Page 81 of Words I Couldn't Say
That’s the funny—and scary—thing about love and second chances. You can’t have either without taking a risk. You put yourself out there with the possibility to be crushed all over again. But it didn’t matter. Because, at the end of the day, with a love this pure, the rest would work itself out.
Ava taught me that. Never again would I take her for granted. Because, even if we only had one last day together, it would still be worth losing everything as long as I’d had her for as long as life would allow. The risk was worth it. She was worth it.
“Open it,” I said, placing the box in her hand.
Her gaze darted from the box to me then back to it. With dainty fingers, she opened the lid, and she gasped once again at the contents inside. “Tucker,” she breathed. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
I smiled and withdrew my mother’s favorite necklace. It had been my father’s wedding gift to her. A small solitaire sapphire that he’d claimed was the exact color of her eyes—coincidently also the color of Ava’s. Mom had worn it every day of her life. It was a miracle I still had it. The only time she ever took it off was when they were going out into the water. Though I’d much rather have my mother back, I was grateful I at least had the necklace.
“Turn around,” I requested, and when she did, I placed it around her neck along with a sweet kiss on the curve of her skin.
Her shoulders shook with a small shiver. When she faced me again, gently touching the stone, her eyes sparkled with fresh, unshed tears. “It’s so beautiful.”
“You are the first and only woman I’ve ever loved. This is my promise to you. A reminder that our lives are short, so we have to make the most of them. That’s what I want to do with you. I don’t know exactly what our futures hold, but I do know one thing.”
“What?” she asked, her eyes searching mine.
“It doesn’t matter as long as we’re together.”
Her hand covered the one I was cupping her cheek with. “Then you don’t have to worry, because together is what we will always be.”
When Ava pulled away from me, her watery, tearful smile had transformed into a devilish grin that gave her a vixen-like appearance. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth then let it pop out. Her chin lifted in the direction of the couch and her bright eyes burned with desire.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we christen that thing?”
