Page 29 of Heart Strings
“Only because you threw me off a fecking bridge!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
A wave of nausea washes over me. “It’s an heirloom, it belonged to his grandmother. God. I’m the worst best man ever.”
“Untrue,” Lo assures me. “You’re sure you had it before you fell?”
“He’d just given it to me. It was in my back pocket, in a ring box. I’m going to be sick.”
Without hesitation, Cielo marches toward the creek again, craning her neck and moving aside reeds. “What color is it?”
“Dark gray, rounded edges. Gold hinge.”
“Seriously…?” She peers grimly at the thousands of smooth gray stones composing the creek bed. “It’ll be like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“Afraid so.”
I follow our footprints through the mud back to the water. Nothing. Wading into the creek slowly, I nudge stones aside with my foot in search for the telltale seam of the gold-hinged lid. My unease rises with each stone overturned.
Lo follows me in, hissing as she is engulfed in cool water up to her chest.
It’s impossible to make out any difference between the stones, so I bend down, angling to keep my nose above the surface as I navigate them by touch.
“I won’t forgive myself if I lost it.”
Lo’s wet hand rests on my shoulder. “Hey. We’re going to find it if we have to turn every stone in this creek.”
Determination blazes in her hazel eyes, but something softer lies just under the surface. This small touch fans the flame of hope within my chest. I curl my fingers into a fist to stop myself from pulling her into an embrace. The instinct to wrap her in a hug is so strong, like muscle memory. When I was worried sickfor Marie, Lo was always there. When I was burnt out, working to support my family while still playing music, Lo was there. And now…she’s here. Mere centimeters away.
Cielo isn’t quite tall enough to reach the bottom without putting her head underwater, so she takes a gulp of air before submerging her whole body in the creek. Her hair dances in the stream’s flow, lending her an ethereal quality. She gasps as she breaks the surface, hair sleek against her forehead and peaked nipples visible through her clothes.
Our eyes meet and I’m transported back in time, to jumping off the diving board into the bay at Salthill Promenade. The freezing crash of the sea and contrasting warmth of her skin. Licking salt from her lips as we treaded water. My blood stirs as her droplet-covered lashes lower to rove over my wet body. In an instant, the cold creek feels like a hot tub ready to boil over.
Cielo breaks first, drawing in a deep breath before submerging herself again to search for the ring box. I open my eyes underwater to search, and see Lo groping blindly at each stone before casting it aside. She rises to the surface and I follow, empty-handed.
Heart growing heavy with the acceptance that I’ve lost Callum’s ring, I shake my head. Ripples surround us as Lo wades closer.
“Thanks for trying,” I say.
She frowns. “That’s it?”
A gentle wave sloshes as I gesture at the countless stones. It feels like one’s lodged in my chest. “It’s a lost cause.”
The disappointment in her eyes says it all. She needs to see me try, against all odds.
The thing is: If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do thingsall that differently. Yes, I’d tell Lo that we’re stronger than the statistics against a long-distance relationship…But I would still go to London. She understood that if I didn’t take that risk, I couldn’t respect myself—as an artist, as a son, as a man—but she didn’t believe we stood a chance if I left. How was I supposed to convince her we could make it work, no matter how many miles lay between us, when she wouldn’t hear me out? Discouraged by her lack of faith, I hadn’t bothered arguing.
I have to try now, even if there’s little chance of success. I gave up too easily before, but now is my chance to prove to Lo that I’m willing to put in the work. If only I didn’t have to return to London at all. My career is just too unsteady to risk leaving right now.
“Go ahead and get dry. I’ll stay and look,” I tell her.
“I’m not gonna let you search for it alone.” Lo makes her way toward a half-submerged fig branch close to where I fell in.
I reach down to the creek bed again, fingers gliding across the smooth stones.
“Aidan!” she cries, clutching something in her fist. “I got it!”
“How?”
