The Camp (Chateau 2)

His arm went around my waist, and he held me close as we walked. “Like this.”

My arm hooked around his waist, and I smiled up at him as we approached the base of the tower. And we stood there together, our warm breaths escaping as vapor into the dry air. We stood there together for a long time, just enjoying the moment.

I’d wanted my freedom so much, but the freedom with him was so much better than my solitude. He was the other half of my soul, the only person in the world who truly understood what I’d been through, the only person who really saw me. “I love you.” We weren’t one of those couples that said those words every time we parted, every time we went to sleep. We said it very rarely, but in those isolated moments, those words had more meaning.

He looked down at me but didn’t say it back. But he didn’t need to.

He dropped his arm from my waist and held out the book.

The trees around us were wrapped in white lights, and the cold kept other pedestrians away. We were the only people there, in the most romantic city in the world. It was like it belonged to just us.

I took the book from him and lifted my eyes to his face.

“I want you to have it.”

My eyes softened.

“I know I saved you. But you saved me too.”

My hand squeezed the book before I looked down at it, seeing the words in French that I could mostly translate. The story had been a beacon of hope in that small cabin, had been my guiding light in the dark. It meant the world to me.

I opened the book and saw the words in French. But as I flipped the pages and moved to the middle of the book, the weight felt different. It was much lighter, like the pages didn’t carry the same weight.

I continued to flip until I noticed the square hole cut into the second half of the book.

There was a box fitted inside, the lid removed.

And in the center was a ring.

I hadn’t experienced a jolt of adrenaline like that in a long time. My breathing went immediately haywire, like I was about to run. My pulse raced and pounded in my ears. I hadn’t expected this at all, so it really took me by surprise.

It was a single band, white gold. There were no diamonds. After giving away all his money, we didn’t have much left, let alone enough to buy a fancy diamond ring like what Melanie had.

That was what made this ring so special.

I pulled it out of the slot and closed the book. It reflected the lights from around us, reflected the emotional expression on my face. I turned the ring in my hands and saw the engraving on the inside.

Ma Petite Amie

I finally lifted my gaze and looked at him, my eyes wet and about to break like a dam.

His expression was focused and stern, but there was a special softness to his eyes, like he could feel how happy he’d just made me. He took the ring and placed it on my left ring finger, sliding over the knuckle until it fit in place. He didn’t ask me to marry him. The gesture itself made his feelings incredibly clear.

My arms wrapped around his neck, my hands still gripping the book, and I moved into him to kiss him in front of the Eiffel Tower, finding a family that I never really had. I’d never felt whole, never felt complete, and then I found this man, the hope in the dark, a man who had endured unspeakable pain for me.

He squeezed me and held me close, kissing me like he loved me, kissed me like I was the one thing he’d been waiting for. He loved me without having to say it, was the man I needed without having to ask. He was the one and only man I could spend forever with. And I knew I was the only woman who could ever make him happy.

Apart, we were both broken. But together, we were whole.