Calico (34 page)

I never thought I would get to have this. I never thought I would have this with anyone. The fact that I get to share it with
him
is amazing. There’s so much love between us. A deep well of pain exists here too, but neither of us draws from it anymore. It joins us together, brings us closer. We’re defined by our joy and our happiness instead of the darkness. As we catch our breath, fingers gently skating over each other’s naked skin, teasing and caressing each other, I know this is it for me. I will never love anyone more than this. I will never be as happy or as whole as this. Callan plants lazy kisses on my collarbone, his head resting on my chest.
 

“Are you ready for your ten month anniversary surprise?” he asks.
 

“Yes, please. That would be lovely.”

He pulls out of me, smiling as he kisses my left nipple and then my right. “Great. You stay right there. I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

He remains naked as he heads across to the other side of the tank and fetches a disposable camera from one of the shelves on the wall. He smirks as he holds it up for me to see. “Recognize this?”

“Of course.” It’s the camera he gave me outside the bar in Port Royal. Over the weeks that followed, I filled the camera with shots of the drive to Colorado, of birds, of couples in love. I filled it with pictures of him. “It’s time?” I ask.
 

He nods. I watch him take the camera apart and develop the film. It’s a long process, but I’m happy to observe him as he works. He’s beautiful. I’ll never get tired of watching him do this, especially when he’s naked and I get to stare at his bare ass. Eventually he starts hanging the photographs. Callan faces the first image in the opposite direction, away from me, and I start to get nervous. I have no idea what the picture is of, but it’s the one he took before he passed the camera along to me, that much is obvious. He stands there, smiling at me, studying me, not saying anything as the picture develops. When it’s done, he unclips it from the line and holds it to his chest.

“Come sit with me, bluebird.”
 
He perches himself on the edge of his bar stool, still naked. I get up from the bench and make my way over to him, my heart skipping a little. I have no idea why I’m so nervous all of a sudden. Maybe it’s because Callan seems nervous, which isn’t normal for him. He’s always so self assured and confident. The hesitant look in his eye is making me feel uneasy.
 

I sit myself on his knee, looping my arms around his neck so he can hold me against him. “You know I love you more than anything on the face of this planet,” he whispers.
 

“I do.”

“And you know I’d do anything to keep you safe. To look after you and protect you?”

“I do”

“Good.” He takes a deep breath and turns the photograph over. The picture he hands to me is of a closed jewellery box. “I wanted to develop this at our one month anniversary, bluebird. I wanted to develop it every month after that, too. I finally couldn’t wait any longer.”

I stare down at the picture, wondering if it is what I think it is. I know all too well what it is, but my brain won’t seem to process the information. “Are you serious?” I whisper.

Callan nods slowly. “I lost you for twelve years, Coralie. I never want to be without you again. I want to be your husband. I want to care for you and raise a family with you. I want to give you the most perfect life.” Carefully he takes the photo out of my hands and lets it fall to the floor. He lifts me and carries me over to a set of drawers on the other side of the room, where he opens the top drawer and produces the exact same small velveteen box that he just showed me in the photograph. He looks worried for a second, like he’s anxious about handing it over.
 

“I love you, Coralie. What do you say? Will you marry me?”

He doesn’t even need to open that box. He could have asked without even having a ring and I would be telling him the same thing. I feel like I’m about to pass out. “Yes. Yes, of course I will, you silly boy.”
 

I’m suddenly fifteen years old. I’m sitting on the floor of a library somewhere very far away, and there’s a boy looking at me like I’m the most perplexing creature he’s ever witnessed. I’m losing my virginity to him. I’m telling him that I love him. I’m telling him that I’m pregnant. I’m telling him that I’m leaving him. He’s telling me that he won’t ever let me go again. He’s telling me that everything will always be perfect now. He’s showing me that it’s true. I’m imagining the prospect of things to come. The children we’ll have. The roads we are yet to journey down. The adventures we will get to share.
 

Tears well in my eyes as Callan Cross kisses me, and I feel dizzy, weightless, like I’m soaring. Like I’m a bird.
 

What a life.
 

CALLIE’S NEWSLETTER LOTTERY

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Callie Hart is the international bestselling author of the Blood & Roses Series. Badlands, a Christmas short story, combines characters from both the Blood & Roses series and the Dead Man’s Ink series.
 

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