“I first met you at the town’s Founder’s Day activities. Your family had lived here for a few years, but I’d been busy with school and trying to find my way in life, that our paths never crossed.” His mind created her sixteen-year-old image. She was so lovely with burnt auburn hair, bright blue eyes, and raspberry colored lips. Other boys had also noticed her beauty, but when she had looked upon him, there were sparks between them immediately.
“I am five years older than you,” he continued, “but our ages didn’t matter. We met secretly for three weeks as we got to know each other. We went on horse rides, and I took you out on the river in my father’s canoe. We laid side-by-side, holding hands as we stared up into the night sky and counted the stars. We shared our dreams and our passions. Plus, we made plans for our future.”
She licked her lips and nodded slowly, but she didn’t say a word.
Terrick adjusted his scarf, even though the light in the carriage wasn’t that great, he still didn’t want her to see his scars. “When my father discovered I was meeting you secretly, he tried to dissuade me from falling in love, but it was too late. You had enchanted me completely.” He smiled as his heart swelled with the feeling he had been away from for seven years.
“Why didn’t your father want us together?” she asked.
“Although I was a man, my mind wouldn’t settle down. I was a wanderer, and my father wanted me to find a life for myself. He wanted me to build my empire, and he knew that if I married so young, that I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my dreams.” Hesitantly, he touched her clasped hands. “But at the time, my only dream was to marry you and love you for the rest of our lives.”
Her throat jumped in what must have been a hard swallow. “What did my parents think?”
“I’m not sure about your father. He was gone most of the time, selling his inventions from town to town.”
“Yes, Father did that quite a bit before Mother died.”
“But I do know your mother thought highly of me. She wanted us together. However, she agreed with my father that you were too young.”
Bella chuckled lightly. “Too young? At sixteen? My mother married my father when she was that age.”
“True, but your mother had high hopes for you. She wanted you to enjoy your young woman years before getting married. So, that’s when the decision was made.”
Her forehead creased. “What decision.”
“That you and I would separate for seven years. I was forbidden to see you.” He clenched his teeth, remember the unbearable pain that came with that decision. It had nearly driven him mad, especially when his father moved the family to California not long afterward.
“Did this have anything to do with my abduction?”
“I wish I knew.” He moved his touch from her hands. “It was only a week later when you went missing. You were found in the forest near my family’s estate.”
“Were you the one who found me?”
“No, it was your father and brother.”
She shook her head. “That doesn’t explain why I can’t remember you, nor does it explain why my family didn’t tell me about this.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “Will I ever remember?”
Terrick hated to see her this way. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and comfort her. He wanted to turn back time to when they’d been blissfully happy and in love. “Perhaps you should talk to Andrew.”
She looked at him again. “I shall.” Her shoulders relaxed. “My mother kept journals, and when Garrett had let it slip about my abduction, I searched through my mother’s journals to see if she’d written anything about it, but strangely enough, her last journal had ended the week after my sixteenth birthday.”
“That is very odd.”
Confusion filled him as his mind tried to piece the events together. He had met Bella not long after her birthday. There must be another journal of hers out there because the woman had been devoted to writing in her personal book. Why wouldn’t a mother write about the moments when her only daughter fell in love – or had been abducted?
The woman died not even a month later. Terrick and his father had just moved to California when he’d gotten word of her death. Against his father’s wishes, Terrick had traveled back to the estate. When he had gone to pay his respects to the family, Marcus had met him at the door and wouldn’t allow Terrick inside. He saw Bella sitting on the couch. She’d looked at him, but there was no recognition in her eyes.
Terrick’s chest tightened. Marcus’s last words to him were, Let the seven years pass, just as Mrs. Walsh had instructed.
“How long has it been since we last talked?” she asked, bringing him out of his depressing thoughts.
“Nearly seven years. In a few days, it will mark that moment when we said goodbye to each other.”
Bella leaned her head back on the seat, staring up at the roof of the carriage. “I feel like I’m in a dream. You’re talking about my life, and yet, I’m not in it.”
“Please forgive me if I have caused you any duress.” He touched her hands again. “I only want your happiness.”
The vehicle came to a stop, and Bella jerked upright and peered out the window. Terrick didn’t need to look. By now, he knew how long it took to get from his estate to her house. Things like this, he’d never forget.
He leaned forward and opened the door. He shifted in his seat, hoping he’d be able to climb out of the carriage without tumbling out because of his deformed leg. But Bella placed her hand on his arm, stopping him.
“Terrick, you don’t need to get out. I’ll be fine now.” She smiled. “Thank you
