Chapter 10
He no longer confused forgiveness with allowing someone back into his life.
At the ceremony, Laurel wore ivory silk.
Lucas wore a navy suit.
Not the black suit from his father's funeral.
That suit had been carefully preserved, with its repaired lining and empty breast pocket.
Because sometimes the most painful things in our lives become reminders of how close we came to losing everything.
When the officiant asked Lucas for his vows, he reached into his pocket.
Laurel laughed immediately.
“Another letter?”
He smiled.
“Just one sentence.”
He unfolded a small piece of paper.
“Five years ago, I missed a train. Today, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.”
Laurel began crying.
Then Lucas took both her hands.
“And I promise you, for the rest of my life, you'll never have to wait alone again.”
When they kissed, the guests rose to their feet.
Outside, church bells rang across Newport Harbor.
And later that evening, when the last guest had gone and the garden lights were beginning to fade, Laurel found Lucas standing alone beside the roses.
She slipped her arms around his waist.
“What are you thinking about?”
He looked down at her.
“The letter.”
She smiled.
“Which one?”
“The first one.”
“The one you found too late?”
Lucas shook his head.
“No.”
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“The one I found just in time.”
Laurel rested her head against his chest.
For a moment, they listened to the waves.
Then she whispered, “Do you ever wish we'd found each other sooner?”
Lucas considered the question.
“Every day.”
She looked up.
He smiled gently.
“But I don't want to spend the rest of our lives mourning the years we lost.”
“What do you want to do?”
He kissed her hand.
“Make the years we have count.”
Laurel smiled.
And together, they walked toward the lights of their new home.
Because the greatest love stories aren't always about two people who never lose each other.
Sometimes they're about two people who lose everything, discover the truth, and find the courage to begin again.
The letter had waited five years to be read.
But the love inside it had never expired.
THE END.