by Eden Butler
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Kona said, knocking once on the backdoor of the Rover. Lily inhaled, her stomach twisting into knots before that door opened and Kona stepped out of the way, lowering to whisper in her ear. “I’m the king of regret, Lil. Learn from my mistakes.”
Keilen stepped out of the Rover, his face impassive, but kind. Lily’s breath caught just at the sight of him and she couldn’t get her fingers to stop trembling or keep the guilt from choking her.
“Don’t just stand there gawking at each other,” Kona said, pushing Keilen toward Lily before he slipped behind the wheel. “Invite him inside, Lil. Say hello, be nice. Text me if this all goes sideways, brah.”
Kona pulled into traffic and Keilen walked forward, still silent, his focus on Lily’s stunned expression. All around her the foot traffic moved along; the shuffle of tourists and locals moving around them as they seemed able to only stop and stare at each other. Then a cyclist took up most of the space on the sidewalk, coming precariously close to Lily and Keilen pulled her forward, slipping his hand to her waist to direct her away from the rogue biker.
“You alright, Lil?” he said, voice low, rumbling in her ear.
Her name spoken like that, something she’d heard a million times in her life, shot sensation after sensation in her chest. That had never happened before. It was a name, simple, sweet, but it had never sounded decadent, tempting. Only when Keilen spoke it.
For a moment, with him standing so close, Lily forgot that she’d hurt him. She forgot the wounded look that fractured his smile and stilled his breath when she accused him of being with Malini. But guilt is a virus not easily eradicated and the reminder of how she’d hurt him came back to her, had her stepping back, out of his reach.
“Yes,” she said, pushing back her hair, adjusting her skirt as she looked up at Keilen. “I…thank you.” She nodded toward the cyclist, already two blocks away.
He didn’t seem impressed by their surroundings; his mouth was drawn tight and a deep line moved between his brows as he moved his gaze around the crowd. “Strange city you got here.” He looked back at her, rubbing his neck. “These people are a little rude.”
“It’s just crowded, and it’s Friday.” A group of half-dressed tourists wearing Mardi Gras beads, even though it was November, jogged on the sidewalk likely headed toward Bourbon, not caring that they took up the whole sidewalk, or that their language was something out of a bad foul-mouth sailor movie. “But yeah, sometimes people are rude.”
Part of her brain seemed broken. There might have been words Lily could have used to describe how she felt, staring at him with the reality that he was in front of her close enough to touch, but what those words were, she didn’t know.
She felt the trembling in her limbs increase, shifting to her arms, down into her fingers. Circling her arms to her waist, she prayed he couldn’t see how nervous he made her. “What…why are you here?” she asked. Inwardly she cringed; her words had come out clipped, making her sound angry and bitter.
That line between Keilen’s eyebrows deepened as he stared at her, and a small vein near his temple pulsed. But then he exhaled, eyes sharp as he moved his gaze over her face and Keilen’s tense expression relaxed. “I’m here to bring you home.”
“I am home,” she said, not understanding if Zinnia had sent him, utterly confused why he’d agree to come.
He waited half a second before he took a step, tentative, careful but certain. “No, Lil. Home is where your heart is.” He waved a hand, gesturing to the traffic, to the Square and bustling activity around them. “This place is nice. It’s fun. But your heart isn’t here.” Another step closer and Lily realized she only had to reach her hand, move her wrist and she could touch his lips. “Come home. That’s where your ohana is.”
Lily didn’t understand how he could ask, why he would. Guilt hung around her like a noose, tightening with every flash of memory that came to her, the ones that reminded her how Keilen had looked the day he walked away from her.
“I…I can see Zee anytime she needs me. I’m a flight away and…”
“Zinnia isn’t your only ohana. You should know that. She…she’s not the only one who holds your heart.” Keilen touched her face, cupping her cheeks between his palms. “So do I. Since you were fourteen. It just took me a long time to realize you had mine too.” He tilted her head up until she felt the warmth of his breath against her bottom lip. “Please. Come home.”
“But you said I—”
“You did. I know that. I saw everything that happened after you left. I didn’t want…God, Lil, I was so mad that you didn’t trust me, but I was madder that you left. You left without talking to me.”
“You disappeared,” she said, eyes round as she watched him. She’d waited three days and no one had heard a word. “I got the message. That’s why I left. You were mad. You didn’t want to see me.”
“I didn’t want you to leave either.” His voice lifted, drawing the attention of several passersby, and Keilen shook his head, rubbing his neck. “I…Zee explained about Lincoln paying Mal, and I was still mad, about you swearing we were nothing—“
“I didn’t mean that.”
