. He took the path along the rampart wall for a short time, enjoying the meditative sound of the black waves curling and crashing against the stone like a hoard of dark monsters rushing an opponent’s defenses. The sea was so vast and powerful. Obstinate and endless. When he took it in, he felt a strange mix of awe, reverie and fear.
He took a sharp turn at the Musée Picasso and followed the alleyway around and down a set of stone steps until he came upon a large church lit with warm spotlights. Its façade was coral and cream with Grecian-style pillars framing the wooden, ornately carved double doors. The courtyard was quiet, with only a few loiterers strolling across the cobblestones and to other destinations within the town.
“Thomas!”
He turned. The distinct tone of voice was like a punch in his gut. A heavy summons from a different life—not something he’d heard all the time just ten months ago.
Thomas stood frozen, watching as Dawn rushed toward him. She looked exactly the same as before—petite in stature withsandy-brown skin and dark, looping curls that floated prettily just beneath her chin. She wore a maroon peacoat and a matching hat which felt very French to Thomas. As she neared, he opened his arms wide and she crashed into him, wrapping her hands around his back and pressing her face into his chest.
Experiencing the most unfathomable sense of relief, he lowered his head into the side of her face and her curls, breathing her in. “You’re alright,” he said quietly. “You’re safe.”
“And you?” she asked, holding him even tighter. “Are you well? I’ve been so worried!”
“I am well now,” he assured her. “I’m very sorry that my awful family tried to ruin yours.”
She laughed and shook her head. The motion made her soft hair tickle his nose. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Thank God you’re okay. I’m so grateful to see that you’re alright.”
They stood there for a moment longer, simply embracing one another, before Dawn slipped his hand into hers and led him to a cozy restaurant in the main square of Old Town.
When they had been seated, their hands still clasped, Thomas thought for the first time that maybe it was best that Cameron hadn’t come with him. The feelings between him and Dawn were no longer romantic, more just… a heady mix of relief and gladness. From the outside and considering Cameron’s already slanted perspective of the situation, it would have been difficult for Thomas to explain things (and likely would have caused further misunderstandings).
The hours slipped by easily as they talked. Thomas engaged her with questions about her life over the past ten months. The Pruitt Clan had been abruptly uprooted from Eden for fear of being slandered and bankrupted by a purebred with more power and stature. The transition had been rough, but Dawn assured him that they had landed on their feet. She was studying hard to master French, working in a nearby bakery and writing poetry inher free time. She’d decided to swear off romance for a good long while, and Thomas couldn’t blame her. He didn’t take offense to that at all.
When the conversation turned toward him and his well-being, Thomas took a deep breath. On the journey here, he’d contemplated whether or not to tell her the grim details about what his family had done to him. His knee-jerk response was to withhold the truth. But the more he thought about it, the more he didn’t want to hide it from her.
Telling Cameron what had happened,sayingit aloud to someone, had been cathartic. Conveying the story to Dawn was equally therapeutic, and this time, he managed to keep himself together a little better and didn’t need to fall over and into her arms to be held.
He still cried, though. And so did she, keeping a tight hold on both of his hands.
They rested in a contemplative silence after Thomas told her everything. It was bewildering—how much had changed between them and within their respective lives in less than a year’s time. The weight and strangeness of it required space, and they sat together, reflective and respectful of the vast, unknowable power of life and fate. Like the wild, dark sea curling and crashing against the rampart walls.
“I’ve always wondered,” Dawn said after a comfortable stretch of quiet, “how did they know about our plans? Where to find us and the exact day? The only person I told was Anne, my youngest sister, because I didn’t want her to be too shocked when I disappeared for a while. Did you tell anyone?”
Thomas inhaled deeply, then blew it out. “No, I didn’t tell—Wait…” He paused. For the first time, a memory flashed before his eyes in full color, like vivid paint spilling over a white canvas. “I didn’t tell anyone we were eloping, but Wyatt walked in on me while I was packing to leave. He asked me where I was going,and I distinctlydid nottell him the whole truth, but said that you and I were having a short holiday up the coast.”
Sitting back, Thomas folded his arms in contemplation. Had Wyatt told his family where to find him? Had he been so jealous of Thomas’s love for Dawn that he’d sabotaged their plans and aided his elder father in having Thomas imprisoned?
“Would Wyatt do that to us?” Dawn asked, her tone mimicking Thomas’s internal disbelief and suspicion. “Moreover, would he do that toyou?”
