Page 163 of Faultlines
“I’ve been thinking about something.”
His face fills with caution, his eyebrows drawing together a fraction.
“Why do you always look nervous when I say that?”
“Experience.”
The corners of his mouth twitch, a small, private smile. “What have you been thinking about?”
“I want to have a vow renewal ceremony this summer to celebrate our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.”
“You do?”
“I do. I don’t want to make it a huge thing. God knows the first one was chaotic enough.”
“It rained,” he says, a faint smile playing on his lips.
“It poured.”
“The power went out.”
“The cake collapsed.”
“My father threatened the caterer.”
“A magical day.”
“I don’t want anything fancy, I just want our family.”
“Sloane will make inappropriate comments.”
“She’ll put them in a speech.”
His eyes shine, and I can see his throat working as he swallows hard. When he finally speaks, his voice breaks.
“Claire.”
The way he says it, a choked whisper, makes tears spill down my cheeks. He laughs shakily and wipes at his own eyes with the back of his hand.
“I love you.”
My hand settles over his heart, feeling the steady, rhythmic beat beneath my palm.
“I choose this. Including the mess we made. I choose us.”
EPILOGUE
Claire
Rays of sunshine spill across the ranch. A breeze carries the familiar scent of eucalyptus, lavender, and freshly cut grass as white folding chairs fill with the people who somehow helped us find our way back to each other.
Twenty-five years.
The number still feels impossible.
When Ethan and I stood in a little church all those years ago, we thought love was the promise. We were wrong. Love is the choice. The promise simply reminds you to keep making it.
Am I doing the right thing by staying with him?
