ELISE FELT HER HEART skip a beat, out of joy or trepidation, she wasn’t sure. His response to her next question would answer that. “Why, Noel?” Her throat felt like she had scraped it raw with a pinecone. “Do you really love me?” She inhaled a shuddering breath before letting it out slowly. “Or is this just another attempt to keep us here because your village needs a healer?”
He was silent for a moment. Only the sound of the river beside them broke the silence. “I cannot deny that it is one of the reasons.” Elise turned her head away but looked into his eyes again when he said, “But more than anything I want you to stay because I love you. You brought to life a part of me that had been dead for so many years. You gave me love, and if it takes the rest of my years on earth, querida, I want
