Page 56 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
“Is that what we’re doing? Sharing things?” Ru’s smile was teasing, but his eyes were serious.
“We’re sharing everything.” The words came easier than they once had. “My life. Yours. The farmhouse. The business.”
And it was more than true. Ru had become not only the centre of Jake’s personal life, he’d carved out an indispensable role in the business. Ru had taken on the administrative side of Whitby Survival, freeing up Jake to focus on what he did best. The website, revamped by one of Ru’s friends for ‘mates rates’, was, alongside Ru’s social media management, bringing in new clients and giving the business a level of visibility it’d never had before.
But more than that, so much more, Ru had brought life and warmth back into Jake’s life, one that had been cold and static, devoid of all colour. The farmhouse felt like a home again, filled with conversation and laughter, with Ru’s books scattered everywhere, with drawings he’d done of Jake and Monty, and of the farmhouse and the surrounding countryside, all of them framed and hung on the walls alongside some of his own photographic endeavours.
“I have something for you,” Jake said, reaching into his pack again. “For the solstice.”
Ru’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’ve bought me a present?”
“Not bought,” Jake replied, suddenly self-conscious. He pulled out a small wooden box. “Open it.”
Ru took the box, glancing between it and Jake, and back again. Biting down on his lower lip, he lifted the lid.
Inside lay a simple pendant, a small, hand carved Green Man, hanging from a leather cord.
Ru’s eyes widened as he lifted the pendant from the box. “It’s beautiful. You made this?”
“No. My nan gave it to me when I was eighteen, just before I joined the army. I couldn’t always wear it, but it went with me on every deployment. She said it’d keep me safe. I want you to have it?—”
“I—I can’t. I mean, your nan gave it to you, and I know how much she meant to you.”
Jake leant in and closed Ru’s hand around the pendant. “She did. But you mean more. She would’ve wanted this, I know it in here.” Jake touched his chest, over where his heart lay.
“I don’t know what to say,” Ru said, his voice wavering.
Jake smiled. “Then say nothing, and accept it for the gift it is.”
Ru nodded. “Will you put it on me?”
Jake took the pendant, moving behind Ru to secure it around his neck. His fingers brushed the warm skin at Ru’s nape, lingering there for a moment before he moved back around.
The generations-old little wooden carving rested just below Ru’s collar bone. Jake’s chest tightened at the sight.
“Thank you.” Ru’s warm palm cupped Jake’s cheek. Without thought, on instinct, Jake pushed into the touch.
Jake nodded, unable to speak for the swell of emotion in his heart. It wasn’t a ring, because the small carving was more than a metal band would ever be.
The day warmed around them, the solstice sun climbing higher.
“We should probably head back soon,” Jake said eventually, reluctant to let the moment go. “It’s going to get hot later.”
Ru nodded, but made no move to leave. Instead, he stretched out on the grass and crossed his arms to make a pillow for his head. “Five more minutes,” he murmured, eyes closed against the bright sun. “It’s too perfect to leave just yet.”
Jake stretched out beside Ru, their bodies close enough to touch, a relaxed and easy intimacy that still, sometimes, took Jake by surprise. There was a rightness about it, along with who’d they’d become together in such a short period of time.
When five minutes had stretched to fifteen, Jake sat up. “Come on, city boy. Time to move.”
Ru groaned but complied, helping to repack the backpack. As they prepared to leave, he paused, looking back at the ancient church. “Do you think we could come back? For the autumn equinox?”
Something warm unfurled within Jake at the question, at the casual way Ru saw their future together, months ahead. “Yes, we can,” he said, his voice a little rough, a little uneven.
They left St. Bridget’s as they’d arrived, on foot, the first hikers of the day having the moorland paths to themselves. The journey down was easier than the climb up had been, but halfway they paused to rest, finding a sheltered spot beneath an outcrop of rock. As Jake took a drink from his water bottle, Ru moved closer, his hand coming to rest on Jake’s chest.
“Have I told you today how glad I am that I got stuck in that snowstorm and never made it to Bobblecombe?”
Jake set the water bottle aside, his hands coming to Ru’s waist. “You might have mentioned it once or twice.”
