Shout out to beta @notevenjokingfic who’s kept me on track with this story from the beginning. Also to @lcbeauchampoftarth who is my resident grammar guru/ baby lawyer support group buddy. And of course, I couldn’t do this without the wonderful friends who love and support me constantly @happytoobserve@smashing-teacups
To RM readers, we’re getting close to the finish line! Thanks for hanging in there.
Jamie Fraser’s heart had beat on its own for some time now. Twenty-eight years, five months, three weeks, and nine days, to be exact.
It’s true that the organ in his chest had taken more than its fair share of blows through the years. The first was the death of his father that cut him like a knife and had yet to stop bleeding. And then his mother’s death, and Annalise’s betrayal — the one-two punch that put him on auto-pilot.
For years afterward, he’d lived as a man with no center. Hollow, empty. No dreams, no wishes, no wants. No future.
And then one day, in a coffee house on Bleecker Street, his entire world exploded in an ecstatic symphony of life and love and laughter.
Claire. Claire. Claire. Her name wrote the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Tori