Page 42 of Forever & Again
Sarah’s face was full of understanding, but she shook her head gently. “It is not my place. He will tell you when he is ready.”
Grace’s throat went dry. “Is there nothing that you can tell me?”
Sarah reached forward, squeezing Grace’s hand. “What do you know?”
“I know her name, that she was French, and she loved horses.”
Sarah nodded in agreement. Gace waited patiently as the expression on her friend's face shifted. She held her breath, hoping that Sarah would have even one more piece of information to offer that would help her better understand the depth of what held Oliver hostage.
“Odette was Oliver’s wife.”
Grace’s heart stuttered. “He was married?”
Sarah nodded slowly. “They were very young. And while he may have worked through the grief of losing her, he has been carrying guilt over her death for a long time.”
Grace’s mind spun, picturing Oliver in ways she hadn’t been able to before: young, vulnerable, and haunted by the woman he had thought was his forever. She felt an ache for him—for the man he had been and the man he had become.
She sat silently, her breath coming slow and uneven, as she uncurled her fingers and let the handkerchief fall lightly to her lap.
All summer, Oliver had devoted himself to helping her mend her own heart, all while holding his own wounds so tightly. Grace now knew what she needed to do next—the only question that remained was whether she could summon the courage to do it.
Oliver’s boots sank into the wet grass as he crossed the lawn. The note Grace had left for him was clenched in his hand, the single written line echoing in his mind with every step.Meet me in the stables.
On the surface, it was a simple request, but Oliver was fully aware of precisely what it would cost Grace to be that close to Champion—to look into the living, breathing face of her grief. His chest tightened. He had no idea what to except once he reached her.
They hadn’t truly spoken since the tenant picnic two days earlier, not because he had been avoiding her—he felt her absence like an empty, hollow space between his ribs. But the truth was pressing so hard against his chest that he could no longer breathe around it.
He could no longer keep Odette a secret from her; yet the thought of speaking her name aloud and telling Grace everything filled him with a fear that nearly froze him in his tracks. Once she knew the truth of how utterly broken his heart had been, would she decide it was no longer worth having?
He had been preparing his speech for days. He rehearsed it constantly, the words tumbling over and over in his mind. He had even tested them out on Matthew, though he had left out the most important part—that somewhere between the quiet hours of summer, and the time spent licking his wounds after she thoroughly bested him with her sharp wit—he had fallen hopelessly in love with her.
If he could manage to tell her, if she even gave him the chance to form the words, he prayed that she would believe them to be true. But he wouldn’t blame her if she simply turned and walked away.
He pushed open the stable doors, the familiar scent of hay and horses grounding him, even as the pounding of his heart drowned out every other sound. Grace stood in the center aisle, dressed in a riding habit, with Stella and Champion standing off to the side, both saddled and ready.
“Grace?” His voice was unsure, seeing her standing there so full of confidence when he could only imagine the war she must be feeling inside. “What are you doing?”
She looked up at him, her smile calm and her eyes bright with that undeniable spark he had come to crave. “It has been nearly a week since you planned an activity,” she said simply.“And since I am not one to back down from a challenge, I took matters into my own hands.”
He let his gaze drift over her slowly. To anyone else, she may have appeared perfectly calm, but Oliver could see the way her smile was just a tad too tight, and her shoulders sat a fraction too high. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the reins hanging down from Champion’s neck, and her feet shifted ever so slightly in unease. He took one more glance at the determined look in her eyes before nodding towards the horses. She hadn’t sat on a horse since the day Benjamin died, and the fact that she was allowing him to be the one to share this moment with her nearly undid him.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” His voice came lower than he had expected. He had truly meant to ask if she was sure about the ride, but as the words landed, he felt the full weight of what he truly wanted to ask settle between them.
Grace stepped forward, handing him Champion’s lead. “Yes, Ollie,” she whispered. “I want to do this.” Oliver felt his breath turn thick in his lungs, the way she held his gaze making it nearly impossible to breathe.
Before he could even form a thought, she turned to move Stella closer to the mourning block. Oliver moved silently to her side, helping her mount Sarah’s horse. His movements were careful and steady, but he was fully aware of how his touch lingered just a fraction too long at her side. Every second he stayed near her was a silent admission of how much she had come to occupy his thoughts.
Once she was seated, he swung up onto Champion, encouraging him forward at a slow pace as Grace stayed close beside him. They made their way slowly toward the open fields behind Somerton. His eyes kept flicking to her, taking in her posture, the slight tension in her hands, the way she kept hergaze fixed on the path ahead. His mind raced, trying to come up with anything he could say to help take her mind off of her fears.
“I am beginning to understand why you did not want to ride with me before.” His words startled her and she turned her head to look at him in surprise.
“You were just trying to save me from the embarrassment of realizing that you are spectacularly better at handling a mount than I am.”
Grace laughed, her posture instantly relaxing as the bright sound settled deep into Oliver’s heart. “You flatter me too much.”
Oliver smiled, feeling the effects of it deeper than he had in years. “I do not believe that is possible.”
They continued to ride in silence, the rhythm of the horses beneath them soothing, and with each beat of their hooves on the ground, Grace seemed more at ease. When he was sure she was fully comfortable, Oliver finally broke the quiet.
