Read Online The Redemption (Charlotte Bloom Book 2) by Amanda Richardson - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda Richardson
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phone, and soon, I was in line for the ferry to Ireland. As I parked, the ferry started to move. I had four hours to kill before we made it to the shores of Ireland. I grabbed my purse and made my way up to the beverage level of the large ferry. It was a much larger boat than I’d anticipated; hundreds of cars were parked in rows on the bottom level, and people filled almost every seat in the place.
I’d brought Love in the Time of Cholera with me. I wanted something to read during my time on the ferry. I sat and drank the coffee that Helen had packed, and read until I got hungry for lunch. I took my sandwich to the upper deck, which was outside, and sat on a small bench facing the side of the ferry. I gripped my pea coat tighter, and pulled my beanie further down on my head. It was freezing out, but the weather was stunning. The sky was a bright blue, and the ocean was a darker, jewel blue. The land that I could see was green—bright, leprechaun green. I sat back against the bench and took bites of my sandwich, which was absolutely delicious (as if I was expecting anything less from Helen). I got to the page that Alec had earmarked and I realized, with amusement, that Alec had earmarked it for a reason. The passage was highlighted.
“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
I smiled to no one, glad that I was on my way to see the man who thought these kind words about me, even if he was terribly angry with me. I realized then that I didn’t care if he was angry, mad, sad, disappointed… whatever. I just wanted to be near him. That’s all I needed. I would do anything to make sure I never said goodbye to him again. I’d made that mistake once, and now I was living with the consequences.
I finished the book, and set it inside my purse, crying softly. The ending had moved something inside of me. The love story in the book reminded me of what Lainey had said about soulmates. If there was ever a book about soulmates, it was this one. Florentino, the protagonist, falls in love with Fermina, the love of his life, when he is a teenager. He waits over fifty years for her, until her husband passes away, to declare his love for her again.
“It was as if they had leapt over the arduous calvary of conjugal life and gone straight to the heart of love. They were together in silence like an old married couple wary of life, beyond the pitfalls of passion, beyond the brutal mockery of hope and the phantoms of disillusion: beyond love. For they had lived together long enough to know that love was always love, anytime and anyplace, but it was more solid the closer it came to death.”
It was beautiful and brilliant writing, and I felt like I understood Alec a little bit more now. He’d highlighted that last passage also; this and the love passage were the only two passages that were highlighted in the entire book, although other one-liners and sentences were underlined with a pen. I smiled as I thought of Alec’s literary studies. My heart thumped against my chest when I thought of him in bed, drinking whiskey, shirtless, and studying a book. OK, so maybe that didn’t actually happen, but it was certainly nice to think about.
I headed back to the car lot. We only had about thirty minutes left on the ferry before we docked. I put the seat back a little and took a nap, only waking when the car behind me honked. The giant, steel door had opened, and the cars in front of me were starting to pull forward. I quickly turned the
I’d brought Love in the Time of Cholera with me. I wanted something to read during my time on the ferry. I sat and drank the coffee that Helen had packed, and read until I got hungry for lunch. I took my sandwich to the upper deck, which was outside, and sat on a small bench facing the side of the ferry. I gripped my pea coat tighter, and pulled my beanie further down on my head. It was freezing out, but the weather was stunning. The sky was a bright blue, and the ocean was a darker, jewel blue. The land that I could see was green—bright, leprechaun green. I sat back against the bench and took bites of my sandwich, which was absolutely delicious (as if I was expecting anything less from Helen). I got to the page that Alec had earmarked and I realized, with amusement, that Alec had earmarked it for a reason. The passage was highlighted.
“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
I smiled to no one, glad that I was on my way to see the man who thought these kind words about me, even if he was terribly angry with me. I realized then that I didn’t care if he was angry, mad, sad, disappointed… whatever. I just wanted to be near him. That’s all I needed. I would do anything to make sure I never said goodbye to him again. I’d made that mistake once, and now I was living with the consequences.
I finished the book, and set it inside my purse, crying softly. The ending had moved something inside of me. The love story in the book reminded me of what Lainey had said about soulmates. If there was ever a book about soulmates, it was this one. Florentino, the protagonist, falls in love with Fermina, the love of his life, when he is a teenager. He waits over fifty years for her, until her husband passes away, to declare his love for her again.
“It was as if they had leapt over the arduous calvary of conjugal life and gone straight to the heart of love. They were together in silence like an old married couple wary of life, beyond the pitfalls of passion, beyond the brutal mockery of hope and the phantoms of disillusion: beyond love. For they had lived together long enough to know that love was always love, anytime and anyplace, but it was more solid the closer it came to death.”
It was beautiful and brilliant writing, and I felt like I understood Alec a little bit more now. He’d highlighted that last passage also; this and the love passage were the only two passages that were highlighted in the entire book, although other one-liners and sentences were underlined with a pen. I smiled as I thought of Alec’s literary studies. My heart thumped against my chest when I thought of him in bed, drinking whiskey, shirtless, and studying a book. OK, so maybe that didn’t actually happen, but it was certainly nice to think about.
I headed back to the car lot. We only had about thirty minutes left on the ferry before we docked. I put the seat back a little and took a nap, only waking when the car behind me honked. The giant, steel door had opened, and the cars in front of me were starting to pull forward. I quickly turned the
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