A Love that Endures

by Forrest, Bella

“Just need to brush my teeth before we go,” she explained, ducking into the bathroom without meeting his gaze.

  David followed the sound of his cousins’ voices into the living room.

  “So no couch last night?” Joseph asked knowingly, looking at David with an eyebrow cocked. Cerise looked at him too, a wry grin appearing on her face.

  David laughed nervously. “I figured I should get a good sleep in before the train ride back.”

  “So all you did was sleep?” Cerise asked, her voice all mock innocence.

  Before David could respond, his cousins turned their attention to the hallway. David twisted to see Katy striding out into the living room, her weekend bag slung over her shoulder, to say goodbye to their hosts.

  “Thank you so much for having me,” she said politely, a warm smile on her face. She reached to hug Cerise, who caught Katy up in a tighter hug than she probably expected. Katy then turned to Joseph and hugged him, looking over his shoulder to make eye contact with David. David grinned at her. It warmed his heart to see Katy bonding with his cousins.

  It also tickled him a bit that neither of them had any idea that they were hugging a princess. And they never would, as long as Katy’s secret stayed safe. David wasn’t going to betray her trust.

  Katy pulled away and waited patiently for David to say his goodbyes. He hugged Joseph first.

  “Thanks so much, Joseph,” he said, patting Joseph’s back in a brotherly way.

  “Don’t be a stranger, David,” Joseph replied.

  David pulled back. “No way you’ll be able to get rid of me now,” he joked. Then he turned to Cerise.

  “I’ll miss you!” his cousin half shouted in excitement, jumping forward and squeezing David in a tight hug. And then, when she was close to him, she added in a hushed tone, “She’s a keeper.”

  David felt himself blush. Choosing not to comment on Cerise’s whispered statement, David released her and simply said, “Good luck with finals, Cerise. We’ll see each other again soon.”

  Cerise winked, and David delivered her a playful but pointed look.

  His cousins walked with them out of the house, stopping on the steps to watch them as he and Katy continued together down to the street. When David raised his hand, a cab dutifully pulled over to the curb beside them. He opened the door for Katy before turning back to the brick townhouse that belonged to the Bests.

  Joseph and Cerise were still standing together on the steps of their home. Cerise had wrapped her arm around her brother’s waist and was standing close to him, Joseph’s arm slung over her shoulders. They looked like the picture of a happy, well-adjusted family. David marveled at that, knowing what he did now about their pain and hardships. Like David, they were losing the people they loved most far too early in life. And yet they’d managed to put on happy faces, host a long-lost relative and a practical stranger graciously, and treat David and even Katy like family the entire time. David was touched by the kindnesses that they had displayed during the short trip. Offering a final wave before he entered the cab, he also made a silent vow to the Bests.

  I won’t be a stranger, not ever again. And I’ll do everything I can to bring Jeanine home.

  Then the cab was speeding away from David’s family, toward the train that would take him and Katy back to Cambridge. As David glanced back once more, trying to catch one last glimpse of Joseph and Cerise waving, he felt a light but comforting touch on his knee.

  Katy’s manicured hand had settled there, and David looked up into her eyes. In them he found a compassion and understanding that he hadn’t expected. Resting his hand on top of Katy’s, he smiled down at her. They held that pose for a few long, wonderful seconds, neither needing to say anything, until Katy pulled her hand away and turned to look out of her window.

  Traffic put them behind schedule, prompting a “Good thinking” from David to Katy, and also a mad dash through the maze of hallways that was Penn Station to get to their train before it departed. They laughed as they ran, and David wondered if things could stay like this once they got back to Cambridge. He certainly hoped so.

  Time slowed down once they reached their seats on the train. David offered Katy the window seat again and then sat quietly beside her for some time. Katy yawned as she looked out the window, watching New York City as it whizzed past.

  Maybe she hadn’t slept quite as well as she’d claimed, either.

