Free Surrender to Fate (Fate's Path Part One: A New Adult Romance Series) by Jacelyn Rye Page B

arms. Such strong arms, yet she could feel him shaking against her as he too lost control of his ability to stifle his tears. Sarah closed her eyes tightly, still not wanting to believe that this was her reality.
    The two stood standing at the cove until Sarah could no longer avoid the fact that she would have to turn and look into his eyes. She slowly let go of his arms, and his embrace around her loosened. She slowly turned to face him. Oh Will, let me look at every detail of your face. Every detail to hold in my memory, in my heart. Her eyes met his and the pain in his expression caused her lips to begin to tremble. She could only bring herself to whisper, “Will,” before she shuddered again and fell into his shoulder crying. “I can’t tell you, Will! I can’t tell you good…good…I can’t! I won’t, Will!” She sucked in a deep breath of cold air if only to keep shouting her refusal.
    In a forced whisper, William replied, “I can’t either, Sarah. I can’t even think of saying those words to you.”
    She lifted her head and looked at him once again. Her eyes darted from one beautiful blue eye to the other, begging for them to look at her like they had when everything was okay and this wasn’t happening. But she could not find that look.
    William swallowed hard. “Sarah, we don’t have to say…we don’t have to say it. Don’t you remember? Remember what we told each other?” He took her hand and led her across the fallen log to the stump, their stump. “Remember?” he asked as he pulled her down to her knees with him. He put her trembling hand over the carving, and his hand over hers. “Sarah, this is ours. We told each other that someday, we would make each other happy. That we would be together, and I would take care of you. Tell me, tell me, Sarah, that you remember. I have to know that you’ll always remember,” he looked pleadingly into her eyes, begging her.
    In her strongest voice possible, Sarah looked into his eyes. “Me Ware Wo, Will. I remember.”
    He pulled her into his embrace. “That’s all we need to say. We don’t need to say…you know. We don’t have to say that. All we need to remember is Me Ware Wo.”
    “Okay,” she whispered. “Do you know how much my heart is aching right now? Will, I don’t know how I’ll stand not being able to see you every day.”
    William reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden box no bigger than a deck of cards. “I want you to have this. I made this for you.” He placed the smooth box made of pale yellow wood into her hands. She turned it over to reveal the carving--the same carving on the stump. Four perfect circles touching with the lines going half way through the centers, carved beautifully onto the lid. She took in a short breath and looked up him.
    “I don’t know what to say, it’s beautiful. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She gently lifted the lid of the box, and what she saw inside made her eyes blur with tears. Resting on a bed of rusty pine needles lay a three-cent postage stamp.
    William looked at the stamp, and then into her eyes. “I have one, too. Remember the money I had saved to buy you a soda for your birthday? Since we didn’t have to pay for the soda, I used the money for an even more important gift. This is the gift you can give me, and I can give you. Please tell me that you will write to me? I promise you, I will write to you.” He cupped her hand, brought the box up to his lips, and kissed the carving. “You, Sarah, are the most beautiful thing. When you need me, when you want to see me, you have my kiss right here, right here with you. I will always be with you, Sarah.”
    Any other time, and Sarah would’ve soared to the stars and back with Will’s declaration. His words to her affected her so profoundly, in a place in her soul she hadn’t known to exist before this moment. The realization that he had no intention of hiding how he felt, he had no hesitation. He loved