by Iris Cole
“Bill,” she gasped. “Is it really you?”
A warm, inviting smile spread across his face. “Aye, it’s me. Why, were you waiting for some other fella to call on you?” A momentary flicker of anxiety glittered in his eyes. “You’re not… married or aught, are you?”
Clary did not say a word. Instead, she closed the gap between them and threw her arms around his neck, holding him close. She did not even realise that she had crushed the flowers between them in her enthusiasm. Not that she needed flowers, not when he had come back, just as he had promised.
His arms slid around her in return, pulling her even closer. He smelled of soap and seawater, and she had never known a more wonderful perfume.
For in that scent, and in his embrace, she knew she was not imagining things out of sheer exhaustion. He was really here, after seven months away.
“You came back,” she murmured into his broad shoulder, her hands gripping the corduroy of his jacket.
He chuckled. “I told you I would.” His fingertips stroked the chain at the back of her neck. “I had to come back for this, remember?”
“I’ve been to the docks so often, and I never saw your ship, or heard that it had come in,” she whispered, overcome with joy. “I was terrified that something awful had happened to you, on your way to America.”
He pulled away slightly and cupped her face in his hands. “Ah, your curse only caused a few bad storms, and a spell of no wind at all that delayed us awhile. I’d say I got lucky.” He smiled down at her. “You look well, Clary. It warms me heart to see you like this.”
“You look…” she touched the stubble that grazed his jaw, “… like you’ve been at sea for seven months.”
He grinned. “All I need is a shave, and I’ll be me usual, youthful self again.”
He produced the wilted, somewhat crushed bunch of flowers. “I snipped these for you from some rich fella’s garden.”
“They’re perfect,” she said. “But I don’t need flowers. I only needed you to come back.”
A shy expression graced his face. “Did you ever find out what the coins really mean?”
“I did.” She chuckled nervously: her heart pounding wildly in her chest. “My father told me all about love tokens, when I finally found him.”
Bill’s eyebrows shot up. “You found him?!” He scooped her up into his arms and swung her around. “That is the grandest news I’ve heard in months, Clary. I kept you in me prayers, and hoped you’d be successful, but that’s nothing compared to hearing it from your lips!”
“He’ll be thrilled to meet you,” Clary told him, as he set her back down on the ground, and resumed his fond gaze. “I imagine you’ll have plenty of sailor stories to tell one another, though you should make sure you embellish yours—I’ve already painted you in a bit of a heroic light, after all you did for me.”
Bill smiled. “I hope you don’t think less of me for helping you, now you know about the love token. I really would’ve helped you anyway, but… I can’t even explain it.”
He paused, gathering his thoughts. “Clary as soon as I met you, I knew you were the woman I wanted to give that coin to.” I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Clary. Every day, for all these months, you’ve never been far from my mind.”
Clary swallowed the lump in her throat, “It’s the same for me,” she assured. “I know it’s strange, to know someone for such a short time, and yet feel as though you’ve known them your entire life, but… that’s how it felt with you.”
Bill cradled her face in his hands. “Then, would you consider allowing me to court you, Miss O’Shea? Or do you go by another name now?”
“It’s still Miss O’Shea,” she replied, grinning. “As for a courtship—well, you will have to ask my father and my dearest Dolly. I assure you; my father will be far easier to convince.”
Bill brushed his thumb across the apple of her cheek. “Can I kiss you, just the once… for courage?”
“Take all the courage you need.” She peered up at him, and closed her eyes as he leaned in. Her heart swelled as their lips touched, his mouth warm and soft against hers. Smiling against those soft lips, that felt so much like a homecoming, she looped her arms around his neck and held him tight. For, now that she had him back, she never wanted to let him go.
You are the last piece in the once-broken puzzle of my heart, Bill.
It had been a long and winding road to reach this place of peace, with missteps and pain and grief along the way, but somehow, she had found the parts that had been missing, and joined them all together again.
Her mother might have been absent, but at least Clary now had a grave she could visit, a name to put into her prayers, and countless stories that were almost as good as memories. And though she would always miss the woman who had given birth to her, and still longed to find the address of the grandparents who had given up hope that their grandchild was alive, Clary knew she was lucky to have a family who loved her, employment she cherished, a full belly each day, and a warm bed to sleep at night. To ask for anything more would be greedy.
And as she sank deeper into Bill’s kiss, she realised that it did not matter if she did not have everything. If she was also destined to find love with this wonderful man, after all the blessings she had already received, she knew she just might be the most fortunate woman in the world.
THE END.
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