Yesterday's Promise
Page 13
“And if you tell anyone... did she threaten the lodge?”
His nod slowed but continued. “I can’t say.”
“Even me? Oh, damn her. Especially me.” She pounded the arms of her chair. That bitch. Even with her dead they couldn’t catch a break. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”
He stopped nodding, but one side of his mouth quirked into a half smile. “I can’t say. Maybe after some time has passed.”
“Oh, Jakob. We’ve wasted time, spent too much time alone, not given our lives the honor and consideration needed. We’ve made mistakes that time will heal—or not. Time. I can give you time. But it’s so hard not to be able to love you as you deserve. As I long to do.”
“I know. Be patient, sweetheart. I can’t ask for more from you. Please, don’t ask me to tell you more. I can’t resist you for long. We can’t jeopardize what we do have or the happiness I know will come to us. Once I figure this mess out.”
She’d kept secrets for so many years, what was a little more time. “I’ll do my best, love.”
“All I can ask.” He fell silent and she joined him in staring unseeing out the window. Her thoughts crisscrossed through time, through happy times and moments of despair. She’d survived them all. Their love had blossomed and grown to a maturity far beyond their wild, young days. The strength she discovered in that love brought a sigh. They’d survived worse than whatever Marguerite had imagined for them. This would not damage their love or commitment. Just another delay in a long life of delays.
Jakob moved to the desk, rummaged through a drawer then returned to her side. He perched on the coffee table facing her. “My sweet, beautiful Willa.”
She laughed and even with the bitterness of the sound, her heart lightened. “Flatterer. You need your eyes checked.”
“Listen to the music, sweetheart”
She tilted her head toward the speaker in the high ceiling. John Denver’s voice drifted down over them singing of cold winds, diamonds and stones. “Not a very happy song, Jakob.”
“But, for us it is. Yes, there are hard times. And we have faced and conquered more than our share of those bone-chilling winds. And you have to admit we’ve battled more than our share of truths that were not quite true.” He paused, listening. “We’ve both lied and said we were fine without the other. Survival, Willa. We survived. I have something for you.”
He held out a rounded fist-sized rock on his palm. He angled his hand so the light caught minute sparkles of crystal in the gray stone surface. “I found this along Gold Creek a few months ago. It reminded me of this song. And of you.”
She took the stone, cradling it in her hands. Years of being tumbled in the river had smoothed the surface to polished perfection. She studied the patterns of crystals, how the glinting warmed the muted grays. “It’s beautiful.”
“Some days—most of our days have been like this stone. Those hard times that never seem to leave us alone. We’ve weathered those. And we shall continue to stand strong against them. I know this isn’t the kind of stone that could be compressed into a diamond, but the sparkle reminds me of that. How beautiful, glorious things are born of unbelievable pressure.”
How long had it been since Jakob had waxed so poetic, been so understatedly romantic? Willa didn’t know, and didn’t care. This was the now. Their now. She held out his gift in her cupped hands and he covered her fingers with his, closing them around the stone.
They sat like that for long moments, gazing into each other’s eyes. The moment became a vow, more profound than any spoken in ceremony. Jakob cleared his throat. “Willa?”
“Yes, there are days that are nothing but stones, our tribulations and trials. But we have, we are much more than that. I love you, Jakob.”
“Together we’ll find the way to make all of our somedays clear, sparkling diamonds. Willa, I love you.”
After a delightful kiss where she somehow ended up on Jakob’s lap, Willa studied the stone again. “We need to rewrite that chorus to fit us better. Put hope in the ending. Oh, Jakob. Some days have been stone, but our future some days...” She kissed him. “...are definitely diamond.”