  David watched the skyline from his aisle seat. He’d always enjoyed the way that the city ebbed and flowed, like the tide, as a train rushed toward or away from it. He liked watching the closest buildings grow shorter and sparser as the New York City skyscrapers disappeared out of sight. As they watched the sight together, Katy gently laid her head against David’s shoulder. He smiled to himself as warmth bloomed in his chest at the contact, enjoying their closeness.

  When his phone rang, he expected that it would ruin the moment, that Katy would straighten in her seat. But she didn’t pull away. David tried to move as gently as possible as he maneuvered the phone out of his back pocket to see that Joseph was calling.

  “Hey,” David said, answering his cousin’s call.

  “David!” Joseph shouted. David had to pull the phone an inch away from his ear to accommodate the sudden noise.

  “Is everything okay?” David asked with sudden concern. They’d only just left. Why would Joseph call unless something had happened? His throat tightened. Was it Mary?

  “Man, I just had to tell you the good news!” Joseph went on. David exhaled in relief. “The hospital just called. Someone paid my mom’s hospital bill for the next three months!”

  David furrowed his brow. “Wait. What?” he sputtered. “Who?”

  “They said it was an anonymous benefactor,” Joseph replied. “I just couldn’t believe it, cuz. Had to share.”

  David looked over at Katy, who hadn’t moved at all. He heard her breathing calmly and rhythmically and realized that she was fast asleep.

  “Joseph, that’s awesome. I’m so happy to hear it,” David replied. His mind wandered back to Katy looking at the hospital bill in the kitchen and then making a call immediately after. Katy, who had told David in no uncertain terms how much she wanted to help him and his family in any way she could.

  He couldn’t believe it.

  “Anyway, you guys be safe. Talk soon!” Joseph finished.

  David smiled in Katy’s direction as he replaced the phone in his back pocket. His heart blossomed with a gratitude that went beyond simply being thankful or contented. It was a strange predicament he currently found himself in. A few days ago, he never would’ve imagined himself here: leaving New York City with such positive feelings toward his newfound family—and with a princess’s head resting on his shoulder. But he was thrilled with how things had worked out.

  And for the first time in a long time, he was genuinely excited about what the future might hold.

  29

  Katy

  Katy awoke, groggy and blinking, to find her head resting on David’s shoulder. For just a few sleepy moments, she rested against it comfortably and contentedly, enjoying David’s warmth and presence. But then her senses returned. She quickly straightened in her seat, careful not to make eye contact with him. How embarrassing!

  This was the second time now! She vividly remembered waking up pressed against him that very morning. The luxurious warmth of him, the gentle rise and fall of his breathing . . . and the panic of realizing that she had almost given herself and all her messy feelings away and betrayed Cassie in the process. Luckily, David had slept right through it. But he was definitely aware of this!

  Of course, he was kind enough not to say anything—always a gentleman.

  “Where are we?” she asked, as casually as she could muster, peering out of the train window.

  “About to pull into South Station,” David replied. He closed his economics textbook and set it in his lap to turn and look at Katy.

  “Boston already? Guess I was more tired than I thoug
ht,” she said. Obviously she was tired. She’d barely slept a wink the night before. Not with David lying in the bed next to her, so near and yet so far. She’d spent much of the night shifting between guilt, confusion, and desire. It was that last part, of course, that had kept her awake. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking of David’s tall, muscular form just inches away from her. She’d imagined the way his big hands might feel against her bare skin, how his voice might sound lowered in a passionate whisper against her ear.

  How could she have slept?

  David returned her smile. “No worries. I needed to study for a bit anyway.”

  Katy had some serious studying to do herself. The term was almost over, which meant finals were coming very soon. It also meant Primal Scream was coming up, but of course she had no intention of participating in that. Even if her mother hadn’t sneered at the tradition, it certainly wasn’t something that Katy felt comfortable with. Alexei hadn’t seen her naked even after a three-year relationship. There was no way she’d be showing hundreds of random revelers in the Old Yard.

