But it was Mr. Runington who broke the silence with a scoff. “What? You? You think a lowly carpenter is good enough for her? That is my savior we’re talking about! A woman so beautiful it was like she was plucked from Olympus itself!”
She was absolutely certain that wasn’t true, and she started to step closer, hoping to stop them when Mr. Wilson cried, “Good enough? You speak as if you’ve made the choice for her. It’sherdecision and hers alone.”
And then they both looked to her as if they expected the answer now, which was insane because neither of them were even in contention.
And yet it was another lie that she slid from her lips—for it felt that lies were all she had been doing lately. “And I have told you both that I have no intention to marry.” Or maybe that actually was true. She could never take Kallias to a church. How would she get him there? A wheelbarrow filled with water? Even the thought was ridiculous, and she could only imagine the priest’s face as sheannounced she’d like to be wed to what she was sure he’d call either a demon or a fish.
But it was then that her heart seemed to harden into a decision. She had said they should get to know each other better, but now they had and she still wanted him as her happily ever after. She wanted him now and forever. Perhaps the stars could marry them with the glory of the heavens as their witness. It was fitting given how he looked like a child of the moon.
Both men were looking off, not at her, not at each other. Their arms were both crossed, Mr. Wilson’s foot tapping in frustration, Mr. Runington’s mouth twisted in a snarl. They looked so much like pouting children denied a toy she almost laughed.
But holding it back, she said, “Now, gentlemen, it’s time for me to be on my way. I have to light the lighthouse.”
CHAPTER 71
Dusk was fast approaching as she found her way back through the waves to home. At some point as she neared, a white head popped up beside her, only to his nose like he was again nervous.
She stopped rowing and the boat slowed until it came to a stop, and Kallias swam behind in silence until it fully did, and then he swam there, mostly under, his hair floating all around him on the surface like he was some beautiful flower and it was his petals. Well, he was really. He was as beautiful as anything she had ever seen.
“Kallias,” she started, right as he spoke her name. It caused them both to stop until he blurted out, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know—I didn’t think. I just wanted to see you, and tell you the men seemed fine….and…and….”
“Oh, no, no, no,” she said, rushing over to the side and leaning to him. He looked so ashamed. “It’s my fault. I’m the one that’s sorry. I should have thought before I sent him out. I just so wanted to be rid of him I wasn’t thinking. I…Kallias, I think I lied sufficiently, but if he keeps coming around, you’re going to have to—”
“Do not say leave,” he demanded firmly. “Please, Daria. Do not tell me to leave.”
She opened her mouth, and as if reading her mind, he added, “Even if it’s to protect me, please do not say it.”
“Even if it’s temporary?” she asked, and he fell silent. “Kallias,” she murmured, stroking his face. “My darling, darling Kallias, you’re the only one I want. You’re my happily ever after, right? How could I ask you to leave me for long?”
His gaze was so sad and she didn’t know what to do.
“Let me set up the lighthouse,” she said. “And then will youspend the night with me?”
He nodded, eager but sad. And then, getting behind the boat, he started helping her along. For without her even saying it, he knew that by the height of the sun, the light should already be lit.
CHAPTER 72
She went about her duties quickly. She hadn’t even cleaned the glass yet today because of that idiot Mr. Runington, and now she hurried along with it to get to Kallias.
Mr. Wilson had sent the pumpernickel back with her—it must indeed have been hisleastfavorite—and she thought she’d share some with Kallias. She had also gotten some eggs in town, and she quickly got about getting her pan and cooking them. She doubted he’d like them and she didnotfeel like describing how her kind ate others’ unfertilized eggs. Not tonight. She’d eat this alone and take the bread for them to share.
But as she waited for the eggs to cook, she saw the necklace of sea glass she had been working on. It was so close, so near to completion that suddenly she felt compelled to sit down and finish it.
Maybe it was the talks of Kallias leaving, maybe it was the foreboding dread of seeing Mr. Runington again, maybe it was Kallias’s expression, or maybe it was her earlier thoughts of marriage, but it suddenly felt as though shehadto finish it now or she could never give it to him.
She worked quickly, until it was finally done—a necklace of sparkling white, blue, and green sea glass. It was the colors of Kallias, and she could see him in them, how the sea had worn them down but left them all the more rounded and gentle and nuanced and gorgeous, how the sea had brought them both to her.
She hoped he would like it.
And then as soon as it was done, she rushed out, forgetting the bread completely in her excitement, and there he was, waiting for her under the moonlight.
CHAPTER 73
She wasn’t surprised to see him—or she knew she shouldn’t be—but her heart leapt with relief all the same, as if it was days ahead of her and confident she would lose him.
“Oh, Kallias, I missed you,” she said, jumping into the water, unmindful of the dark or the cold, only him.
His arms were around her like always in a second, bringing her to the surface and holding her against him. “You silly thing,” he murmured, kissing her temple.
