Read Online Letters at Christmas by Amber Lin - Free Book Online Page A

despite that.”
    Though she still felt the pain of abandonment acutely. Hale had known that before he left, but he truly felt it now, as if their hearts were already linked, as if any discomfort to her bled into his body. In which case, he thought wryly, he’d better marry her without delay, so he could begin making her happy. Although that wasn’t strictly true. She didn’t need anything from him but his presence, his devotion. He was the one who needed her.
    He gazed at the black cat reclining in a wedge of sunlight streaming onto the pine floor. That was him, he realized, basking in her joy. Soaking up her love. The past three years had proven one thing: he could survive without her. But mere survival was goddamned bleak. He wanted to laugh and to love. He wanted a home. And most of all, he wanted Sidony.
    …
    Sidony couldn’t sleep. Restlessly, she kicked off the bed linens. The chilly winter air burned her overheated skin. She slid out of bed and crossed the frozen floorboards to the equally cold bench at the window.
    Only three days ago, she’d sat here, waiting for Hale, watching. This time the window remained closed against the weather. Ribbons on the glass distorted the ornate patterns formed in the frost. In a matter of hours, a pale morning sun would pierce the barrier and melt away the crystalline armor.
    Just in time for her wedding.
    Her heart thumped a question she couldn’t even voice, much less answer. This was normal, nervousness before her wedding. She knew that. Although it felt less like worry and more like anticipation. Three days of it, since his return. No, longer. Three years of it. An eternity .
    The vicar in Colne had examined the special license with suspicion. She supposed he’d never seen one in the small parish of hand-weavers and sheepherders. Most would drive to Gretna Green if their situation were urgent. The few landowners with enough clout to secure a special license would probably prefer a fancy London wedding anyhow.
    Not her. True, the hills of Lancashire would always be special to her—a touchstone. The place where her brother had raised her. Where she’d fallen in love with Hale. But she wanted to explore the world, as well. He promised to take her to the continent for their wedding trip…with no return date. France, first of all. Then Italy.
    Then—who knew?
    The familiar creak of floorboards brought a smile to her lips. Oh, yes. Hale would know. He had been to farther reaching places than Italy. Places he wouldn’t take her because they were too dangerous. Well, she could be very persuasive.
    She met him in the center of the bedchamber. “You couldn’t stay away one night?” she asked, teasing.
    His head was dark, bending to her ear. “No more waiting. I’d miss you too much.”
    She sighed in relief as his warm body pulled flush against her. Being apart from him sucked away her breath, like a cold, surging wind across her face. But with him, she felt warm and safe enclosed in strong arms and given the means to fly.
    His experience over the past three years had surely been a nightmare. She knew he’d only skimmed the surface with what he’d told her. He’d lived it once for her. She would never make him live it again.
    “It won’t bother you,” she asked anxiously, “to be on a ship again?”
    “It won’t be the same type of ship, nor the same routes.”
    “Still, if the sea is a dark place for you…”
    “It’s not the sea that gave me nightmares. It was not having you in my arms.” His breath hitched. “I shut myself off from feeling anything, from hurting or hoping. I half expected you to have been married when I returned, and I thought… I felt that I deserved that. It was a type of madness. I can’t say that I’m fully healed, but I know I’m much better with you.”
    She placed her hand on his chest, reveling in the steady thump beneath his skin. “I can be happy in London. If that’s where you want to be, I’ll stand beside