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She was right…but I needed everything to work out. I didn’t think she would’ve survived if it hadn’t.
She snuggled closer to me as I held on to her for dear life. She finally shut her eyes and lay her head against my chest. “Promise me you’ll stay,” she said, buried so deep against me that I wasn’t even sure where I began and where she ended. “Promise me you’ll be here in the morning and then beside me at night.”
“I promise you.”
“Forever?”
“And ever.”
She fell asleep, and I kept making that promise repeatedly in my head.
“I’m worried about her,”I told Maple as I sat at her dining room table, drinking disgusting tea. March and April were the months of heartache. Watching Stella struggle with herself, living in a constant state of fear, was the most heart-shattering pain I’d ever witnessed.
“She will come around. It takes time,” Maple swore, gently patting my hand to give me comfort. Comfort that I wished I could’ve transferred to Stella’s soul.
“Yes, but it’s been weeks, and she hasn’t been herself. I don’t know how to help her. I don’t know how to help pull her back to herself.”
“Sweetheart…” Maple sighed and gave me a broken smile. “After such scary news, it takes time. So, maybe the real question is, how okay are you with her not being who she once had been until this pregnancy is over?”
“Every version of her is the one that I love. If this is her, then I will love that version. But I just wish she could do her artwork. I wish she could still talk to the ocean.”
It had been weeks, and Stella hadn’t gone to the ocean.
I’d asked her each morning if she’d like me to join her, but she denied the invitation.
“The water healed her in the past,” Maple said, stirring her tea. “She feels as if the world has betrayed her. Either that or she feels as if she doesn’t deserve to heal. If I know Stella, then I know that she blames herself.”
“What can I do to help her?”
“Oh sweetheart, that’s easy. Just stay. Trust me,” she said, growing somber and looking out of her window toward the water. “She’s going to need you for this next chapter.”
“What is it?” I asked, not speaking about her words but about her stare. It was clear that something was sitting heavily on Maple’s chest. “Remember? I’m good at reading people.”
“It’s just…I worry, too. There will be a day when I’m no longer around, and I worry about Stella’s heart. So, if any part of you feels as if you might run…if any part of you that thinks you can’t handle this, I need you to speak up now. Otherwise, I’m fearful that Stella may end up alone, and I’m not certain she can handle that.”
My brows knitted as I took in her words. “Did you know? About the will?” I asked, breaking into the subtext behind her words. “Did you know about the arranged marriage?”
She looked at me and nodded. “Yes. I did. Kevin asked me to help once he found out about your existence. We both knew that Stella struggled with trusting her own voice, and when she found out Kevin was sick, I was watching her mind decline. Then Kevin came up with the idea of the arranged marriage, so she would have someone good in her life, unlike Jeff.”
“That’s ridiculous, though. How could you both know that I would be any good for her?”
She smiled, took my hand into hers, and patted it. “Kevin was unable to travel last year. So, when we tracked you down, I flew out to New York and found you. You were looking after your friend Aaliyah, and I saw it, the softness in your soul. I remember thinking to myself that if Stella ever found real love, I’d hoped it would be with a man like that. A man who stayed even when it was dark outside. Yes, it’s easy to love and care within the sun, but real love shows up strongest when the clouds move in and fear is ignited. Real love shows up during the highest of tides, and still, it stays.”
I grimaced, taking it all in. I felt so much confusion as Maple revealed this news to me. I felt lost in my spiraling thoughts. “So…you were behind all of this? Putting Stella and me together?”
“Yes. And I’m sorry if this is a lot for—”
“Maple.”
“Yes, Damian?”
I cleared my throat and fought the tears trying to showcase. “Thank you.”
It was because of her that I discovered love.
She smiled and patted my hand in hers. “Always.”
“I’m going to go check in on her, see if she needs anything,” I said, standing from the table. As I began to walk away, I paused, and looked back at Maple. “I do have one question, though.”
