Page 120 of Sherry and Sunflowers
"You don't need to thank me, Charles. It really is my pleasure."
He held her gaze. "Then please, hold on to that feeling—because what you just said is exactly how I feel. And I'd very much like you to accept my gift in the same spirit."
She wanted to say he didn't need to give her any gifts. He'd already given her so much—a whole new life for herself and herdaughter. His son, the wonderful man she'd fallen in love with. But she had to honor his request. Painting the view and giving him the canvases had brought her so much pleasure. How could she deny him the chance to do something similar for her?
He dug in his pocket and held something out to her—something gold, glinting in the last rays of the setting sun. "This is for you."
She reached to take it, and it was only when her fingers closed around it that she realized it was a key. A front door key. She took it with a puzzled smile.
"Thank you." She looked down at it. "What is it?"
He chuckled. "It's the key to the house."
"Oh—that's okay. I use the one that hangs in the kitchen."
He shook his head and smiled gently. "This is your key. For your house. To keep."
She looked down at the key, then up at Charles again. Her brain had frozen. She couldn't make the words make sense. She looked at Reaves. He was grinning at her, nodding.
Faye had her hands clasped against her chest.
"I don't understand," she said eventually.
"It's quite simple, my dear. I'm giving you the house."
"But… I…" She shook her head. "You're going to rent it out."
He chuckled. "That was never my intention. It was only ever your assumption. What did I tell you when we first talked about it?"
She stared at him, thoughts racing. "You told me…" She stopped when it hit her. "You told me to make it a home."
"I did. I asked you to pour yourself into it."
Her hand came up to cover her mouth.
"It's yours now, Alara."
She glanced at Reaves. He was still smiling, still nodding. Zia was watching her, wide-eyed. Charles waited.
Alara looked down at the key in her hand again. "I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll accept it."
When she looked back up at Charles, he looked hopeful, but doubtful. And it finally hit her: what he was asking her to accept wasn't really the house. It was the love, the family, the belonging that he and Reaves had offered her right from the beginning.
She nodded slowly as tears filled her eyes. Her voice cracked. "Thank you just doesn't seem…"
"That was my point exactly," said Charles. "It's how I felt. How I feel. About the paintings."
"We get to live in the magic cottage?" Zia asked in an awed whisper.
"You do," said Reaves.
Alara's gaze snapped up to meet his. He'd saidyou.Notwe.
Charles chuckled. "You're the keeper of your own boundary this time, Alara. The house is yours."
She panicked for a moment, looking at Reaves again. "But you—I—"
