Got Love? (8 page)

“Flora,” Tharin called out, just as she reached for the wrought iron knob. “Please let me explain. I’ve made such a mess of things, and you need to know why!”

Feeling twice betrayed and unwilling to listen to what her conniving friends or that cheating cupid had to say, Flora continued to open the door.

“I love you!” Tharin shouted, panic coloring his words. “I love you. It’s that simple. I’ve loved you since you spilled your coffee on me. And I know you love me, too. How could I not when every time I look into your hazel eyes with those beautiful sunbursts in them, they tell me without words just how you feel? You have no idea how humbling it is to know that after two centuries of helping other couples find love, I’ve finally found my own. A friend and lover who shares the best parts of her heart with everyone she meets. A living ray of sunshine, you brighten the lives of everyone around you, and I am no exception. I have been blinded by the love you stir in my heart, and I beg your forgiveness,
sweet Flora
.”

Without turning around, the fairy gently pushed the door shut, swallowing against the lump in her throat and the tears that threatened to fall. “You should.”

“I need you to know that you’re the only one for me and will be, long past the end of eternity. I didn’t tell you where I was going, because I was talking to your parents and mine. What you saw yesterday at Ruby’s wasn’t what you thought it was. The woman I was with is my sister, Callia. I was showing her around Peabody, and she went with me to pick this out for you.”

A slight rustle of fabric and a quiet snick filled the acute silence. “Flora Orlaith Hawthorne. Born of The Green Man and Gorse Fairy Queen, I will love you until the end of time and every moment that follows. I am asking from the very depths of my soul to be eternally bound to you in marriage, if you will have me.”

Turning slowly, Flora faced Tharin, the sight of him on one knee, holding a ring, caused the ball of fear and anger in the pit of her stomach to dissolve as if it had never been there. “Your sister?” One of two he’d mentioned the first night he kissed her, Flora remembered.

“She and my parents are waiting in the kitchen to meet you.”

“So, it would look really bad if I turned you down, wouldn’t it? Especially after all the hard work my friends went through to get me here.” Friends, she noted, that had wisely made themselves scarce.

“I don’t know that I could ever show my face in public again, if you do.”

For the first time in twenty-four hours, Flora smiled. “And what a pretty face it is.”

“It would be a shame to deprive the public of such beauty,” Tharin agreed with a grin. “As a rejected cupid, I doubt I could ever work again.”

“Guess that pushes the odds in your favor,” Flora agreed, stepping forward until she was standing in front of Tharin, the square canary yellow diamond flanked by a triangle of white diamonds winking madly at her. “Wow. That’s a great looking rock.”

“It made me think of you.”

Sinking down to her knees in front of Tharin, Flora took his hands in her own. “You really think I’m living sunshine?” she asked, with all seriousness.

“I should have told you as soon as I realized it, Flora. You deserve to hear every day just how special you are and how much you mean to me.”

“From now on, you’ll do your best to make sure that happens, right?”

“With my last breath.”

Flora nodded her head, a wide smile on her face. “Then yes. Yes, Tharin, I will marry you.”

Yanked up faster than she thought possible, Flora felt herself being squeezed tighter than ever before. The room passed by in a stream of colors as Tharin twirled her round and round. Her feet barely touched the floor before a trio of strangers, led by her friends, came in from the patio. Before she knew it, she was being tossed from arm to arm, given warm hugs all around.

“Welcome to the family.”

“I’m so glad to have another sister.”

“A new daughter joins the family.”

Pulling Flora to his side, Tharin introduced her to his mother, sister, and father. “Iliana couldn’t be with us today, but she sends her best wishes. Now, I have one last surprise for you.”

Flora shook her head, pressing a kiss to Tharin’s cheek. She hated surprises. Falling in love with a cupid had been the biggest of all, but she guessed that turned out well enough.
Smiling at Tharin, she braced herself.

“Okay. I’m ready.”

A word about the author…

A married mother of two, Angela Hayes lives with her family in Alabama. When not writing, she can be found with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

www.authorangelahayes.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/imahayes

https://twitter.com/imahayes

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this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.