He nodded and Lily’s heart pounded at the smile he gave her. “I needed some space and stayed at my office, but, Lil, I didn’t want you to go.”
“It’s been a month,” she said, wondering what her niece had said to make Keilen get on a plane. “I don’t understand why you’re here. If you were so mad, why did you come?”
“Because I’d rather earn your trust than not be given the chance to try. Lil, sometimes you have to be willing to fall.” He stilled, watching her, focusing on her features before he spoke again. “And because I love you.” Keilen pulled her closer. “Because you love me too.”
“I…I really do,” Lily said, meaning the words even when Keilen watched her, holding his breath as though his next exhale would come only when she said yes. She couldn’t let him go on breathless. “I suppose falling is fine when you’ve got someone to catch you.”
She thought of a thousand reasons to send him back to Kona alone. There was her job, the opportunity Ellis had just offered. There was the work she could still do, the challenges she could set for herself and easily achieve if there were no distractions. There was the pain that lay waiting in Hawaii, where her life had more than once been destroyed by death. But as Lily watched Keilen, as the hurt she knew she’d inflicted set somewhere between his shifting smiles, Lily realized that standing before her, seeming to forgive, had not been an easy thing for him to do.
He’d been the fantasy, the hope she held for herself, and now she was the only one standing between what she could have and what she thought she deserved. Was it possible to get past the hurt, knowing that he forgave her, wondering if she could ever forgive herself? Even if she didn’t deserve it, Lily wanted him, she wanted the life she’d dreamed for herself all those years ago. She wanted it with Keilen. He’d come for her when he shouldn’t have. He’d come to bring her home despite the coward she’d been. He’d come to make sure she didn’t stay gone. That made all the difference.
It only took a minute, sixty long seconds, for Lily to make her choice. It came with her fingers flirting across his face. It came with his hands dipping low over her waist. It came with a kiss, and the promise that those touching lips offered.
“Keilen,” she said, her forehead against his mouth. “Let’s go home.”
He pulled away from her, fingers light against her face, and then he leaned forward, intent clear. The kiss was quick but certain and leveled any lingering doubts Lily had about where she wanted to be.
Keilen’s kiss reawakened that long-silent song that lived inside her, the one that promised home—her true home—was waiting. The one that promised forever.
The End
Acknowledgements
My biggest thanks to Kay Springsteen for the wonderful edit. Fall is the first novel we’ve worked on together and it was such an effo
rtless process. Thanks also to Judy Lovely and Trish Leger for the speedy beta read and careful edits. Thanks to Anna Crosswell with Cover Couture for the beautiful cover and to all the reviewers, blogs and readers who have supported me throughout my publishing journey. I hope you were happy to see Mr. Hale make an appearance. Thanks also to Ena with Enticing Journey, Natasha with Natasha is a Book Junkie and Maryse Black for all the help spreading the word about Fall.
To my Corporate Hell sisters—Barbara Blakes, Marie Anderson-Simmons, Kalpana Singh, Sarah Cooper, Sherry Jackson and Karen Chapman, thank you for the lunch breaks, the laughs and your unfailing support. I love you all!
Thank you to my wonderful Sweet Team and personal supporters: Trinity Tate, Veronica Varela Rigby, Lisa Bennett, Jessica D. Hollyfield, Amy Bernstein-Feldman, Kayla Jagneaux, Heather McCorkle, Joy Jagneaux, Jennifer Jagneaux, Tina Jaworski, Naarah Scheiffler, Laura Agra, Betsy Gehring, Allyson Lavigne Wilson, Allison Coburn, Chanpreet Singh, Emily Lamphear, Sammy Jo Lle, Michelle Horstman, Jazmine Ayala, Melanie Brunsch, Christopher Ledbetter, Lori Westhaver, Judy Lovely, Carla Castro, Heather Weston-Confer, Jennifer Holt, Trish Finely Leger, Karin Enders and Joanna Holland for their amazing support.
Thank you to my girls, Trinity, Faith and Grace and to my Himself, Chris, who never stops supporting and loving me. And to our new addition, Mr. Jaxon, for all the sweet kisses and yummy baby smells. I hope one day you will know how beloved you are. You are all the sweetest parts of my heart.
About the Author
Eden Butler is an editor and writer of Romance, SciFi and Fantasy novels and the nine-time great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum.
When she’s not writing, or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden impatiently awaits her Hogwarts letter, writes, reads and spends too much time watching rugby, “Doctor Who” and New Orleans Saints football. Currently, she is imprisoned under teenage rule alongside her husband in Southeastern Louisiana.
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