with her. He had this way of expressing his love for her in the way he spoke of her. I broke his heart when I asked him to go back to Paris, when I told him that I loved my job more than I loved him. When he met Rose and her son, he fell in love with them both. I love your papa, and I will always love him, but I couldn’t come back and destroy what they had. You loved Rose and Jarred. I wasn’t taking that away from you or him. It would have been unfair. And when you talked about Charles, I knew you loved him, but there was a lot your voice told me. You loved him, but you were in love with another. The same boy who sent you to London.
Stevie: He makes me happy. Charles has always made me happy. He saved my life. He made me better when all I wanted to do was never feel a thing again. I wanted to die in London. Charles gave me life.
Maman: That doesn’t mean you have to settle for him.
Stevie: There’s no one else for me. We’ll talk when I get back to London.
Stevie let her phone fall into her lap, and she sighed. Her fingers reached up to her temples and began to rub, trying to soothe the pulsing aches in her head.
“Intense messaging with your mother?” Charles asked once he stepped onto the balcony.
“She just wanted to know when we’d go back to London,” she explained.
He sighed as he looked out at the beach. Stevie stared at the wonder in his expression. It was beautiful how much he loved the simple things. In the week that they’d been in Brighton, she was reminded of how much she loved Charles. Being with him made her feel better. She didn’t feel beneath him. He always had and continued to treat her as his equal. Though he knew the bad, he loved it; he embraced that part of her. He brought out the good.
Stevie watched as Charles let out a lengthy breath of air before he made his way to her and crouched down before her. He took both hands and smiled up at Stevie.
“You know I love you. I would give anything to make you stay. Stay with me for as long as you need to but go home, Stevie. Go back to your brother and your father. Go back to Julian,” he instructed in a sad voice.
“You don’t want me here?” she asked, shocked and with tears in her eyes.
“Of course, I do.” Charles stood up and pulled her from the seat. Then he wrapped his arms around her. “I want you to stay with me forever. But your heart isn’t with me. You need closure. Whether you go back to just say goodbye and stay, or just goodbye in general, you need to go back.”
“I can hear your love for me in your voice,” she mumbled into his chest.
“I can hear yours. I wouldn’t change our story, no matter what. We have a good one, Stevie. A brilliant one. I’m always here.” He embraced her just that little bit tighter.
She turned her head slightly and let her lips connect with his jumper-clad chest. “I’m so glad you rescued me.”
“I’m so glad you let me,” Charles replied and then rested his chin on the top of her head.
She loved this Charles.
She’d also say goodbye to this Charles when she finally moved to Paris.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you to the shops?” Stevie asked at the front door.
Charles wrapped the woollen scarf around his neck and then cupped her face. His cold fingers had her laughing. The temperature had dropped since this morning. Now snow began to flutter down from the skies. “I’m sure. Stay warm by the fire for me,” he said sweetly as he kissed her forehead.
“Don’t forget the beefy chips!” Stevie yelled after him.
He raised his hand and did a waving motion. “Will not forget the beefy crisps!”
With a chuckle, Stevie shut the front door. She forgot how much she hated the cold English winter. How she ever thought Melbourne winter was horrible, she’d never know. The sound of her phone ringing had her turning away from the door and entering the lounge room. Since she had arrived in England, she’d had her phone on ‘Do not disturb’ mode. Some calls had made it through, but most she had ignored and never checked who had called.