Zelda and Boone chose a quiet little restaurant and sat at a corner table by the window. They didn't have a lot to say to each other as they went about the business of ordering their food. They had been served and were almost done eating when Boone leaned back and looked at Zelda.

Zelda set her fork aside and returned his look, waiting for him to start the conversation because she was at a loss as to how to begin.

"What do you want to know?" Boone asked, watching her as she sorted her thoughts.

"It's hard to know where to begin," she shook her head.

Boone smiled. "Start anywhere we'll get around to it all eventually."

"Why didn't you ever go after Collin for stealing your works?" Zelda leaned forward as she asked the question, somehow knowing the answer was more than what he had claimed to Charles, which was that it wasn't worth the effort.

"Because of you, Zelda," Boone looked out the window as he gathered his thoughts. "Collin didn't just play you. He played me as well. He knew I was in love with you from the first moment I introduced you. He loved the idea that I was trapped in a loveless engagement because of some weird sense of fair play."

"Something he never had," Zelda said bitterly.

"I don't disagree. I fell for Collin's charm at first just as you did, and I asked him to review some of my work. It was work that I had already turned in and for which I had received a grade, but I still wanted a second opinion. He knew it was about you right away, and I think he was jealous that I could feel that deeply for another person." Boone gave a sad smile then looked at Zelda, deliberating what he was about to say next. 

"Don't pull your punches Boone, tell me everything, every secret." Zelda insisted.

"Knowing what I know now, I don't think Collin ever loved anyone. I think he tried hard with Cara and put on a good show, in part to hurt you, but think about it. He couldn't even love his daughter." He watched Zelda digest this. "He knew you felt just as deeply for me as I did for you and that passion made him jealous. He wanted it. He knew he needed it to be a good writer, something he wasn't."

"How do you know he wasn't any good?" Zelda asked more out of curiosity than because she cared.

"I read some of his stuff, and it read like an instruction manual." Boone shook his head.

"But how did he play you?" Zelda asked, going back to the beginning.

"Because it was his income that took care of you. If I had called him on it, gone after him, it would have hurt and embarrassed you, and he wouldn't have been able to support you, so I let him have it. I knew he wouldn't be able to write anything else, and the fraud that he was would have come out in the end, but perhaps more gently, in a way that would not have hurt you as much."

"But he made sure I'm not getting any of that money now," Zelda reminded him. Still wondering why he hadn't fought the estate to get it back.

"No, you're not, but it will be there one day for Eden, and that's just as good." Boone smiled.

They were silent for a time as Zelda digested what he had said. Boone loved Eden, what was it they said about actions speaking louder than words? The fact that he was going to let the lies ride so that Eden could have the money one day told Zelda all that she needed to know about how he felt for her little girl. 

"Did you really love me that much?" There were tears in her eyes as she asked the question.

"I still do," he looked at her with his heart in his eyes.

"Then why didn't you come after me, at least try?" Zelda's tears had started to fall.

"I was a fool. I thought you loved him. Collin certainly made it sound as if you did." Boone's voice was rough.

"But that kiss!" Zelda insisted.

"We're you so sure that I loved you after that kiss? If you were, you left before we could discuss it." Boone pointed out what was a fair point.

Zelda hadn't realized that he loved her. All she knew was that she loved him, and she was afraid that he had seen through the kiss, it appeared that he had felt the same and the thought made her smile.

"What's so amusing?" he asked with a smile because she was smiling.

"You're telling me that the great Boone Norris, New Orleans's famous playboy was too scared to let the girl know that he liked her?"

Boone shrugged and the action was charming in a boyish way. "That, and I was still engaged."

"Right, I had forgotten about that, but that brings up my next question." Zelda nervously licked her lips, and Boone followed the movement.

"Let me guess," he grinned, "girlfriends?"

Zelda blushed. "Yes, you do have a bit of a reputation," Zelda whispered.

"Funny how I have a reputation as a playboy and a recluse at the same time, isn't it?" Boone squinted one eye as he looked at her. "I dated here and there. Mostly women I met through friends. None of them were ever serious. Would you like me to prove it?" Boone asked, waving to the waiter for the check.

"I believe you, Boone," Zelda shook her head, telling him he didn't need to prove anything.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a few books. "These are only a few, but read them and see if it's as clear in these as it was in the one's Collin stole."

Zelda recognized the books that he slid across the table towards her. They were bestsellers and had been on store shelves almost since she had left New Orleans. They were by Borris Noone, and Zelda laughed as it hit her.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? Boone Norris, Borris Noone. It's sort of genius." She ran her hand over the cover and read the inscription of the first page.

"To my unattainable muse and dreams just out of reach. To the hope that she will be held in my arms one day."

Zelda's heart picked up speed as she read it. "Boone?"

The smile he gave her was a bit lopsided, and it squeezed the air out of her lungs.

"I don't have proof like you do, but I always thought about you. I always wanted you." Zelda's voice cracked with the passion that she felt.

Boone threw some money on the little tray with the check. "I can think of one way you can prove it," he said, standing and reaching for her hand.

Zelda grabbed the books and stood. "I don't think I have the time. My professor just gave me an assignment." She grinned as she held up the book.

"He can wait, but I cannot." Boone kissed her hard then pulled her out onto the street and towards the bar.

Her heart was racing and her blood was singing, and it wasn't because Boone was walking fast.

Boone had always wanted her. He had always been her protector even when he hadn't been there, and he still was. Now she knew what he had meant when he had said that their secrets were linked.

A lifetime would never be enough time to tell him all that she felt.

"Boone!" Zelda tugged on his hand, making him stop. He turned to look at her, confused as to why they were stopping. She went up on tiptoe and held his face in her hands looking deeply into his eyes. "I love you so very much."

He pulled her close at her words, holding in the middle of a busy sidewalk, and after a few minutes, he gave her a very long deep kiss that made her toes curl and finished it with a wicked grin.

"Then prove it!" And once again, they were walking, and Zelda laughed. Her heart was so light she felt like she was floating.