Only a fool would give up without a fight.
He banged on Gloria’s front door.
She flung it open, her dark eyes red-rimmed and puffy.“Did you come for your telescope?”
He’d forgotten all about his telescope.“I came for you.”
“I’m not going.”She edged a half-step back.
“I’m not taking you.”He took a deep breath.“I’mchoosingyou.”
She stared up at him.“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m here,” he said.“Right here, with you.For as long as you want me.”
She bit her lip.“I thought you were leaving.”
“I was looking for the place where I fit in.”He held up his palms “It turns out that place is right here with you.”
“I thought you wanted a wife you could travel with,” she stammered.
“I’d like that,” he admitted.“But I love you.You’re the dream I pick.”
Her expression was anguished.“You’ll come to resent me.That’s the last thing I want.”
“I’d resent losing you,” he said.“I would rather be together.”
She shook her head.“What about India?”
“India will always be there.”He lifted her chin with his knuckle.“I don’t want to miss a single day with you.”
“Neither do I,” she said, her voice cracking.“But I don’t want to make you give up something you love.”
“You didn’t hear me.”He took her hands and pressed them to his heart.“Iliketo travel.I loveyou.I would give up breathing if it meant spending one more moment together.”
She stared up at him, her face pale.
He lowered her hands.“If you don’t feel the same, I’ll respect your decision and walk away.”
Even if it tore him apart.
Chapter 17
Gloria pressed Christopher’s hands to her galloping heart.
He loved her.
And if she couldn’t find some way to meld their orbits into one, his trajectory would take him a world away.She would never have another chance.
Her mind raced.She had been wrong to think like a machine.Yes, no.On, off.Here, there.Between any fixed points, there was always space.One just had to look hard enough to find it.
Christopher was willing to give up everything he’d ever thought he wanted because he believed what they had was worth so much more together.She needed to be willing to do the same.
The fate of their future was the ice.Not a safe surface like the pond, frozen over with inches and inches of dense ice for stability.This was a thin wafer.A flimsy scrap of an iceberg, floating in the scariest ocean she could imagine.
She had to tie on her skates and race out to meet him anyway.
“I love you,” she said in a rush, before fear could hold her back.“Sometimes I lose my breath from the force of it.I look at you and all I can think is that I never knew my heart could stretch so big to fit this much inside.”
