Love Conquers All

~ Chapter 39 ~
 	After the wedding, Jake left, alone, on their honeymoon. 
Gillian, on the other hand, all but locked herself up in the boarding
house, refusing to see or speak to anyone - even Eugenia.  Myrtle
was the only one who had any contact with her, and she did her best
to try to heal Gillian’s wounded heart.  
	Ryan came to the boarding house everyday, and everyday,
through Myrtle, Gillian turned him away.  Gillian wasn’t surprised
the first time he came, she had expected that.  But, after she refused
to see him, she didn’t think he would return.  When he kept coming
back, day after day, Gillian couldn’t believe it.  She supposed she
hadn’t given him enough credit, but she still wasn’t ready to see
him.  So, she kept turning him away, all the while, secretly hoping
he’d return.
	A week passed with no change, and Myrtle was becoming
quite concerned.
	“Mrs. Fargate,” Gillian said, “you don’t have to worry about
me so much.  Come on, it’s Saturday night.  Don’t you want to go
out?  Isn’t tonight your poker night?”
	“Yes, but the girls won’t mind if a miss one night.  You need
me,” Myrtle said.
	“No, I want you to go.  Really I do.  You’ve done so much
for me already, you could use a break,” Gillian told her.
	“Well, if you’re sure, darling, I guess I could go out.”
	“I’m positive. Go!” Gillian said, managing a smile to
convince her.
	Finally, Myrtle relented, leaving Gillian there alone.  She
turned on a lamp and picked up a nursing book to pass the time. 
Two hours later, she was sound asleep on the couch, when a knock
at the door invaded her dreams.
	Slowly, Gillian began to wake up.
	“Mrs. Fargate,” she called, softly.
	Remembering Myrtle had gone out, Gillian decided she had
no choice but to answer the door herself.  Getting up, she walked
over to the door and opened it.
	“Ryan,” she said.
	“Gilly,” Ryan answered, surprised and delighted that he was
actually getting to see her.
	“Um, come in,” Gillian said, not knowing what else to do.
	Ryan followed her into the room.
	“This is a shock.”
	“What?” she asked.
	“Being allowed to see you.  For a while there, I almost began
to think you were avoiding me,” he teased her.
	“Not just you,” she answered.
	“Oh, well, that makes me feel better.”
	At that remark, he got a small smile from Gillian.
	“I’m avoiding everyone.  I just can’t bare to go out in public,
Ryan, not yet.  With everyone staring and whispering,  ‘There’s the
woman who left poor Jake Martin at the alter. You know, this isn’t
the first time she’s done that.’  I’m sure it’s already been in  the
papers.”
	“Word has gotten around town, yes,” Ryan replied.  “But you
shouldn’t worry about what people think.  It doesn’t matter. 
Besides, they can’t call you the perpetual ‘run away bride’.  After
all, you did marry me.”
	“Yes, I did,” Gillian said, sitting down.
	Ryan sat in a chair, beside her.
	“When’s Jake coming back?” he asked.
	“Tomorrow,” she sighed.  “I don’t know what I’ll do then. 
It’s going to be so awkward for both of us, always seeing each other
here.”
	“You never know,” Ryan said, teasing.  “Maybe he’ll
volunteer to help Myrtle be your prison guard.”
	Gillian laughed for the first time since the wedding.
	“That’s much better,” Ryan said.  “I miss seeing that smile.”
	“How do you do it?” she asked, still smiling.
	“Do what?”
	“Come here, when I’m determined to wallow in my misery,
and, in five minutes, somehow manage to make me feel better,”
Gillian replied.
	“It’s a gift I have. One of the many, actually,” he said.
	Gillian laughed again, and Ryan couldn’t help but smile.  He
wanted to be gentle with her.  He didn’t want to scare her away, but
there was still so much he needed to say to her.  And, more than
anything, he wanted to coax her out of the walls she’d put up around
herself, both physically and figuratively.  
	“Your smile isn’t the only thing I’ve missed, Gillian,” he
told her.
	“Ryan, I -”
	“Just hear me out.  Please,” he said.
	Ryan wasn’t about to let her shut him out.
	“I meant every word I said to you at the Valley Inn, Gillian. 
I love you, Princess.  I really do,” Ryan said.  “And, I know it’s hard
for you to believe me.  And, I know you’re scared to trust yourself
with me; to give me your heart again.  But, I promise you, I’m not
going to do anything to hurt you.  I just want to love you, and be
with you.”
	“Ryan,” Gillian said, sadly, “so much has happened between
us.  I just don’t know if we can put back together everything we’ve
lost.  I don’t know if I can trust you again.”  
	“All I’m asking for is a chance, Princess, to prove myself, to
prove my love for you.  I know you need time.  I don’t expect this to
happen over night,” Ryan said.  “I’ll give you all the time you need. 
I’ll wait as long as I have to, but I’m not giving up on us.  
	Do you remember, Gilly, how happy we used to be?  How
perfect we were together?  How we’d make love, all night long, and
fall asleep in each other arms, listening to our hearts beat together,
as one?  What if we’d given up before then?  What if we’d both
decided that it wasn’t worth the risk?  We would’ve missed out on
all that.  We never would’ve known what if felt like to be so happy,
and so alive.
