Always by Amy Richie

his eyes took my breath away.
    I could only nod in response. He reached down and took my hand in his. “We’ll remain friends,” he ordered. “I’ll take you home and later–after you’re married–we will remain friends.” He squeezed my hand. “Are you ready to go home now?”
    “ Yes,” I smiled bravely at him. He didn’t smile back, but he did squeeze my hand again.
    As we made our slow way back to Uncle Philip’s home, my mind whirled with all that had happened in just one day. I scarcely recognized the girl with her torn nightgown and muddy feet that was holding tight to an almost stranger’s hand.
    I couldn’t bring myself to pull my hand away from his; I was too aware that we would never be able to be like this again. Only too soon, I would have to go back to the life I had been living.
    I could picture my life, how it would be without Marcus in it. I would always be painfully aware that so much was missing. I couldn’t decide if it was better or worse that I had met Marcus Letrell. If I had never met him, I could marry Edmund and at least pretend to be happy. We could go through all the motions of having a happy marriage.
    On the other hand, by meeting Marcus, I now knew what love felt like. Wasn’t I more complete now that I knew? Even if I could never have it–wasn’t it better that I had at least felt love once? I would have something to hold onto through all the years I would spend as Edmund’s wife.
    The path ahead of me suddenly looked very bleak. Marcus didn’t say a single word as he pulled me along through the woods. This return trip was so different than the way out here. I wasn’t afraid this time, we weren’t being chased, and yet it was so much worse.
    I tried not to cry, but I had to wipe the tears from my face many times as the day faded to evening. The forest was beginning to look eerie again, but Marcus did not slow his stride.
    “ We’re almost there,” he finally broke the silence.
    I nodded silently, but stopped when I realized he couldn’t see me. “Will I see you again?”
    “ I’m sure you will.” He dropped his hand from mine.
    “ I’ll just tell everyone I got lost, then?”
    “ That should work,” He turned slightly to flash a brief smile.
    We walked for another ten minutes before I recognized anything. “We were so far out,” I exclaimed.
    “ Further out than you’ve ever been.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ So, in a way, you really were lost.”
    “ I guess you’re right,” I smiled.
    I pushed ahead of him in my eagerness. I hadn’t wanted to go home, but now that we were almost there, I was excited to be back to something familiar.
    I felt Marcus behind me as we got closer to home.

Chapter Twelve
     
    The house was just within reach when he stopped. “Aren’t you coming with me?” I asked.
    “ I think you can make it alone from here.” He smiled sadly.
    “ I want you to come with me.”
    “ I can’t.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Claudia…”
    “ I’m getting married tomorrow.”
    “ Which is exactly why you need to go alone.”
    I pressed my lips together, fighting the urge to say the things that would only embarrass me further. “Will I see you again?”
    “ We’ll be staying in Hamel for a while, so I’m sure we’ll see each other from time to time.”
    I was already shaking my head, though. “Edmund is taking me to Bath for a few weeks after the wedding and then we’ll be in London.”
    “ You’ll come back here, though.”
    “ It won’t be the same,” I denied. “We won’t be able to be alone.”
    He ran his hand roughly through his hair. It fell haphazardly back on his forehead, but he left it where it lay. “I don’t know what to say,” he admitted.
    “ You don’t have to say anything.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “Just…will you kiss me?” I couldn’t believe that I said the words, but once they were out, I realized that was what I wanted most of all–a kiss.
    “ You’re getting married.”
    “ Tomorrow.”
    “ I