Chapter 10
Our wedding was small.
Perfect.
We got married in the backyard of our house, under a canopy of yellow daisies.
Only twenty guests.
Our closest friends. Arthur. Lila.
Liam was the ring bearer.
He walked down the aisle in a tiny tuxedo, holding the rings on a pillow, guided by Lila.
He made it halfway.
Then he sat down and started chewing on the pillow.
Everyone laughed.
James picked him up.
He held Liam in one arm. He held my hand with the other.
The minister said the usual words.
Love. Honor. Cherish.
For better or worse.
In sickness and in health.
We’d already lived through the worse.
We’d already survived the sickness.
We knew what it meant.
When it was time to say our vows, James spoke first.
“Clara,” he said. His voice was thick. “A year and a half ago, I stood in our old living room and let the worst thing in the world happen to you. I was weak. I was scared. I let someone else’s hate come between us. I will spend the rest of my life making up for that day.”
He squeezed my hand.
“I promise you this,” he said. “I will never let anyone hurt you again. I will never let anyone tell me how to love you. How to raise our son. How to live my life. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. You and Liam. And I will spend every day proving I deserve you.”
It was my turn.
“James,” I said. “I used to think love was about never being hurt. About never being scared. But I was wrong. Love is about what you do after the hurt. About how you fight for each other. About how you show up, every single day, even when it’s hard.”
I looked at Liam, playing with the rings in Lila’s arms.
“You showed up,” I said. “You fought for us. You became the man I always knew you could be. I love you. I trust you. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
We kissed.
Everyone cheered.
Liam clapped.
That night, after everyone left, we sat on the porch swing again.
Liam was asleep between us.
James held my left hand.
The new wedding ring sparkled on my finger. Next to the silver promise band on my right.
“Can you believe it?” James said. “We made it.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“We made it,” I said.
I thought about Eleanor.
She was in prison.
She’d lost everything.
Her money. Her son. Her freedom.
She’d spent her whole life chasing things that didn’t matter.
And she’d ended up with nothing.
I thought about justice.
I used to think justice was about making someone hurt as bad as they’d made you hurt.
I was wrong.
Justice was this.
This quiet moment.
My husband’s arm around me.
My son’s warm breath on my chest.
The knowledge that we were safe.
That no one could ever take this away from us.
That we’d won.
Not by hurting someone else.
But by loving each other harder.
By building something good out of something terrible.
“Clara?” James said.
“Hmm?”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
I smiled.
I thought about the girl I’d been a year and a half ago.
Crying on a bathroom floor. Wine in her hair. Scared out of her mind.
I thought about the woman I was now.
CEO. Mom. Wife.
Strong. Loved. Safe.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life,” I said.
James kissed the top of my head.
“Me too,” he said.
We sat there for a long time.
Watching the stars come out.
Listening to Liam breathe.
Holding each other.
Whatever came next.
We’d face it together.
May you like
No secrets.
Ever.