  “Are you feeling ready for finals?” Katy asked.

  “More or less. Once we get our drama club project out of the way, then I’ll really be able to hunker down with the books.”

  Katy looked down, feeling a little spike of guilt for distracting David with the mini play when he obviously had more important things to tend to.

  David seemed to catch himself, though. “But I’m excited to perform. When are we sitting down to write the scene?” he went on.

  “Actually, Cassie said she was writing it,” Katy replied.

  “Oh.”

  It sounds like he’s about as excited about that as I am. But it couldn’t be that bad, could it? David wasn’t falling for Cassie’s rather heavy-handed flirtation, and Cassie had to have picked up on that by now, so surely she hadn’t written anything too soppy.

  Right?

  “Well,” David continued, straightening from his own worries, “I’m excited to perform either way. Maybe we can rehearse our lines together once we get the script.”

  Katy tried not to voice her agreement to that too quickly. Now that she could look forward to.

  The train whistled its arrival in Boston, and David and Katy gathered their things before debarking. Katy adjusted the collar of her coat, bracing herself against the biting cold.

  “Is it this cold in Lor . . . where you’re from right now?” David asked, remembering the sensitivity of the topic mid-sentence, as they boarded the bus that would deliver them back to campus.

  “Colder, probably,” Katy mused wistfully. “We get a lot of snow with the high altitude.”

  “I know you get a lot of winter sports tourism,” David replied, his voice thoughtful.

  He was right. In fact, Lorria was famed for its luxurious ski resorts, frequented by celebrities and the elite. Katy had learned to ski almost as soon as she had learned to walk.

  “Yeah, Cassie and I will probably do some skiing when we go back for winter break,” Katy said. She was excited at the prospect, but she was more bothered than she’d like to admit about leaving David for so long after all they’d just gone through together.

  And then it occurred to her with the force of a revelation that maybe she didn’t need to leave David behind. He’d been kind enough to invite her on a family trip. What if she returned the favor?

  Maybe he wouldn’t want to come—maybe he would want to spend the holidays with the Bests now that he had family nearby. And how could Katy bring David back to Lorria anyway, with Cassie hovering over them? She couldn’t bear the thought of two whole weeks of Cassie mercilessly flirting with David right in front of her.

  Then again, if she just told her cousin how she felt about David . . .

  “Katy,” David said, bringing her abruptly back to the present, “Joseph called me on the train. Said he had gotten a call from the hospital.”

  “Oh?”

  “He told me an anonymous donor paid Mary’s bill for three months.”

  “Hmm,” Katy replied coyly. She looked out the window of the bus, not taking the bait, feeling David’s eyes still upon her.

  “Katy,” David tried to continue. But she cut him off.

  “Well, I don’t know about this anonymous person, but I’m sure Joseph and Cerise are relieved. And that’s what matters.”

  She looked back at David. She hadn’t asked his permission to pay that bill because she hadn’t needed to. She didn’t want him feeling guilty or hemming and hawing over such a large sum of money. It had helped Mary and it had helped the Bests, and that was what Katy wanted. Hopefully David would understand that.

  As if he could hear her thoughts, David’s blue eyes softened. “I suppose you’re right. But I wish I could tell that nameless donor how much her gift meant, to the Bests and also to me.”

  Katy smiled humbly and turned back to the window. She didn’t want the praise or recognition; she just wanted to be able to help. And she appreciated that David had respected that.

  It was midday by the time the bus finally braked at the campus stop. In one way, they were right back where they had started just two short days ago. But, at least to Katy, it felt like they were miles and miles from where they’d begun. And it finally felt like David knew the real her, the Katy who wasn’t constantly feeling guilty, lying to him about her last name. And she hoped to keep it that way. If only she could just talk to Cassie about how she felt . . .

  David followed Katy off the bus, and then they both stopped on the sidewalk, lingering before going their separate ways.

