23. Twenty Three

Twenty Three

ONE YEAR LATER

I glanced up at Luke as we wandered along the beach, our fingers laced together as always. I was barefoot, I loved feeling small next to him. When he hugged me like this, my head slotted perfectly under his chin, and he always left kisses in my hair.

Another birthday had just passed. It amazed me how life changed in a single year, and it had to be said that my thirties were beyond belief; I’d adored every day. To celebrate that and the first anniversary of when we finally got together, Luke had booked a trip to Lastovo. We were holidaying on the Croatian island in a beautiful house that overlooked the shimmering Adriatic Sea. The island was off the beaten track, sparse of tourists, and absolutely stunning.

It had become a new, captivating habit to walk along the beach and watch the sun either rise or set each day; cuddled up on the sand together as if we were the only people in the world. This place was remote and peaceful, it was easy to imagine that we were, in fact, completely alone.

Tonight we planned to watch the sunset and remain into the darkness. This location was was renowned for having one of the most beautiful, starry skies in the whole of Europe. Luke knew I loved the stars and had thought of every detail for me when choosing this place for our holiday, he put so much thought into everything.

Luke sat down in the sand and I followed, sitting in front of him and taking a deep, happy breath in the warm, salty, evening air as his arms wrapped around me like a protective cloak.

I laughed as his fingers tickled my neck. He scooped all of my hair to one side and kissed around the now bare skin.

“I love you,” I said, leaning back against him. “This is heaven.”

“We’ve come a long way, considering a year ago we were on a beach and you refused to look at me.”

I dug my elbow back into him in a playful gesture. “It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

“It did, and that’s all that matters. ”

We were both quiet, contemplative, as we watched the sun set over the horizon; its reflection cast brilliant hues of pink and amber along the ocean. We’d given up trying to take photographs of it after the first time as there was no way we could do justice to how beautiful it appeared to the naked eye.

We had one more night after this before it was time to head home, but I didn’t feel sad. Our new home was waiting for us, a place we would be together always; close to Luke’s office and with a huge kitchen extension for my new baking business. How could anyone be sad when returning to that? Plus, I had auntie duties to help with at Cassie’s. I hadn’t got to spend anywhere near enough time with baby Arlo yet.

I spotted someone strolling along the beach in our direction, which was unusual, we usually had this section to ourselves. I smiled as I noticed his thick jacket; we thought the temperature was lovely and warm, but the locals were in full on winter mode.

Luke kissed the top of my head and jumped up. “Give me one minute,” he said, before heading to meet the stranger on the beach. I watched lazily from the corner of my eye, too invested in the sleeping dance of the sun over the water. I heard Luke say, “Hvala,” and the man handed him a bag, nodded his head to me with a smile, and turned back in the direction he had come from .

I raised an eyebrow at Luke as he carried the bag back to me. “What have you got there?”

He sat back down in the sand. “You’re so impatient!”

“I know. Thought you loved that about me?” I teased.

“I love everything about you.” He tapped the end of my nose with his finger and pulled a bottle from the bag. “This is homemade wine from the vineyard just up the hill from us. I was worried about glasses breaking and I didn’t want to have plastic, so, these are wooden wine goblets that we get to take home, and, I hope, drink wine out of together many more times.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but… you need to stand up so I can pour this. Sun’s going to be gone in a minute.” Luke stood and held his hand out to me, tugging me up from the soft sand. He poured the wine, and we stood together. My head rested on him as his hand stroked my arm, and, together, we watched the sun dip below the horizon in a slow, exquisite journey.

“You remember when I went backpacking?” Luke asked. His voice tickled me as his mouth rested close to my ear.

I turned to him, holding his hand. “Feels like forever ago, but yes. Why?”

“I know we weren’t great then, but, I had the vaguest hope that we would be one day. So, while I was gone, I bought you a present.”

I grinned. “I already think you’re adorable and perfect and now I find out about surprise presents from the past?”

He blew out a long breath. “I saw this while I was in Malaysia. I just… When I saw it, I felt it belonged to you.” He blew out a long breath as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a delicate ring.

