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She’d brought a week’s worth of food, it looked like. I glanced at Asher, bewildered, overwhelmed, and surprised by this sudden development. From feeling like the loneliest girl in the world, to being surrounded by people in the span of a few minutes. I felt so thankful.
The bell rang again, and I gazed around the assembled company. There was only one person I could think of who might be missing. I went to answer the door myself. Selena stood there, wrapped in a warm winter coat. She reached out and hugged me when I opened the door.
“Are you okay? No call?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say,” I admitted. Everything was all tangled up inside my mind. “How did you know?”
“Asher called me. He was set on gathering together a full house, and there was no saying no. I’m glad he did.”
“I don’t want to pile on. You have enough going on,” I murmured.
She shook her head. “No. You need me, so, I’m here.”
“Go and grab some food,” Asher suggested, waiting at the end of the hallway for me.
We approached him. Selena took a deep breath and headed through toward the kitchen. Asher stopped me as I moved to join her.
“Not so fast. Is this okay?” He jerked his head toward the kitchen and the sounds of everyone talking. “I can get them all out of here in seconds if it’s not.”
“Yeah. It’s weird…having so many people show up, short notice, just because you asked them to.”
“It’s not because I asked them to. It’s because of you. They’re here for you,” he said.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I wasn’t used to having a support system. I didn’t let people in. It was my thing. The barrier I’d never tried to dismantle, always too scared. Now, it was smashed on the ground.
“I have something for you,” he added when I had no words to give him. I was emotionally spent.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny bag, deftly untying the strings.
“What’s this for?”
“For? It’s for nothing. I don’t need an excuse to give my girlfriend a gift. Sure, it might be handmade and not in a Tiffany’s box…but I’m hoping you’ll like it anyway.”
I watched his long fingers reach into the small bag, feeling like an impostor. Why was he giving me gift? I felt awkward and undeserving. My head was all over the place.
“Give me your hand,” he said.
I complied immediately, palm up.
But he just turned it over, tutting softly, and selected my ring finger. “Like this, Ice Queen.”
He slipped something onto my left ring finger. I blinked down at my hand.
It was a ring. A ring made of some kind of dark industrial-looking metal, like pewter. The band was thin and surprisingly elegant for something he’d made himself. The entire thing was plaited like a rope, and in the very middle sat a knot, carefully tied in the middle.
“Can you name the knot, Your Majesty?”
I shook my head, unable to speak.
“It’s called a grapevine knot. Most commonly used in search-and-rescue missions. This knot means finding someone who’s lost and holding on to them and never letting go. Wherever you go, whatever you need…I’m with you.”
I stared up at him. The damn tears were back. He cupped my face and smoothed them away from under my eyes. “No more tears. Everything is going to be okay.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but there was still nothing there. My heart was overflowing, and I had no idea how to handle it. Asher seemed to sense that, because he wiped my eyes and took my hand. “Come on, let’s go and let that rabble take your mind off things.”
And he led me into the kitchen, full of conversation and company. The warmth of the room slipped over me and would have chased away the last chill from my heart, if not for the whisper of fear running through my mind on a never-ending loop. How will you keep this wonderful man and his family safe?
I still had no idea.
