“I don’t do ‘flings,’ Jessica,” he said, looking at the geranium on the sill. “I’m a man of structures. When I find a foundation that’s solid, I build on it. You’re the most solid thing I’ve found in eleven years. If you need time, I have plenty. But my answer hasn’t changed.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “Then let’s do it. On the 26th.”
The wedding was at the county clerk’s office. I wore a simple cream dress; Mark wore a dark, understated suit. There were no flowers, no tiered cakes. Just a young clerk who looked tired and a ceremony that lasted six minutes.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” she said mechanically.
Mark turned to me. He didn’t go for a cinematic kiss. He took my hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for nodding,” he whispered.
Cliffhanger: As we stepped out of the office, we ran into Evan and his lawyer. Evan looked at our joined hands, his face contorting into a mask of pure, unadulterated shock. He didn’t know yet that the fraud investigation had just been finalized.
Chapter 8: The Apple Orchard
The criminal proceedings against Evan and Nicole were brief and devastating. Nicole broke under questioning, admitting the entire plan was Evan’s idea in exchange for a portion of the condo sale. Evan lost everything—his reputation, his job, and eventually, he settled for a measly 20% of the condo’s value just to stay out of a prison cell.
He ended up in a boarding house on the outskirts of town. I felt no triumph when I heard. I simply felt… finished.
Mark and I bought a house in the spring. An old, solid mansion with a garden that had been neglected for too long. We spent the weekends fixing the fences and planting lilacs. I went back to school, greeted by a roar of joy from Ben, Paige, and Dany that nearly knocked me off my feet.
The real shift, however, came in April.
I stood in the bathroom, holding a plastic stick with two pink lines. My heart was a frantic, winged thing in my chest. Herrera had said it was possible, but I hadn’t dared to hope.
I walked into the living room where Mark was reading. I didn’t say anything. I just handed him the stick.
He sat down on the sofa, his legs giving way. He stared at the lines for a long, silent minute. Then, he pulled me into a hug so fierce I could feel the thrum of his heart against mine.
“Is it real?” he whispered.
“It’s real,” I said.
“A good kind of fear,” he murmured into my hair.
Mia was born in October, during a warm Indian summer. Mark was in the delivery room, his hand a steady, unshakable weight in mine. When she finally arrived, let out a lusty, indignant cry, Mark didn’t cheer. He wept. A single, silent tear for the eleven years of silence and the eighth year of my waiting.
He held her with an awkward, terrified reverence. “Hello,” he whispered to the tiny, wrinkled face. “We’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”
A year later, we stood in the garden. The apple trees were in heavy, fragrant bloom. Mia was crawling across the grass with a look of terrifying determination, headed straight for her father’s nose.
Mark scooped her up, his laugh—a real, deep, soulful sound—filling the air.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, pulling me into the circle of his arm.
“About the bus ride,” I said, looking at the white blossoms. “About how I thought the tumor was the end of the story. I didn’t realize it was just the demolition crew clearing the site for a better building.”
“We worked hard for this,” Mark said, kissing my temple.
“We did,” I agreed.
In the distance, the bells of Arbor Hill rang out for the afternoon. I wasn’t waiting for the right time anymore. I was living in it.
The End.
