24. The Decision

                                    

                                          
Rhea stood staring at her unpacked luggage, her mind elsewhere. Everything seemed to have happened so suddenly.
  
One moment she was going to share a kiss, something she'd always been curious about, with Easton and the next her life seemed to have been thrown out of balance.
  
'Is this it, ALICE? Is this how my story with Easton ends?'
  
[THE FUTURE IS NOT ALREADY MADE. IT CAN CHANGE.]
  
Rhea couldn't imagine what courting from afar would be like. Her life would soon be so filled with paperwork, and rebuilding and she feared letters from would be put aside. She feared she wouldn't be able to have enough time to devote to him. Would it be better if she just let him go? Free him from courting her. Better pain now than it to be drawn out.
  
Rhea sighed and closed her eyes, sitting upon the edge of her bed she felt her eyes leak. A sob rose through her throat. She didn't expect to feel so much pain, with the idea of leaving Easton. Not to laugh when he made a dry joke, no more walking in comfortable silence by his side soaking in nature, no more hands clasped together, no more of that intense gaze searching hers.
  
She shook her head. She'd long since learned that fairy tales didn't just happen, they were worked for. If she were to walk down her own flower path, she would have to put forth the effort. She could not give up Easton now.
  
---
  
They reconvened in the guest sitting room, they were both silent looking at each other.
  
"I need to talk to you."
  
She spoke just as he did.
  
"I must speak."
  
Rhea nodded to let Easton continue.
  
"I have thought long about you leaving my side and I've decided I cannot bare the thought of it. I will return to the Barony with you. I will stay by your side." Easton walked forward holding out his hand for hers and she placed them in his. His head tilted down and looked into her eyes, "What did you need to say, Rhea?"
  
"It matters not, anymore." She smiled and he returned it.
  
  
---
  
  
Rhea returned home to the Barony, but this time she had her Easton beside her. For he was hers. If the gold gemmed necklace around her neck was any indication.
  
"I haven't given you anything."
  
Easton kissed her forehead and said, "I will wait for you, Rhea, as long as you need."
  
He'd left everything behind for her, and Rhea promised herself she would never forget.