Page 59

Did I need to call my therapist again?

Was I really this lonely? This…desperate for company?

But he made me laugh. We made each other laugh and for someone like Wolfe who had been alone for so long…

Maybe he was right and magic was possible. That was the only explanation for whatever was blooming between us and maybe, just once, I should let myself trust it.

When Wednesday dawned, I woke with nerves.

Today I would board a boat, push out into an endless gray sea and cross ‘whale watching’ off my bucket list. If Wolfe hadn’t come with me to town, I doubt I would have booked it. The man behind the counter warned me of the risks—I might not see any whales, it may rain, and the seas may toss us back and forth.

I waved him off, signed my name on the contract, and gave him my credit card.

“You’re going to love it,” Wolfe had promised by my ear. “They’ll come for you, Avery. I know it.”

I clung to his words and prayed that he was right.

I dressed warmly in a fleece-lined pair of leggings, a thermal long-sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, and then jacket. Wolfe told me to wear boots and thick socks and I did as he suggested. I braided back my hair to save it from the wind.

“Nervous?” he asked, watching me tuck a beanie over my head.

“Yes,” I admitted. “We could sink and I could die.”

“That’s the spirit,” he teased. “An endless ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”

“That’s me,” I muttered.

“You’re going to be fine. He has the sea in his veins. His ancestors worked the dock back when I was alive. A man like that won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Glad you’re so certain.” My stomach rolled.

“I am. Take a leap, Avery. You’ll be glad that you did.”

I dipped my chin to my chest, fighting down my nausea. This seemed like a good idea in theory. I wasn’t the best swimmer and with all the layers I had on I would sink right to the bottom and become fish food. My remains would turn into coral and—

“Hey.” Wolfe stepped into my space. He lifted my chin, finger blurring against my skin. “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

“How can you promise that? What if a whale breaches and lands on the boat and smushes us?”

Wolfe bit back his laughter. “The odds of that are slim, grá.”

“But not zero,” I pushed back. I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “Why am I so nervous?”

He hesitated for a moment, tongue darting out to wet his upper lip. “You care, Avery. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a dream you’ve waited a long time for and it’s coming at an unsure moment in your life. Maybe I’m not the best person to give advice, considering”—he waved a hand over the length of his body—“but it’s all worth it. To feel. To stand in the sun. To rise each and every day. There is an entire world out there just waiting for you and Christ, how lucky it will be to have your lovely eyes set upon it.”

I wanted to cry. Wanted to burrow my head in his chest and weep.

In all my life, no one had ever been so tender to me. So gentle. I would never have confided in anyone else either, but Wolfe made it easy to let the words spill out of me. Now that they were flowing, I didn’t want to stop. Years of unspoken thoughts and feelings rose, cresting over my tongue. The floodgates were finally open, and they wanted out.

“Take it. All of it is right out there, waiting for you.” He lifted my hand and unfurled my anxious fingers, palm open.

The sun seared through the window, dancing over my skin. For a moment it felt like I held it, like all that heat and energy and possibility really was mine.

“All right,” I whispered. I could do this. I could be brave and step into the sun. I could let myself feel it. “All right.”

“That’s my girl.” He squeezed my hand. “I’ll be right there with you the entire time.”

“You promise?”