Page 55 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
“That’s enough to start with. The rest we can work out as we go.”
Jake cupped Ru’s face between his palms, his thumbs sweeping across the bruises staining Ru’s skin. Soon they would disappear, leaving nothing other than a memory. His lips twitched. If he had more, or any, poetry in his soul, he’d say that sounded a lot like life.
“Stop thinking, because it makes you look like a grump.”
Jake laughed. “The only thing I’m thinking about is unwrapping my present, because it is Christmas after all.”
“Well then,” Ru said, brushing a soft kiss to Jake’s lips, “perhaps we should go upstairs and wish each other a very,very, Happy Christmas.”
Jake smiled as Ru slipped his hand into his, warm, firm, and sure, as he led them both out of the kitchen.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
The first light of the summer solstice broke through in the eastern sky, a hint of soft pink and gold.
Jake stood at the head of the ancient stone circle that surrounded St. Bridget’s, watching as dark yielded to light. The longest day of the year had arrived, the wheel turning once more, bringing them to the height of summer. Beside him, Ru was a warm, steady, and patient presence. Jake glanced down at him, his heart twisting. One year ago to the day, and in another life, he’d stood in the same spot, lonely and alone, as the sun rose on another empty, desolate day.
“It’s starting.” Jake took Ru’s hand, his voice hushed in the stillness of early morning.
Ru nodded, his expression rapt as the first sliver of sun crested the stark moorland. Golden light spilled across the moor, transforming the landscape, bringing definition to what had been shadow. Jake watched Ru as much as he watched the sunrise, captivated by the quiet wonder in his eyes.
Six months. It had been six months since Christmas, and the storm that had brought Ru to his door. Six months since everything had changed. Sometimes Jake still couldn’t believehow thoroughly his life had been transformed, how completely the frozen, isolated existence he’d built had thawed.
The sun climbed higher, its rays now striking the tallest of the standing stones and the stumpy tower of the tiny stone church. Jake’s hand tightened around Ru’s as he led him inside, ducking his head beneath the pitted archway and the rough carving, a weathered image of the Green Man. St. Bridget’s was little more than a hermit’s cell, its walls carved with symbols both pagan and Christian. A simple wooden cross stood on the stone altar, draped with greenery.
“Look.” Jake pointed to where the sunlight was beginning to stream through the narrow eastern window, creating a beam that would, in moments, strike the altar directly.
As the sun hit the stone altar, Jake felt something shift inside him, a sense of completion in this moment of perfect balance. The wheel had turned, from the winter solstice when he and Ru had kept vigil together through the longest night, watching for the dawn and the return of the light. Now, with the sun at its zenith, they stood together again, witnessing another turning point.
The fleeting moment passed, the perfect alignment shifting as the sun continued its climb. Ru turned to Jake with a smile that still made Jake’s heart skip.
“That was incredible,” Ru said, his voice hushed. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Jake nodded, unable to find words for what he was feeling. Instead, he pressed his lips to Ru’s in a gentle kiss, closing his eyes as Ru sighed at the touch.
When they emerged from the church, the morning had fully arrived, the moor spread before them bathed in soft sunlight. They found a sheltered spot away from the ancient church and stones, settling on a patch of sun-warmed grass with a wide open view across the rolling landscape.
“Hungry?” Jake pulled provisions from his backpack.
“Starving. The hike up here took more out of me than I expected.”
“City boy,” Jake teased, grinning as he handed Ru a doorstep of a sandwich.
Ru huffed. “Always will be to a degree, though I’m getting better at this country life stuff, you have to admit,” he said through a mouthful of bread.
Jake couldn’t argue with that. After Christmas, and the thaw, Ru had gone back to London to pack up his life there. His flat had gone on the market, to be snapped up and sold within days, leaving him free to relocate to the isolated farmhouse. Over the past months, Ru had adapted to life at the farmhouse with a flexibility and enthusiasm that still surprised Jake, as Ru had embraced the change with the same open hearted approach he seemed to bring to everything.
They ate in easy silence, the only sounds the distant call of birds and the soft whisper of wind through the gorse. Jake found himself studying Ru’s profile, the line of his jaw, the way his hair, a little longer now than when they’d first met, still fell across his forehead and probably always would.
“What?” Ru asked, catching him staring.
“Nothing.” Jake hesitated. “No, not nothing. I was thinking about how different everything is from six months ago.”
Ru’s expression softened. “Good different?”
“The best kind of different.” Jake reached out, brushing Ru’s hair back, a gesture that had become a habit. “I never thought I’d have this again. Someone to share things with.”
