Chapter 40

Chapter

Forty

APOLLO

Daphne hasn’t said more than a couple of words the entire boat ride back to the city. I had chartered a boat this time so we could take the opportunity to see the orcas swim around us as we make our way to Seattle. I had hoped it would be a romantic gesture, but it seems to have fallen short. She stares out at the scenery and is clearly lost in thought. And to be fair, I’m pretty zoned out myself. I’m trying to really think out what truly being a husband and father means. Troy Godwin isn’t exactly the best role model, and yet, he isn’t the worst either. Family is everything to this man. He’s brought us all up to know that and to live by that belief. We may be ruthless, even evil at times, but the one thing remains true… we will forever be family.

“You all right over there?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she answers, but she doesn’t look away from the passing beauty. She’s looking, but I don’t think she really sees anything.

“Awfully quiet.”

“Yeah.”

I reach across the seat and take her hand in mine. “Are you afraid of real life? Of what’s ahead? I am.”

“Yeah.”

“I think we can pull this off, if you’re worried about that. Apollo and I are identical, and the accident and the head injury gives me a buffer if I forget something, or don’t recognize someone only Apollo knows. Plus, I have you to help guide me. We got this. ”

She shrugs, but still hasn’t looked away from the water, and her hand lays limply in mine. Something is clearly wrong.

“Daphne, what’s going on? What’s on your mind?”

“Just thinking, I guess.”

“Okay, care to tell me about what?” I prod.

“Well…” I glance over at her and see her lip quivering. “It’s nothing really. Just sad leaving Heathens Hollow.” She smirks. “I can’t believe those words just left my mouth. I never thought I’d ever be sad to leave the island.”

I squeeze her hand. “We went through a lot there.”

She nods, and I see her lip still quivers. My gut tells me something else is going on.

“Your sister is fine at Olympus. I hired our housekeeper and cook to return full time,” I begin, wondering if she’s worried about her sister’s future. “And when she’s healed and ready to leave the manor, we’ll find her a place in Seattle. We’ll help her start over,” I add with a smile.

For the first time, she looks away from the sound and stares at me. She appears as if she’s going to say something but turns her gaze back to an orca’s tail crashing down on the waves.

“Daphne—”

My phone rings, interrupting me. I pull my hand away from Daphne’s and answer the call.

“I have the walkthrough all lined up,” the real estate agent says. “Text me when you arrive, and I’ll pick you up at the pier.”

“Great. Is it the house I wanted to see?” I ask.

“Yes,” the agent says. “All the details are worked out. I have other houses ready to go to be seen too, if you want.”

“I think we’ll only need to see the one,” I answer, maybe a little too quickly. I should make the agent sweat a bit before giving in just for fun. She needs to earn her commission.

As I end the call, I still see sadness in Daphne’s eyes and her body seems to slump down in the seat.

“The agent will be waiting for us.” I pause, noticing how cold she is in the way she doesn’t ask any questions about the house, the agent, or care about what we are about to do. “Okay, enough. Tell me what’s going on. I can feel it. I can hear it. I don’t want to keep asking.” My tone grows firm, but I feel I have no other choice. We’re getting closer to the city, and I don’t want to start the day on a sour note. Something is off, and there is something Daphne isn’t telling me .

She sighs deeply, her shoulders rising and falling in what appears to be defeat. “I just didn’t want to leave the island. To leave… you.”

“Me? You aren’t having to leave me. Last I checked, I’m on this boat right beside you.” I reach for her hand again, but this time, she pulls it away.

“We’re heading back to Seattle. To Medusa. To that life.”

“What do you mean by that life ?”

“Dinners. Parties. Working at all hours. Lonely days, and even lonelier nights.”

“I’m not him,” I say a little harsher than I intend. “Don’t assume I’ll be him.”

Her lips purse and then she finally snaps. “No, you’ll just be out killing people rather than crunching numbers. But everything else will be the same. You’re still a Godwin. Family first.” She rolls her eyes. “Family always comes first.”

“You aren’t being fair…” I feel my jaw tighten, and I take a deep breath of my own to steady my temper. My patience is growing thin, and I don’t want this to turn into a fight and it to allow either of us to push what I feel could be a really good thing between us away.

“What’s that stupid saying? Life isn’t fair.” She looks at me and gives a fake smile. “But don’t worry. I know how to be the perfect Godwin wife.”

“Daphne…” I warn. “I have no idea what is going on, but I’m not liking this tone or how you’re acting.”

Finally she snaps. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she seethes between clenched teeth. “Am I not being a respectful wife? Am I not being a good and dutiful wife? I guess I should be kidnapped and locked in a cage again. I suppose I should be punished into submission.”

