I smile softly, like me. “And?”
“And I buy a painting.” “A painting of me?” I breathe.
He smiles sexily. “Aye, a painting of you.”
I bite my bottom lip in awe. This is like a fucking fairy tale on steroids.
“The more I look at the painting, the more I remember.”
I run my hands through my hair nervously. I honestly don’t believe this is happening.
“What then?” I whisper.
“I hang the painting above my bed and you come to me at night. Beautiful, beautiful memories of you.”
My nostrils flare as I try to hold my tears in.
“I dream of you. I dream of loving you, of holding you, of making you my wife.”
I can’t breathe.
“And then one day it comes to me.”
“What does?” I whisper.
“The ring.”
I frown and hold my hand out in front of me to look at the ring. “What about the ring?”
“It is the magnet that brings us together. The glue that brings this story together.”
“How?”
He shakes his head and picks up my hand and kisses my ring. “I don’t know, but you always end up with it, and when you do, it is then that I can find you.”
I frown. “But you didn’t want me to have the ring.” What the hell? “Why didn’t you want me to have it?”
He smiles softly and pulls me into his arms. “I was trying to give you a choice.”
“A choice?”
“I wanted to know if you would still want me if you didn’t have the ring.” I frown.
“I needed to know that you loved me because of us and not because of the people before us,” he whispers.
I stare at him for a moment.
My mind literally just exploded. I can’t even… I just... I can’t… what the fuck?
I knew I loved it when he said because of us, but I had no idea of the significance.
My eyes meet his. “It is.” I kiss him gently on the lips. “It is because of us that I love you.”
He smiles warmly. “And it is because of us that I love you.”
We embrace and hold each other tight. Another thought crosses my mind. “Why the tombstones?”
He pulls me over to the other bench. “I made a decision that in this life, I wanted to have your things waiting for you when you returned,” he replies.
I frown and he picks up a jewelry box and opens it. My mouth drops open in shock. Beautiful antique jewelry sits inside it—ruby’s, emeralds and gold.
“I remember where we are buried in each life, so I took photos of your tombstones so I could track the dates to find the artwork and the rest of your things.”
I frown. “You remember everything?” I whisper.
He shrugs. “Yes and no. The memories are similar to the ones you have of childhood. I remember some things and then I don’t remember others. A trigger of music or smell or something like that usually brings a memory or a time forward in my brain. Some things are as clear as day, and yet others are still cloudy.”
I stare at him. I have no words.
“I always remember the way you love me and the way you make me feel, though.” He smiles softly.
The lump in my throat gets really hard and begins to hurt. “But I don’t… I don’t understand this at all. Why don’t I remember anything?” I whisper.
He shrugs. “You do remember something’s. Ester, you remember Ester. The wee girl you drew is our daughter Ester.”
“What?” I frown as I put my hand over my mouth in shock. “The little girl that I drew is our daughter?”
He smiles softly. “Her name is Ester and she is every bit as beautiful as you.”
“Oh my god.” I whisper and then I frown. “Why don’t I remember specifics?”
“I don’t know. You never do. You just remember that you love me.”
My eyes search his.
“And that’s all I need you to know,” he whispers as he kisses me tenderly.
I look around at the photos and jewelry. There is even a stand with glamorous ball gowns on it. “You collected all of this stuff alone?”
He shakes his head. “No, Thomas has helped me.”
My eyes widen. “Thomas knows?”
He nods with a smirk. “Aye, he and my mother.”
“Your… your mother?” I stammer through shock. “Are they like you?”
He nods. “Yes, they are with me in every life. But they don’t remember their loves like I do. For some reason they only remember each other and me.” My eyes widen as I try to comprehend the information overload.
“Are we the only ones who go through time together?”
“As far as I know. Yes.”
I plop back onto my make shift seat in disbelief. “This doesn’t seem real, Alastar.”
“I know, my love, and that is why I couldn’t tell you. It would be so frightening to hear this from a stranger. You had to work this out for yourself. I told you in one life and you were so terrified that you left me and never came back”
I frown in horror.
He stands, picks up my hand, and kisses the back of it as his sexy eyes hold mine. “Now, if you are done with the questions, I would like to take my love to bed.”
I smile, overcome with emotion, and he leads me to our room.
Chapter 27