Luke trembled as he stretched out the fingers of my left hand. “You know I don’t get the deal with traditional weddings, but, Lily, I want nothing more in the world than for you to be my wife. But on our terms,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to my lips. I blinked, not wanting to forget a moment of this. “If you would have me; if you would say yes. Let’s get married, under these stars tonight. You and me and the beautiful universe above us, the grains of sand below us. We don’t need anything more than that, do we? Just our promise to each other.”

My mouth stretched into the widest smile as I looked into his beautiful eyes, all the stars above us that he’d just mentioned seemed to be reflected in them. “Yes.” It was all I could say.

“You haven’t looked at the ring, do you like it?” he asked, his face alight with a radiant glow.

I looked down as he slid the delicate band down my ring finger. It was as if it had been made for me. A brilliant blue sapphire sat in the middle of the platinum band, a blue that would always remind me of the ocean, and of Luke’s beautiful eyes. On either side of it sat tiny, sparkling diamonds, which twisted off to complement the band of the ring.

“It’s incredible,” I said. My voice caught in my throat as my mind struggled to comprehend the enormity of this moment.

“I knew it was meant for you.”

“You’re meant for me,” I said as I stroked his cheek with my left hand, watching the ring shimmer, the reflection of a star in the moonlit sky.

“I know we don’t have traditional vows to say. I thought…” He took a deep breath. “Maybe we could just say what felt good, use the words that flow through your mind right now.”

I nodded. “I want to hear every word that passes your lips, especially these ones.”

He took a drink of his wine and blew his hair out of his eyes, I loved how he got nervous still. Who was I kidding? I loved every single, tiny thing about him, a fact that had only become more apparent over this last year.

“I’ll go first,” I volunteered, taking a sip of the crisp wine. “This isn’t my specialty, but… I’ve thought a lot of sentimental ideas about you recently.”

“You are the reason I exis t

The love that draws each breath

You keep my blood flowing

You drive my dreams

You make life what it is

Magical and heartfelt

Sometimes, raw and painful

But I don’t care

Because we are written in eternity

This moment has been destined

Here, under these stars

There’s a reason I shiver at the very thought of you

We’ve been falling in love

Over and over

Since the beginning of time

In every existence

Through every reincarnation

And we’ll never, ever stop

Our love will outlast everything.”

Luke wiped the tears from my cheekbones with a soft smile, taking a deep breath before he began his own pledge.

“I was lost before you

As I stand here now

Know that you are more than my soulmate

You’re my equal half

We are remnants of the same sta r

A star that burst into beautiful shards

So very long ago

But now, Lily, that stardust has pulled us back together

Completing the perfect puzzle that is us

We found each other

And nothing in the universe can pull us apart again

I want to get drunk

And chase storms together

Not know where we wake up

Be best friends and lovers

Fall over in the snow

Cook food, make a home

I want to laugh until we cry

And cry until we laugh

I want everything to be you . ”

I buried my head in his chest, embarrassed by how much I cried. He stroked my back and kissed my head until I was in control. The same amazing way he always had, not in a rush, letting me deal with every emotion the exact way I needed to, for as long as I needed to.

“Please say you know that off by heart because I need it in a frame.” I bit my lip as I looked up at him.

“We’ll both remember every word,” he reassured me before he placed a finger over my lips. “I don’t need you to say anything else, I just need you to answer this next question.”

I took a tiny step back from him; the warm sand settled between my toes. I wanted to focus on his face, to live in this moment.

“What’s your name?” he asked, with utter sincerity. I was confused for the briefest of moments before I burst into happy laughter and jumped up into his arms. We twirled around in the sand, our arms holding each other, my legs wrapped around him, our lips pressed together, before I answered.

“Lily Adamson.”

“Good answer, wife,” he grinned, pure joy on his face, before laying me down in the sand. The deserted beach became our bed for the night. We lay there, still smiling as the sun rose with the dawn. The first morning of the rest of forever.