Stella turned to go and stopped immediately, her hands going to her hair. It was so silly. Teddy had seen her half-drowned and half-dead, splattered in blood, and naked, and she was worried she didn’t look good enough to face him in the light of day.
She smoothed her dress and turned back to her mother. “Do I look okay?”
Cecilia’s lips twisted into a soft smile. “You look beautiful.”
Stella blew out a breath and took off through the back door of the house, into the garden and down the path back toward the cliffside cottage.
The cottage, which had originally been a one-room art studio for her grandmother, had become her mother’s apartment growing up, and then a place where her parents had started their life together. Stella had lived there with them until she was three, when Rosie’s mother had needed a place to stay.
Cecilia had been heartbroken to move back to the family estate where she’d grown up, but still kept the cottage. In recent years, it had been transformed back into an art studio by Rosie’s floral sculptures and tapestries, though Stella liked to spend afternoons there watching her sister work.
Stella hesitated, her hand poised to knock on the salt-stained blue paint of the cottage door. The walk was short, but her heart pounded like she’d just run a great distance. It was strange to knock when it was her family’s property and Teddy was the visitor. Instead, shepulled the door open and stepped inside. The key was still in the inside lock. Stella turned it, listening to it click into place. Whatever was about to happen between them required no interruptions.
Teddy sat on the window seat, staring out the full wall of glass at the sea down below. A gentle breeze blew in through the open windows, ruffling his dark hair. He turned and smiled at Stella, and her heart beat harder in her chest, the bond unfurling in instant relief at the sight of him.
Stella allowed herself a moment to stare. He was dressed in a finely pressed tunic fitted perfectly to his broad chest, his hair immaculately styled, and his face clean-shaven. She preferred how he’d looked in the forest—messy and half-feral. Now he was back to playing the part he always had and the fine clothes just looked like a costume for a part he had never wanted to play.
“I didn’t want to disturb you, but I thought you might want company,” she said.
What did she even want to say to him? What could be said? Tomorrow was the final challenge—the magic challenge. She’d assumed they’d be allied with each other, but Endros might not give them a choice. She might have to hurt Teddy.
“Thank you for the daisies.”
Teddy looked away. “I figured you should get at least one bouquet of your favorites today.” He gestured to Rosie’s floral mural. “Had I known you had all of these, I would have realized a few more daisies were pointless.”
Stella beamed with pride. “I wish I could take credit, but it’s all Rosie. I mostly just sit where you are and distract her while she’s trying to work.”
He studied the mural for a few moments and then pointed to the strings of flowers hanging from the rafters—Rosie’s newest installation that she referred to as a dangling sculpture. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I should hire her to make something for my mother’s birthday.”
“I’m sure she’d be happy to.”
“This whole place feels like it’s right out of one of your fairy tales,” he whispered.
Stella kicked off her silk slippers and crossed the room, the old floorboards creaking under her bare feet. She swiped a dried daisy crown off of the bookshelf, walked to Teddy, and placed it on his head.
“There you are. The only thing I’ve made in this room and the only crown you wish to wear.”
Teddy smiled up at her. This close, she found it impossible to contain her emotions. All the fear and grief were scratching at her chest, begging to be let free.
She took a shuddering breath. “I ended things with Arden for good. I thought you should know.”
Teddy’s eyes went wide, and he stilled. “Why?”
Stella licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. “I realized when I saw my parents’ memories. I wanted so badly to have what they had and that wasn’t something I could have with Arden. He can’t love me the way I need to be loved, and I finally found the courage to admit that. Thanks to you.”
Stella used to marvel at her parents. It seemed so simple for them. They sustained each other and never seemed to grow tired of it. She feared she’d never find that satisfaction. Now she feared she’d found it and it was so much worse to know it existed with the same certainty that she knew she could not keep it—that she could not keep Teddy.
She was painfully in love with him, and he was in love with Grace.
His throat bobbed, and he nodded. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to hear that, though I’m sorry you didn’t get what you hoped for. You deserve the love you want.”
“So do you,” she countered.
He rubbed the back of his neck and brought his hand to rest over his heart. “I spoke with Grace earlier today. I apologized for not listening to her when she was trying to be honest with me. You were right that I shouldn’t have to change, but she was right that I didn’tlove her as much as I loved the way she made me feel. That wasn’t fair of me.”
They stared at each other, the moment taut with everything they couldn’t say.
Stella’s heart pounded. He didn’t want Grace anymore.
