Page 103 of Keeping Knight

“Yes.” After a brief hesitation, Ruby adds, “I was scared. When the alarm went off. I thought… maybe it was happening again.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Her hand comes to my cheek. “You protected me. Even though it ended up just being Mrs. Davis’ burnt biscuits. And I wasn’t scared like I was before. Because you were there.”

“Rue.”

“I love you, you know.” Ruby holds my gaze. “So much.”

Warmth swells in my chest. My heart squeezes. “I love you, too. And I will always, always protect you.”

The corner of her mouth pulls up. “Even from biscuits?”

I smile. “Even biscuits.”

“It’s kind of fitting, when I think about it,” she says.

“What is?”

Ruby grins at me. “The biscuits. Since you burned ours in class and all.”

A laugh rolls out of me. “I thought you said it wasn’t my fault they burned.”

She giggles. “I was just trying to make you feel better.”

“Rue.” I kiss her again, this time taking my time with it. When we break apart, I just look at her for a moment, memorizing everything.

How beautiful she is.

How her smile lights me up from inside.

How she shows me in so many ways that she loves me.

“I really, really love you,” I tell her. “Signing up for that class was the best decision I ever made.”

“Micah.” Her eyes shine as she looks at me. “I really, really love you. And I couldn’t agree more.”

Epilogue

6 Months Later

Ogunquit, Maine

RUBY

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel coming back here.

“It’s just an idea,” Micah prefaced when he first brought it up. “But I thought you might like going back to Maine. You’ve always said how much you loved it there.”

At first, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I have always loved Maine. Some of my favorite memories come from there—walking by the ocean with my parents, picking up seashells and gently worn stones to add to my collection, watching saltwater taffy being made in York Beach, and shrieking as I ducked under the icy cold water because I wouldn’t have dreamt of not going in, no matter the temperature.

For all those things and more, I wanted to say yes. But there was a part of me that was scared to go back to Maine, too. Would the familiar sights bring comfort, or would they just make me miss my parents more?

“Nevermind,” Micah added when I took too long to answer. “We can go somewhere else instead. If you want to see the ocean, we can go to Nantucket. Or Hilton Head, if you’d like someplace warmer.”

But once the idea was out there, strangely, I didn’t want to let go of it. “Let me think about it,” I told him. “I’m not saying no. I just need a little time.”

As it turned out, I didn’t need much time at all. All day, I thought about Maine. It slipped in while I was finishing up my final edits on a manuscript. And again while I was jogging on the treadmill after work. Little memories kept resurfacing, and with each one, my heart would twang with longing.