Page 80 of Rebel Moon

22

MADELEINE

By the time I’d finished my speech, I was in tears. Knox’s reaction had been unreadable except for the tears that had seemed to leak from his eyes.

The room remained quiet, all of us waiting to see what Knox would or wouldn’t do. I had spoken from my heart and, if it didn’t move him, I would accept it. If I’d ruined the best thing that would ever happen to me, I’d have to live with that truth the rest of my life.

“Well, Hartley, moon’s full tonight.”

We all turned to Rhett, who was staring out the window. And I knew without him saying anything else that it was Holly he was thinking of.

“Tonight?” Knox asked. “I thought it was tomorrow.”

“Proof’s right there.” Rhett gestured toward the moon that hung full and fat low in the sky, as if to make sure we saw her through the windows.

I realized I was still standing, legs trembling. Should I sit? Would the night just go on as it was before? Speeches and pie and more Spicy Cowboy Cider while my heart broke into a thousand pieces? I stepped backward, as if my feet thought it was time for us to run. That’s what we did.

Not this time. This time I would stay and face whatever came.

Knox rose slowly from his seat. No one else moved. The pulse at my neck fluttered at a speed that was surely detrimental to my health. From the kitchen came the sound of someone dropping a tray, making everyone jump.

Knox went first to the window, peering out at the moon. He turned back around to look at me, then crossed to where I was still standing. “Would you like to see the moon?”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Knox held out his hand and I took it. He led me out to the patio. The frigid air stung my damp eyes but I hardly noticed.

I was vaguely aware that everyone else had followed us outside. When we got to the railing, Knox turned to face me. “Do you agree that it’s full?”

Reluctant to take my gaze from his face, I hesitated for a second before shifting to look upward. It was spectacular, stars scattered across the inky sky and the full moon hovering just above the tree line.

“I’d not argue against it,” I said.

“Definitely full,” Rhett said.

“Kiss the girl,” Beck said so softly that I almost didn’t hear it.

“Kiss her under the full moon,” Grant said. “So she knows it means something.”

Knox pulled me to him, stroking my cheek, pushing back my hair. “You know what it means? Is this what you want?”

“I know. And yes.”

His hands circled my waist. I hooked my arms around his neck. Slowly, tortuously, he came closer and closer until there was no space between our mouths. Finally, he kissed me in front of our friends and family under the light of that full moon.

Everyone cheered.

We kept kissing.

We didn’t stay for pie. Instead, we headed back to Knox’s cabin. Once there, he started a fire and poured some wine, and the two of us sat in the leather chairs.

“I have something to say,” Knox said. “That I haven’t said. To anyone, actually, most of my life. I’ve felt it, you know, for the boys, and my family, but I never say the words. I don’t know why they won’t come out of my mouth.”

“You already said it.”

His brows raised. “That I love you?”

“You were half asleep. It was very romantic,” I said, smiling, feeling like a schoolgirl.