Keep My Heart- Prologue

Keep My Heart- 18

"A flower cannot bloom without sunshine, and a man cannot live without love."

-Max Muller

Hello, my dears. I love this quote very much. I will try to upload as quickly as possible and make it worth reading, lately it has been absolute rubbish. My mind has been elsewhere and I apologize.

The sand was soft and golden beneath her feet, and Olivia held her hat securely to her hat as the sea breeze rushed across the shore. Her white morning dress fluttered around her in a way that made one picture a certain platinum haired angel. The roar of the sea was droning and constant, and the salty water seemed to stretch her fingers onto the safety of land...only to fall away again. The only time Olivia had been to the beach was when Rashleigh had taken her with him to Brighton for business. It had been the middle of winter, and very bitterly cold. The vibrant warm was unexpected and she liked how it felt on her skin.

Her stockings were carefully tucked into her shoes and she was relishing the sensation of sand between her toes. Tortuga was not a very nice place but the beach certainly was pleasant. The water, the breeze, the gentle symphony of nature. It was like a soothing elixir to her troubles, but still, those troubles simmered, unsatisfied.

Somewhere along the beach, Adam watched her, keeping an eye out for ruffians. He knew personally that there were few women as handsome and as high ranked as she was. Someone like her would be quite the prize.

She was very careless and childlike, walking along the sand like she hadn't a burden in the world. His eyes followed her, mindful to keep his vision and mind clear. Yes, he loved her. That was the thing on his mind today. The thing that occupied his mind every day.

Silent, he he wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead and licked his lips. She did not know he was watching her and he liked it that way. Quiet time was essential for a man like him. He was the intellectual type, the compassionate type, the mature type. Adam was the realistic optimist. He saw things as they were but saw the best in them.

He couldn't imagine being a pessimist, the way Olivia was. The bad things were what she saw. Maybe because that was all she had ever seen. However, he was the same way.

His mother had died when he was six and his father shortly after. He had been on his own and trying to raise a child. And what had he done? He had gotten it done.

He walked a fragile line with Olivia, and he knew it. The things he had said and done were beginning to loom over him like it was all a big mistake. He should have kissed her there, and told her that he loved her. He hadn't though, and he reminded himself not to dwell on the steps he might have taken in a perfect and rose colored world.

All along, he had never expected to fall in love with her. Of course, from the beginning, from that first day, he had loved her. Love, mercy, and compassion had been in has actions. Truly enough, he hadn't known what to do with her at first but some act of God had bade him to love her. Women like Olivia were the ones who needed love the most. They had been pushed down and down. All they needed was someone to pick them back up again and again.

Somewhere on the road of merely loving her, he had fallen in love with her. Adam watched her closely, holding her hat to her head, and her careful steps in the sand. Perhaps he loved her because he felt he could not have her. It occurred too many times and he knew that he was not above the falls of mankind.

A minute later, the tide came in and he heard her squeal, and laughed as she pulled up her skirts. There was mirth in the air. He found himself walking towards her, his cherished moments of thoughtful silence forgotten.