Page 54 of The Spinster & the Sock

At last, a small spray of water hisses as the ice splits, and Blaze nods with approval, his swings becoming more aggressive in the weakening spot.

What do I want?!

A freezing shard whizzes past Blaze’s head, but he continues his efforts.

I want him.

Water sloshes now as the axe widens the opening between our worlds, giving birth to the portal which shall strip me of my safest haven.

But I want him to be happy. Can he be entirely happy here?

At last, the hole is more than large enough to dive through, and my throat constricts until it’s too small for air. When Blaze reluctantly turns to face me, his brow dips in concern.

“Jo, Jo darling, breathe.” The axe tumbles to the ice beside him, and he closes the gap between us, taking me by the shoulders. “What do you need?”

I gasp, sputtering on all the words I don’t know how to say. I suck in the frigid winter air, and it materializes in my veins as regret.

I need you. I need you. My mind races. They tumble through my head and mock the empty spaces he is about to leave behind. I can hear him asking me over and over what I need, but the emotions are so overwhelming and troubling that I cannot hear my own thoughts until they finally admit: “I love you.”

My husband’s face crumples in on itself, and I realize it wasn’t a thought at all, but a confession. They were truly spoken, audible words admitting the one reason why this doesn’t feel simple.

I nod, the fog in my brain and over my heart lifting, and I straighten my body despite the way it trembles in anticipation of the worst outcome. “Yes,” I affirm. “I love you. And I cannot let you leave me without the full understanding that my heart will cry for you across every lifetime. And I hope on the other side of this ice, you will still hear it and smile to know that I think of you always. I love you always.”

Blaze’s body visibly tenses. His dull eyes alight with hope, and his thin, cold lips curl into a smile. If people around us spectate or comment, I’m entirely unaware. Birds might sing, the ice may continue to groan beneath our feet, but I know nothing beyond the man before me.

He extends a hand to me, and as his chest rises, pulling in the hope, the power of all good things, and maybe even savoring my love still drifting in the air between us, he begs, “Come with me.”

Eternally Yours

Blaze

My hand shakes around hers. “Come with me. Josephine.” My knees feel weak, and I don’t fight it when they bend. I shuffle to kneel closer to her, offering up my other hand as well. “Come with me or please...” My voice cracks, but I don’t bother trying to clear my throat or hide it. “ Please, let me stay,” I whisper, lip quivering as hot tears cut down my cold face. “I’m begging you, wife, don’t make me live in a time without you. I don’t care when that era is—I’ll happily stay here with you until we’re old and gray and Gus can make us a double-wide casket.”

Jo chuffs from behind the hand covering her mouth. She’s crying too.

“Or you can come with me, fuck everyone else. Start a new shop in my time—I know damn well you’d go big. You don’t even have to come for me—I don’t care if you come with me and then leave my ass in a cornfield to take over the world! Please, don’t make me jump in that water and know that when I surface, you’ll be dead and I’ll never be able to see your smile or hear your laugh ever again. I’m a weak man, Jo. I can’t do it.” I barely have the words out of my mouth before she’s on the ground with me, arms thrown around my neck while she sobs into my collar.

“Do you truly want to be with me that badly?” Her answer is muffled, but I hear it anyway and laugh.

“Jo, my darling wife, I am eternally yours.” I throw the very words she penned to me back at her. She flinches, then pulls her head back to squint at me.

“Did you?” She tilts her head and squints a little harder.

I just smile and nod. “Find your goodbye letter? Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“Not while you were here, I admit.” She shrugs sheepishly and wipes a trail of tears with the back of her hand.

“So, Josephine, what do you say? Will you be my wife for real and not just in name? Will you allow me to stay with you eternally?”

The most beautiful smile that I’ve ever seen spreads across her face.

“Blaze.” She takes my face in her hands. “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.”

Don’t ask me who moved first, but of all the kisses we’ve shared, this one feels like forever.

“Should we get the hell off this ice, then?” I pant when we finally break for air.

“Yes, I think we should—before I worry too long about how cold it will be.”