“Is this what has you so upset?” I ask. “What I did to you?”

She crosses her arms against her chest and doesn’t say a single word.

“I’m not going to apologize for what I did,” I begin. “It was either that or death, and I much prefer you alive.”

“It’s not about the goddamn cage!”

“Then what? Because I’m having a hard time following you.”

“Everything is changing!” she snaps back as she scoots herself to the edge of the seat like she can’t get far enough away from me.

“Yes,” I say calmly. “Some things will change now that we’re heading back in the city.”

“But I don’t want it to. Don’t you get that? What you and I had at Olympus was… I don’t want it to change. Medusa has the power to turn our lives to stone. I don’t want that!”

“Daphne, you need to calm down.”

“I’m calm. Perfectly.” A lone tear falls down from her cheek, and her pain nearly breaks my heart.

“I don’t know what’s going on, or why you think that you and I?—”

“I don’t think anything,” she interrupts again. “I know,” she shouts as the tears fall. “If we go back to that life, we won’t survive.”

Her words are like a punch to the gut. “We will.” I pause to take hold of her hand. “Look at me.” I wait until she does. “We will survive. I already had my brush with death. And losing you would be the same as dying.”

“Promise me,” she breathes.

“You know I do.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she says as she wipes at her tears. “I feel so out of control. I think these baby hormones are messing with me.”

I chuckle. “And I’m here to ride the wave of them every single day.”

She looks up at me and smiles. “I’m excited for today. I am. And I’m sorry to have snapped. I’m just scared of what comes next in our story.”

“You need to remember something,” I say as I touch her belly. “You and this baby are Godwins. I will die for my family. There is nothing I won’t do for you. I give you my vow of a Godwin.”

Daphne

I watch the scenery change from a city feeling to a more residential one. Even though my hormones are raging, and I’ve already cried multiple times today, I can’t help but feel excitement as we get closer to the Queen Anne district. The rows of snugly fit houses in the hilly neighborhood are truly to die for. It’s the best part of Seattle.

We pull up to a house, and my breathing stops.

It’s the house. The house . The house I saw when I was a young girl and fantasized about. Apollo had listened to my story, and he acted. We are parked in front of my dream home. It still had the stained glass and even the little potted plants in the window .

Tears well up in my eyes, and my damn lip, I can’t seem to control today, quivers. “This house is for sale?”

“Not exactly,” the agent answers. “But your husband is very convincing.” Glancing at Apollo and then at me, she takes her cue and says, “I’m going to see if they are ready for us.” She exits the car and leaves us alone.

“Is this the house you told me about?” he asks.

“Yes. But how did you?—”

“Your sister helped me. I told her I wanted to buy it for you.”

“Are you serious?” I ask, not believing that he’d do something so… so romantic.

“If you like the inside and not just the outside, then yes. I’m serious.”

My heart beats so hard that it seems to be stopping itself. “It’s smaller than any house we’ve ever had. Are you sure it’s good enough for you?”

He smiles. “ We’ve never had a house before. And yes, if it’s good enough for you, then it is for me.”

“I can’t believe you did this. I’ve never had anyone...”

Apollo reaches out and runs his fingertips down the side of my head, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Let’s go inside and see this dream house of yours.”

He leans in close enough that he can take hold of the back of my head and pulls me into a kiss. He claims my mouth just as he has so many times before. Before, when we were locked away in Olympus. When our reality could be cloaked by the fog of Heathens Hollow. Before real life stepped in. Before I have to return to a life that I so desperately want to leave behind me, never to return to.

As his tongue dances with mine, I lean closer to him, wanting him to desperately bring us back to Heathens Hollow. Back to the only place that ever felt like home.

“I didn’t want to leave the island,” I mumble against the kiss. “But then you show me this.”

He pulls away just enough that he can look into my eyes again. “We can live anywhere in the world you want to live in.” He gives me a quick peck to end the more passionate kiss and adds, “But before you decide, let’s go see the house.”

“I love you,” I say softly. “You.” I want him to hear me say it. I love him. The perfect and amazing man that he is.

The biggest smile forms on his face, not only with his mouth, but with his eyes. “I like hearing those words from your lips. Lips I want to kiss over and over again. But first…” He gets out of the car, walks around to my side, and opens my door. “Let’s go see if we found our new home.” He stares up at it proudly. “I can see us living here.”

I get out of the car feeling overwhelmed with what’s about to happen for us. A house, a baby, a new beginning. This family tree is so rooted and old, but for us, we are just beginning this family saga. We are about to start our own branch of the Godwin tree.