	We can have that again, Gillian.  We can.  But, you can’t
give up on us.  You can’t run away.  I’ve tried it, Princess.  It
doesn’t work.  We belong together.  Sooner or later, we both have to
realize that, and just give in.”
	“I don’t know how long it would take, Ryan,” Gillian said. 
“I don’t know how much time I’ll need.” 
	“It’s okay, Gillian.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes.  I’d
wait forever for you, just for a chance to be with you again.”
	“We’d have to take things slowly,” Gillian warned him. 
“We’d have to start all over again, and do things the right way this
time.”
	“I know,” Ryan said.  “And I want to.  I want to take you out. 
I want to court you.  I want to do everything right.  I’ll be the perfect
gentlemen - well, almost.”
	Gillian raised an eyebrow at him.
	“I’m kidding,” he said.  “We can take things as slowly as you
want to.”
	He took her hands in his, kneeling in front of her.
	“I love you, Gillian,” Ryan said.  “Please, Princess, can we
have a second chance?  Can we try again?”
	Gillian hesitated, looking into his eyes.
	Smiling, she said,  “Maybe.”
	It took Ryan a moment to process her answer.  Then,
unexpectedly, he laughed.
	“You didn’t say no,” he said, beaming.  
	He threw his arms around her, and pulled Gillian into his lap.
She smiled radiantly at him.
	Hugging her, he repeated, “You didn’t say no.”

~ Chapter 40 ~
 The next morning, Myrtle was up making breakfast, as usual, when
Gillian walked into the kitchen, wearing a robe and a smile.
	“Good morning, Mrs. Fargate,” she said.
	“Why, darling, you’re up early.  Couldn’t you sleep?”
	“Oh, I had the best night’s sleep in ages.  The coffee smells
delicious,” Gillian said, pouring herself a cup.
	“Well, this is certainly a change of moods,” Myrtle said,
trying to figure out what had caused such a drastic alteration.
	“I just realized, life is too short to waste all your time being
miserable.  Especially when happiness is out there within your
reach,” Gillian said.
	“Wiser words have never been spoken,” Myrtle said,
laughing.  “I’m glad you feel better, darling.  Here, why don’t you
have some pancakes.”
	Myrtle handed Gillian a plate, just as the telephone began to
ring.  Gillian sat, playfully swirling a bite of pancake in a puddle of
syrup, while she watched Myrtle answering the phone.  
	After a moment of silence, while she was obviously listening
to the other person, Myrtle starting to answer in her usual way.
	“I’m sorry, Ryan,” she said. “But I don’t think she -”
	“I’ll take this call,” Gillian said, jumping out of her chair and
over to the phone.
	Myrtle looked at her suspiciously.
	“Here you go, darling,” she said, handing Gillian the phone.
	“Ryan?” Gillian said.
	“Hello, Princess.  I was starting to worry that you changed
your mind,” he answered, playfully.
	“No, I haven’t,” she said, smiling.
	“Good.  I’m glad.  Because I want to take you out tonight -
unless you’re still not comfortable.  Otherwise, I could just come
there and see you.”
	“No,” Gillian said.  “We can go out.”
	“Oh, so you’re no longer keeping your vow of solitude,”
Ryan said, teasing her.
	“What?” she asked, confused.
	“It’s not important,” Ryan said, laughing.
	“You’re laughing at me,” Gillian said, distrustfully.  “What
did you mean?”
	“I was just surprised that your weren’t afraid to be seen in
public with me,” he said, still smiling.
	“No,” Gillian said, seriously.  “I was never afraid of being
with you.”
	Her answer was met with silence.
	“Okay,” Gillian conceded.  “Maybe I was just a little afraid
of you.  But I was never ashamed to be with you,” she added,
seriously.
	If they were in the same room together, this would’ve been
the part where Ryan reached over and caressed her face.  But,
separated by phone lines, he could only smile, lovingly, to himself.
	“When can I see you, Princess?” he asked.	
	“Later tonight,” she responded smiling.  “Where are you
going to take me?”
	“Well, I suppose we shouldn’t start out by throwing you back
into the social pool.  I want you to feel comfortable.  So how about
some place familiar and safe?”
	“All right,” Gillian said.  “Why don’t you meet me tonight at
SOS?”
	“Name the hour, and I’ll be there.”
	Gillian smiled, “Seven o’clock.”
	They said their final good-byes as Myrtle stood in the
kitchen listening, under the pretense of cooking.
	“Well,” she said, once Gillian hung up the phone, “does
Ryan have anything to do with your newfound happiness?”
	Gillian smiled brightly.
	“Yes,” she admitted. “He has everything to do with it.”
	“So you’re finally taking a chance at love?”
	“How does the saying go?  ‘I’d rather live with my mistakes
then regret the things I’ve never done’,” Gillian said.  “I don’t want
to wake up twenty years from now and realize I’ve missed out on
life.  I know I’m taking a chance on Ryan, and I’m a little afraid
myself.  But, if I didn’t do this, I’d spend the rest of my life
wondering what might’ve been.”
	“You two can be happy,” Myrtle said. “You belong together. 
I’ve always known that.”
	Gillian smiled.
	“Why didn’t you tell us?”