He gently takes my hand in his and bows again. “The pleasure is all mine.” When my eyes connect with his weathered ones, he adds, “It means a lot to us, to our country, that you’re here. We’ve felt lost without an heir, and you’ve truly saved us.”
Maybe a month ago, something like that would’ve made me scoff, but after being in Strombly and talking to many, I realize just how significant my decision is.
“I’m so honored to be here and to be welcomed with open arms.”
“And I hope I’m not speaking out of turn when I say you look just like your mother. We loved her dearly.”
“Thank you, that means a lot to me,” I say kindly.
“We appreciate you coming by. I believe I shall introduce you to our anglers now. They’ve had pins and needles waiting to meet you.”
Magnus moves me through the line of anglers and their families. I listen to their stories of how they caught their crown-winning cod, and some of the stories were quite entertaining. I laughed, I shook hands, and I accepted a few wood carvings of fish, one of which was a life-sized replica that came up to my hip. And when we get to the final man, my eyes deceive me, because for a moment, I think he’s Keller from the broadness of his shoulders and the style of his hair.
But that can’t be.
Can it?
My breath is stolen from my lungs when he lifts his head, and his deep blue eyes connect with mine.
Why is he here?
Lara didn’t mention he was going to be here, or did she and I was daydreaming? Either way, he’s here, and he looks . . . God, he’s so handsome. The bruise under his eye has faded, but his expression looks weathered, as though he’s been through the gauntlet and barely was able to crawl out.
But still, the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.
And even though I feel the broken pieces of my heart barely holding together, it still leaps from the sight of him. My body still craves his warm, strong arms. My mouth still desires his. And I desperately want to crawl against his body and let him take care of me, tell me everything’s going to be okay.
“And I believe you know Mr. Keller Fitzwilliam,” Magnus says. “His story is entertaining because he caught the biggest fish by accident.”
As if someone has programmed me to do so, I lift my hand to Keller, who takes it in his long fingers as he bows. But there’s something paper-like between our fingers, and when I have a second to figure it out, I see that he’s slipping me a note.
Before he releases my fingers, he gives them a gentle squeeze . . . three times.
My breath stills in my chest as my pulse roars through my veins.
Three squeezes.
It’s what my parents used to do to tell me they loved me.
Is that what he’s doing? When his eyes connect with mine, from the forlorn expression in them, I know that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Three squeezes . . . he loves me.
When our fingers release, I grip the note tightly. And with a steady voice, I say, “Mr. Fitzwilliam, what a surprise to see you. I was unaware of your fishing abilities.”
He brings his hands together in front of him and says, “It was a mistake, unfortunately. I was fishing with King Theo off the bank of Kirkfell. He had a few lines hanging off the back of the boat and had to go to the bathroom, so he asked me to watch his lines. The minute he left, a fish was hooked and I reeled it in. But during the reeling, I fell into the water.”
“Really?” I ask, a smile peeking from my lips as I think about Keller falling off a boat. Not because he could have drowned, but because such a strong man like himself, I couldn’t imagine him not being able to hold his own against a fish.
“I have a bad case of sea legs unfortunately and, yes, I fell into the water. While being fished out, I hung onto the pole and reeled the fish in, only to be pulled out of the water with my fish.”
I chuckle. “What a spectacle, I’m sure.”
Magnus holds up a picture of a wet Keller clinging to a fish. I chuckle even more. “Our favorite crowned cod story.”
“I can see why. A mishap gone right.”
“Indeed,” he answers before taking another bow, ending our conversation.
And just like that, our interaction is over, but I cling to the note. As Magnus shows all the pictures from previously crowned cods, Lara comes up to me and I slip her the note for safekeeping until I can read it later.
I want to say I paid attention to the rest of the visit and dove into the grand tales of fishing, but my mind was on one thing alone—whatever that note said, and the three pulses Keller gave my fingers before our hands parted.