"Why not?" Kylie"s arms were around his neck, and she replied loudly with pride.A cunning look pa.s.sed through Ethan"s eyes. He said lightly: "I have three legs. Which one do you want to use for comparison?"
"Three…Three legs?" Kylie didn"t know what he meant. She leaned her head forward and looked around with puzzlement for a while. "You only have two legs…"
"The middle is the third one." The man"s voice was slow and gentle, which sounded like its normal self.
Kylie understood him immediately, loosening one hand from around his neck and waving it up in the air like she was about to hit him on the head. But she had found something brand new on which to focus before her hand had time to fall down.
"Ethan, there is a mole on the back of your neck!" She screamed in amazement and a.n.a.lyzed it, holding his neck between her two hands.
His neck was slim, straight, and white. Kylie never had, until this moment, got the chance to look at the back of Ethan"s neck, due to his height.
The mole wasn"t very big—about as small as a little sesame. It was embedded in his smooth neck like a black diamond, and she found it unutterably cute.
"Anything wrong?"
"Nope." Kylie touched it, and spoke: "But it means you"re blessed when you have a mole on the neck. You"ll get over all the difficulties ahead of you."
Ethan stopped for a second, then moved along again. "Do you believe in superst.i.tion?"
"How could this be superst.i.tion? I haven"t told you the main part yet," Kylie argued with disdain.
"Tell me then." The road became steep, now that they were almost at the top. Kylie embraced his neck tightly to maintain her balance.
She put her head on his shoulder. "It is said that when people die, some go in peace, while others struggle to stay alive because they don"t want to lose their memory of the last lifetime. So, the G.o.d leaves a mole on the neck of those people who have struggled, so that they are able to keep some of their memories. During their present lifetime, they are searching for their lover from their last lifetime."
Ethan nodded and seemed to agree strongly. So Kylie continued: "So, what did you do for a living in the last lifetime?"
"I was a slaughterer." Kylie was so upset that she made a face behind his back and then smiled.
"Are you looking for the pig that you raised in the last lifetime?"
"You"re right."
"Have you found it yet?" Kylie asked without a second thought but began to regret her question instantly.
Ethan nodded and replied with laughter: "Right on my back."
Kylie always became so dumb, and always completely lost her wit in front of him! "Ethan!" Kylie shook his body with a lot of force. "How could you be so mean?!"
Ethan was tall and firm like a mountain, walking steadily along in spite of her shaking. He smiled, even though Kylie couldn"t see his face.
When the two finally arrived at the top, the sun was just rising above the clouds. Although it was already August, the wind at the top of the mountain was still chilly.
Ethan put Kylie down and hugged her from behind, his two arms wrapped around Kylie"s shoulders to protect her from the mountain wind.
"Today is a new day," the man said. His voice, suddenly rising above her head, made Kylie"s heart lose a beat. She looked back at him with amazement.
That sentence had been said by Star as well. Right at the moment, Kylie"s heartbeat sped up. She had never even imagined that Ethan could be Star, but Ethan had appeared when Star had mentioned that he was going back to America, and Ethan had always been by her side for no apparent reason!
"You…" Kylie turned around and stared straight into his eyes, afraid of missing any small change on his face. "Do you like stars?" she asked.
Ethan wore a poker face, but his eyebrows moved slightly upwards. He opened his thin lips: "No."
It was a simple word, but even chillier than the mountain wind. Kylie was a little disappointed, but she didn"t want to give up yet. There was no rule anywhere that someone who named himself "Star" had to necessarily like stars, was there?
Kylie changed the topic then: "You have such a bad temper. I guess you"ve never done something out of kindness." She tried to get Ethan to admit it by offending him.
Star had helped her so much that she would never forget it. It was fair enough to say if it hadn"t been for Star"s help, she wouldn"t have survived. She would probably have died on the street.
Indeed, Ethan was upset; Kylie had denied his pride. He couldn"t just admit it: Saying: I have looked down upon you! I have done so many things out of kindness! I have been an anonymous hero!
The sun was finally up high in the sky. He blinked and responded lightly: "Charity is for those who feel guilty."
Kylie was totally disappointed. Why would she connect Ethan with Star? They were absolutely different people. Ethan sensed that Kylie was a little unhappy, but he didn"t say a word.
The two had visited Connell much longer than they had antic.i.p.ated, so they drove back after lunch. It was quiet inside and outside the car on the way back, which was different from the soul-stirring ambiance that had enveloped Connell on their arrival.
Seeing that Kylie was home, Lucy stepped forward with a smile. "Mrs. Parker, did you have fun?"
Kylie handed out some small gifts that she had brought back for Lucy and the butler. She smiled and nodded. "I really have enjoyed myself."
Although Mr. Parker"s poker face didn"t reveal anything, the butler nonetheless sensed that the two had become closer. Even when they walked, the distance between their bodies was less than it had been before the trip.
Pupu rushed out when he heard Kylie"s voice, and he shook his tail delightfully.
"Pupu, did you miss me?" Kylie squatted and rubbed the fur on Pupu"s head until he was all disheveled. Ethan glanced at them, but he didn"t stop her. He rubbed the messy fur back to normal once he was seated on the couch.
"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, please have a rest for a while. I"ll go prepare dinner." Lucy walked to the kitchen, smiling. Kylie followed Ethan upstairs, letting the unhappiness inside out.
"Ethan, if you really want to be in a serious relationship with me, I think the most important thing between a husband and a wife is honesty." The room became silent. Ethan knew what Kylie was going to ask, as he had known the day would come.
Kylie stopped in front of the locked door. "What"s inside?" This locked room had aroused her curiosity for a long time now. She was always drawn to it by an invisible force, every time she walked by.
"Are you sure you want to know what"s inside?" Ethan stood behind her. His big palm, holding a key, fell on the lock. He gently turned the key.
Hearing the lock"s mechanism at work, Kylie held her breath. The man was standing behind her, and his voice was unusually hoa.r.s.e and calm. "Kylie Finch, once you"ve walked in, you can"t walk away for the rest of your life."
He spoke the words very slowly, but Kylie"s heart was heavy with antic.i.p.ation. Couldn"t she walk away from this for the rest of her life?
"Are you ready for it?" He bent over and wrapped her waist with his spare hand. Kylie trembled slightly and was stunned when the door began to open slowly.