Semua Bab Love's Healing Touch: Bab 41 - Bab 50

Sunshine filtered golden from outside, upon Elara's peaceful face. She rolled very slowly under the bedclothes, the smell of wet earth and lavender washing in on the breeze through the open window. Birds sang in the yard, and the remote ringing of hammers was making its way upwards from the rear yard.There came a very small smile slipping on to her lips. Adrian.She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and stepped outside. The air still had a bite to it, with spring in the air as well. And there he was—shirt cuffs rolled up, hair messy and plastered to his forehead, totally absorbed in the task of constructing the greenhouse. He did not even notice that she was out.She stood at the edge of the garden, arms crossed, watching him for a few moments. His movements had become stronger, more confident. There was a calm determination in the way he measured, lifted, nailed. It was the kind of strength born not from muscle, but from healing.Finally, she called out, “You’re going to wear you

The next morning dawned upon a shroud of mist that flowed across fields, calming the world to almost ethereal bliss. Elara crept beneath bedclothes, unwittingly straying to distribute their warmth so they could snuggle upon its borders—instead, to encounter empty sheets and lost scents of him.She sat up, rubbing her eyes, the cottage dark and quiet save for the crackling fire in the hearth popping and snapping. A crumpled piece of paper on her bedside table had her name in Adrian's neat hand.She frowned as she picked it up and smoothed it out.Elara,I had to walk. To think.I'll be home soon. I just. I visited a place I'd been too afraid to go to for a long time.Don't worry, goodness' sake. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.Yours,AdrianElara's heart cinched up. She knew he was not lying—no doubt of that now—but she also knew the dark shadows he still had.She rushed to dress, throwing a cloak over her, and stepped out into the foggy morning. Her little garden was legen

The next morning, Adrian woke up at an early hour, sunlight pouring across the quilt bedcovering. Elara slept restlessly beside him, breathing untroubled, arm hanging loose on his chest. Empty-headed, he smiled, brushing aside a lock of hair from beside her forehead.It was the day he'd meet the rest of the village—those same villagers who'd left him when he'd most needed them. His chest was bound with nerves and resolve. He wasn't that same broken little boy who'd run from this place. And he wasn't going to approach them alone.Slipping out of bed carefully, Adrian dressed and headed downstairs, where the smell of fresh bread greeted him. Catherine was already bustling in the kitchen, her sleeves rolled up, a smile lighting her face when she saw him."You’re up early," she said, setting a plate down on the table."I couldn’t sleep much," he admitted, pulling out a chair.She nodded, comprehending. "Welcomed some of the villagers yesterday afternoon after you'd gone," Catherine gestur

The following days melted into a sun-drenched haze of joy. Elara and Adrian's engagement was the subject of conversation in the village, and it spread like wildfire. Catherine's doorstep every day hosted new faces of guests—neighbors with gifts of small tokens of goodwill, bouquets of fresh flowers, fruit baskets, handmade work of exquisitely embroidered napkins, and even expertly made cradles for the baby of the near future.Elara was engulfed by the best kind of strangling. She had been so isolated, with nothing to converse with but her beasts, in the quiet of the forest that she stood there mute at this flood of care. But she was conscious of Adrian's hand holding on to the rigidity of his unyielding form.Adrian steered the adoration in a subdued aplomb. Even crowds still shaming him, even the wounds to his heart still smarting painfully when strangers spoke his name too loudly, he never let Elara escape from him. Every handshake, every hug, every well wish was reminder: they were

The bridal-day romance that poured on afterward seeped into days like slow, iridescent fog.Adrian and Elara fell into such a smooth, easy pace, that they felt the universe had plotted to achieve this for them. The tiny cottage, that little nest of lonely silence for Elara before Adrian's arrival, resounded now with happy laughter, soft late-night conversation beside the firesides, and moments of deep wordless love.Adrian woke up every morning early, before the rest of the family. Then he'd discover that he was happy to just stay there, observing Elara sleeping next to him. Her chest moved with deep breaths, her hair a golden light over the pillow, her hand always naturally curled against where he was. He'd draw tiny patterns on her skin, memorizing every freckle, every curve, every scar that had shaped the woman who'd rescued him.Sometimes he questioned whether he had worked for any of it. If someone like him — a failure, sick, and alone — had indeed worked for such happiness. But