Neva leans over the railing, the iron cold against her palm as she watches the twilight sun ripple molten orange across the water.
Her first time travelling across the ocean, it should have been an amazing experience, if not for the fact that they are fleeing for their lives.
It's their fourth day on the cruise.
To where, she doesn't know.
They said the ship was the safest way to evade that man,
the one who showed up on Christmas evening and turned her world upside down.
She thinks she hates him. Hates that man for ruining her life, whoever he is. He should have been the one inside a prison, but instead it's them running away like fugitives.
What about her aunt and uncle? What about her college? What about the dreams she hasn't even started to realize?
But if it weren't for him, she would have married a complete stranger. She has no idea what to do with the revelation that he's an agent, and God knows whatever else he's been keeping from her still.
It's very hard to ignore the man she's given her heart and soul to, and it doesn't help that they're sharing the same cabin.
So here she is, after sneaking out while he was showering, the cold wind brushing her face as she waits alone for sunrise,
searching for the space to think and decide what to do with the elusive life before her.
Yes, she's grateful to him for saving her, and she's sorry for dragging him into this mess and ruining his life as well.
But now it's as if he's her fiancé's lookalike from a parallel world, and she has to face the most dreadful chapter of her life with a man she can no longer trust.
It would have been so much easier if he'd told her the truth from the start. Whatever that truth might have been, the choice would have been hers, to stay, or to walk away.
Now, even the possibility of a future without him smothers her with an agony so dark and blinding that it paralyzes her.
Yet if he decides he doesn't want her anymore, with everything he stands to lose because of her, she won't chain him down.
Her Father will keep her sheltered, protect her, and heal her broken heart, even if he abandons her here, right on this cruise.
Tears stream down her cheeks at the thought.
She wipes her cheeks, and gazes across the endless horizon, awash in purple and orange. Oh God... she wants to go home.
"Why are you crying, dear?"
Neva flinches at the voice and turns to see a tall, fair man standing only inches from her.
She doesn't respond and moves away as he takes a place near the taffrail beside her. She hadn't even heard his footsteps.
"It's alright to feel lost and weary," he says softly. "But I believe you know Who to turn to."
Weird.
Why would this stranger appear out of nowhere and offer her a piece of advice?
Yet she finds herself studying his hazel-brown eyes as the wind toys with his umber curls.
"I know." The words leave her almost unconsciously, startling her.
"But sometimes... He feels so far away."
A gentle smile tugs at his lips. "The moments when you feel the most distant, might be the ones when He's the closest."
Tears stream down her cheeks again, and she hastily wipes them away with the sleeves of her sweater. Gosh, she's being so vulnerable in front of a complete stranger.
"I—I'm sorry," she murmurs.
"You shouldn't be," he says.
"Neva!"
His voice cuts through the crash of the ocean waves and the quiet her mind is sinking into.
Rhett strides toward them,
his hard gaze flicking from her to the man standing at her side.
"What are you doing here?" His tone is low and devoid of warmth.
"I came out for fresh air," she says.
He scans her up and down, then, after one last glance at the smiling stranger, takes her hand and pulls her away.
"What are you doing?" she asks as his grip tightens around her wrist.
He doesn't respond.
"Rhett!" She tries to pull her hand free. "You're hurting me."
Instead of letting go, he stops and turns toward her.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be out here alone?"
"And not to mention..." He closes the distance between them.
"Talking to some stranger?"
Hot anger rises to her head in a dizzying wave.
"I am talking to a stranger!" she blurts out.
He looks taken aback before hurt shadows his expression.
She pulls her hand free and starts down the deck.
"Angel," he says gently.
She won't heed him at all.
He catches her elbow, halting her mid-step. "Are you still angry with me?"
"Let go of me," she says quietly.
"Please..." he says. "How do I make it up to you?
"It's New Year's Eve tomorrow."
When she finally glances at him, a faint smile curls at his lips.
"I can't bear the thought of starting a new year with you angry at me."
"I'm going back to my aunt's," she says.
"You can't," he replies. "It's too dangerous."
"They might be in danger too!" she exclaims.
"They'll be alright," he says calmly.
"How can you be so sure?'' she counters back.
"You just have to believe." He lifts his hand as if to touch her, but she takes a step back.
"But I can't—" Her lips quiver as tears blur her vision. "I can't believe you anymore."
His lips part as though he means to speak, but the words never come.
They simply look at each other as her tears threaten to burst out like a broken dam.