  “I should probably get back,” Katy said. This conversation she had to have with Cassie would go smoother if she got back and unpacked first. She didn’t want the whole talk to start with hurt feelings or a lie, as it might if Cassie got back to find that Katy was nowhere to be found and her weekend bag missing.

  “Yeah, I understand,” David replied. He ran his hand through his hair, his tall form towering over her. Katy had come to quite appreciate the mannerism. David only did it when he seemed to have something on his mind that he wasn’t sure how to say aloud. “Thanks for coming with me,” he finally said. “I really had a lot of fun.”

  “I did, too,” Katy said. She stayed there beside David, smiling up at him, a little too long before she realized that she was only stalling the inevitable. As wonderful as the past two days had been, it was time to return to reality.

  She adjusted her shoulder strap and cleared her throat. Sensing that she was about to leave, David nodded in farewell.

  “See you soon, Katy,” he said. “And don’t worry. I’ll keep your secrets.”

  Katy bit her lip, feeling guilty that, in addition to swearing him to secrecy about her identity, she had also asked David not to tell anyone that she had joined him on the trip. How could she expect David to be romantically inclined toward her if she kept asking him to lie on her behalf?

  “See you soon, David,” she replied. Then she turned and walked away, away from the sweet British boy she liked so much and toward her campus house—and Cassie.

  * * *

  Her cousin opened the door to their room a few hours after Katy had unpacked her last item and cracked open a comparative lit textbook. Lying on her stomach on the bed, her slipper-clad feet up in the air behind her, she tried to look casual and unassuming.

  But Cassie didn’t speak when she walked into the room. She tossed her bag onto the floor, took a few slow and reluctant steps toward her bed, and then fell onto it face-first. Katy jumped up, alarmed.

  “Cassie! Are you okay?” she asked, rushing over to her cousin’s bed.

  Cassie grumbled into her pillow, not looking up, not saying any real words. Katy calmed down. Whatever was wrong, it seemed to be more emotional than physical. Still, it wasn’t a good sign.

  “What happened, hon? You can talk to me,” she reassured her cousin, kneeling beside the bed to run her hand through Cassie’s hair.

  Still lying dejectedly on h
er bed, Cassie turned to face her, and Katy could see that her face was puffy from crying.

  “Sarah’s stupid brother happened,” she spat out at last.

  Katy furrowed her brow. “Cassie, did something . . . happen? If he laid his hands on you, I—”

  “No, no, no,” Cassie interrupted. “Trust me, the little bit he did do was consensual. I just feel like a fool for it.”

  “What happened?” Katy repeated, her hands continuing their hopefully-soothing strokes through her cousin’s hair.

  Cassie sniffled and went on. “Same thing that always happens. I think I’ve finally met a guy who likes me for me, and then he runs off to be with someone else. Someone prettier and more interesting.”

  Oh, no.

  “We went to dinner with Sarah and that jerk, and I thought things were going so well. That night we walked along the coastline. We even made out a little. And then you know what he does?”

  Katy had a feeling that she did.

  “He cancels our plans the next day and Sarah tells me it’s because the girl he likes from high school is back in town, so he’d rather chase her around instead.”

  Katy winced. Cassie sure had a knack for attracting guys like this.

  “Well, he doesn’t sound worth your time at all,” Katy soothed her cousin. “It sounds like you dodged a bullet. You should be glad that he showed his true colors so soon, before you got too attached.”

  “But I did get attached,” Cassie protested. “I always get attached. Right before they run off after something better.”

  Well, Katy, you might as well kiss that dream of getting closer to David goodbye. Katy sighed and tried to focus on her cousin, like the good friend that she was supposed to be.

  “Cassie, you are beautiful and fun to be around. You’re well-traveled, multilingual, and you’re getting a degree at Harvard. You’re a catch! Plenty of guys will recognize that.”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m a princess,” Cassie replied.

  Katy’s eyes widened. What did that mean? Cassie had never said anything like that before. Was she . . . jealous?