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“Then what are you doing?”
I glared up at him. I’d managed to avoid hurting myself, but I was still sitting in a cold puddle. “Are you really fucking asking me that?”
A series of emotions channel surfed their way across Leo’s face. Bewilderment giving way to surprise giving way to amusement giving way to something so artlessly relieved I was almost embarrassed for him.
Almost.
“Well.” He was smiling like a man who simply couldn’t stop himself. “Let’s get you inside.”
This time, he didn’t ask if I could walk. We both knew I could. Instead, he lifted me straight into his arms and carried me—romantically, absurdly, with not much more dignity than before—onto his boat. He put me down next to the tiller, where we’d stood together, hand in hand, while I’d learned the rudiments of steering, and went to get my bag.
“Be careful with Mr. F,” I called out.
“Always.”
When Leo came back to me—my things, such as they were, having been safely stowed inside—he didn’t touch me at first. He just looked. And I looked back. And then he rested his fingertips very gently upon my hips. My breath splintered inside me. It was all a little too much.
A little too much hope.
“What if I never…what if it never comes back?” I asked.
“It will,” he told me. “When you’re ready.”
64I made a helpless, naked, yearning sound. “I might leave tomorrow.”
“That’s okay.”
“Or the next day.”
“That’s okay too.”
My hands came up, greedy, to clutch at him. And then he pressed me hard against the railing and kissed me equally hard. He kissed me until I was open-mouthed and gasping. Until the starssmudged to tears at the corners of my eyes and the world shed all its shape beneath his fervour. Seconds tangling into minutes tangling into hours. Just the two of us in each other’s arms, with all our tomorrow’s horizons, kissing in the darkness until I forgot to care about the light.
BONUS MATERIAL
Enjoy both beloved and brand-new behind-the-scenes material as Alexis Hall takes you on a tour of the world ofWaiting for the FloodandChasing the Light, including:
Edwin’s Not-Always-Successful Elderflower Wine
Marius’s Pierogies Recipe
A Note of Acknowledgement
“Aftermath”
Author Annotations
EDWIN’S NOT-ALWAYS-SUCCESSFUL ELDERFLOWER WINE
Blue Biro on canary-yellow notepad paper, circa 2015
Apparently includes sundry marginalia of dubious origin, also circa 2015
Tips for Picking Elderflowers
Best gathered June–July, in the early morning
Look for sprays of creamy-white flowers with a distinctive summery scent