When she turns to leave, he murmurs, "Do you still love me?"
Her fingers curl in hesitation. "I do," she says,
"but love isn't enough if there's no trust."
"Trust me now," he says, trailing after her.
"I was wrong, Angel. Can't you give me another chance—" His voice borders on desperation when she nearly collides with a crew member emerging from a cabin.
"My apologies." The man bows his head and pushes the housekeeping cart away.
Rhett takes her hand, and guilt tightens her chest as she meets his tear-glazed eyes.
"I had rules to follow," he says.
"I still should've told you, but I... I didn't know how." He swallows. "I would've told you eventually, but I was a coward—"
"It's hard to forget when I imagine you never returning from one of your business trips."
Her voice catches when she adds, "And I would've spent the rest of my life never knowing what really happened to you."
He looks at her with a sorrow so profound, yet touched with a hint of that ardent softness. "Please..." he whispers.
"Please forgive me just this once."
"I already did," she says.
For a moment, he simply watches her, as though trying to catch a lie.
Then he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a ring. "You left it on the nightstand."
That's when she realizes the emptiness of her ring finger.
She must have forgotten to put it back on after taking it off to comb her hair.
He gently takes her hand, and slowly, carefully, he slides the ring onto her finger. "You're still going to marry me, right?"
She wants to. More than anything, she wants to. But a marriage cannot bloom where partnership does not take root.
"I just need one more truth from you." Her pulse quickens with anxiety and hope tangling together as she imagines the answer that will determine everything.
Either now or never.
"What is it?" Worry and hope war across his expression.
"If it's another woman you're worried about, it's always been you.
And it will always... always be you."
"Good for you." And good for her.
Really, she's a jealous, jealous person.
Perhaps it's simply the way God intended it, but the thought of him...
even holding another woman's hand with romantic affection chills her to the bone.
"But what I need from you," she whispers, "is to know if you truly love Him." If he says otherwise, what is she supposed to do?
"Of course I do." A small frown pulls at his brow. "How could I not, when I had to seek Him again to find a way to your heart?"
"Do you promise..." she pauses, then breathes out slowly. "Do you promise never to keep things from me again?"
"I promise." He takes a step closer and presses his forehead against hers, drawing in a shuddering breath.
"God... I love you so much."
"So... so much," he whispers and presses his lips to hers.
Her response is instinctive, the feeling of him warming her to her soul.
His hand slides down her waist, pulling her closer, and it is as though she has been one of the living dead these past few days, and suddenly life rushes through her like a river at sunrise,
carrying with it a most miraculous peace.
But a worry still nags at her like thorns in her heart. "Are you really willing to leave everything behind?"
She glances at him. "Your job, and—"
He silences her with another kiss, softening her core like chocolate beneath touch. "You're my everything."
His breath warms her lips.
A small smile curls at her lips when sound of small footsteps comes pattering behind her.
They both turn to find a little boy staring at her with eyes rounded and green as an emerald sea. "Are you a princess?"
The innocent question catches her so off guard that she can only stare back at him.
He pulls her closer and asks the child,
"Who are you?"
The boy's face lights up.
"My name is Noah." Then those bright green eyes find Neva once more. "And you're the most beautiful princess I've ever seen."
Neva blinks in astonishment before lowering herself to the boy's height.
She lightly ruffles his hair. "Thank you, sweetie. And you're very handsome too."
A bubbly giggle escapes him.
"There you are!"
A tall man hurries toward them, his auburn hair the same shade as Noah's curls.
"Papa!" Noah runs toward him and throws his arms around his father's legs.
"Don't just run off alone," he chides his son gently before scooping him up into his arms.
"I met a princess." Noah points toward her.
His father glances at her and frowns faintly.
He smiles and offers them a polite nod.
"My son didn't bother you, I hope?"
"Not at all," she says.
"Then, if you'll excuse us." He turns to leave when Noah waves at her.
"Bye-bye, Princess. It was nice meeting you."
"It was lovely meeting you too." She smiles.
As they disappear down the hall, she turns to Rhett,
who is watching her with calm intensity, his hands tucked inside his jacket pockets.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
He shrugs one shoulder, takes her hand, and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "Nothing."
"I need to catch up on some sleep," she says.
"Are we attending the New Year's party, then?" he asks.
"I don't have anything to wear," she says, pulling him toward their cabin.
"There are plenty of boutiques on board. We can always find you something."
She considers it for all of one second. "Sure."