Page 89 of Princess and the Ox (The Colby Brothers 1)

Wake up, Jay.

But there was no trace of malice in her tone. Only agony. A pain he had begun to see when she finally allowed him close, allowed him to peer into her soul and discover a broken-hearted and lonely woman. A woman who needed him.

I love you.

In a flash, the intense throbbing returned. A bright light of excruciating torture besieged his head. He wanted to scream out, thrash violently on his bed, but his body was far too heavy to move.

I will always love you.

Chapter 22

Erika stood at the end of the wooden dock and stared out at the lake. Temperatures were beginning to turn for the cold as summer slipped quietly into fall. She drew her shawl closer and inhaled deeply the crisp autumn air.

“She’s late,” Ryan stated, sitting next to Garrett on the docking post behind her.

“Not to worry, she’ll come,” she assured him with a confident smile. Their eyes met and she felt a familiar warmth inside. Though, now, she recognized it did not burn with an aching need, as it felt whenever Jay looked at her. Strange, that she hadn’t noticed it long before now.

She turned her attention back to the lake. The water softly rolled into shore, gently lapsing the wharf. A lone seagull sat perched on the end of the pier. Only the smallest trace of a breeze swept over Erika’s cheeks. It seemed so long ago when Jay’s ship had sailed out of the port in Placid bound for Detroit, where the remaining trip to Pennsylvania would be by train. She stood at that very spot and watched it sail away until it became no more than a dot on the horizon, then disappeared completely.

No tears had flowed that day. She had resolved herself into believing he would return. He had too. She was nothing without him.

They had received word from his parents several weeks after the operation, that the surgery had been successful in removing the tumor. The tumor, though quite large, was indeed benign. It was successfully removed in its entirety. According to the message, Jay had not been awake during surgery and felt no pain. Erika was eternally grateful for that. The message made no mention of his post-surgery condition though.

Since then, they had only received one other message saying he was healing well and would be strong enough to travel home. She hadn’t wanted to, but the little voices of fear began taunting her nightly thereafter.

Odd, since they were nowhere to be heard before his operation. But the long silence since had begun to drive her nerves to an almost frenzy state.

Dr. Ennis had listed many possibilities to the outcome of such a risky procedure. Blindness, paralysis, loss of memory. Erika couldn’t help but worry. Would Jay remember her?

Something suddenly began to take form far out on the lake. She blinked and squinted her eyes against the bright horizon. “There it is.”

Garrett got up and came to stand next to them. She turned and offered him a smile. Though she knew he hated to show it, she saw his own fear reflected in his eyes. She reached over and gripped his arm.

Together they stood and watched the dot take the form of a ship as it sailed into the Placid harbor at an achingly slow speed.

Finally, at last, the clipper drew up to the pier next to them. Some figures appeared at the foredeck. She recognized them being the crew as they hurriedly secured the boat and laid out the plank for the passengers to disembark.

Erika held her breath, her chest tightening in anticipation. Then Lillith and Jonathan Colby appeared. Their faces looked drawn-out and exhausted. Erika felt a rush of panic, than just as quickly tried to stem the flow of fear. With restless eyes, she searched behind them. Her heart nearly stopped when Jay was nowhere to be seen.

Then, at last, there he was. She almost didn’t recognize him with his black hair covered in a thick wrapping of surgical gauze. What did jump out at her was the fact he towered above everyone else’s heads. Though her heart constricted at the sight of the surgical dressing, she exhaled with unmitigated relief. He was standing. And walking.

From her distance, she searched out his gaze, but his eyes were focused on maneuvering the plank in front of him. He kept his eyes downcast until he reached the bottom, where he paused and looked around.

Her heart caught in her throat as his gaze finally fell upon her. Even from her distance she thought she detected something flicker in his eyes. However, her nerves had taken over any sense of reasoning, and therefore all Erika could do was stand frozen in her spot.

Finally, he moved. His eyes never once straying from her face as he approached. Erika felt the back of her eyes burn. She had hungered for the sight of him for so long.

Jay came to stop directly in front of her, staring down at her upturned face. He studied her closely as if trying to recall her features. Her chin began to tremble. She bit hard on her bottom lip to stem the action, but it was no use.

Then suddenly his expression turned warm. “I see you still have a bad habit of using my docking post as a sitting bench, princess.”

A sob escaped past her lips and the tears flowed for the first time in the past few months since his leave. She didn’t even attempt to hold them back. Jay smiled softly and reached out to cup her cheek. Erika turned her face into his hand and closed her eyes. It felt so good to feel his touch, hear his voice, and see his smile.

She had almost forgotten Ryan next to her, until she heard him say, “Good to have you home, Jay.”

His hand dropped away and Erika opened her eyes slowly to see him embrace his brothers. Their love for Jay could not be more obvious. It made Erika’s heart swell.

“It’s been a long journey.” Lillith came to stand next to her son, gently laying a hand on his back. “I think it’s best we get you home and rest.”

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