Chapter 1 - The Man Who Stayed
Most people get one second chance in life. Mine showed up with three heartbeats attached.
When my sister died, I became a mother in a single afternoon, and I learned fast that love is something you claw back in scraps. I already had my son, Cody. Hand-me-down backpacks, freezer meals stacked like bricks, a calendar full of other people's emergencies. Somehow we made it work.
Romance wasn't on my list. It wasn't even scribbled on the back of the list.
Then Grant.
He was easy to be around — charming without trying too hard, kind without turning it into a performance. On our third date I laid it all out flat.
"Three kids. No babysitter. No patience for games. I'm a package deal, Grant. Take it or leave it."
He didn't blink.
"I'm not scared of a ready-made family, Diane. I'm lucky to be near one. Let me be the guy who sticks around."
I laughed in his face — not cruel, just disbelief. Then he went and proved it. Spaghetti on Tuesdays. Spelling words with Cody at the kitchen table. Couch-cushion forts on rainy afternoons. He said he wanted the girls calling him "Dad."
So I let myself fall.
The wedding was small on purpose. A few close friends. Coworkers who'd carried me through the worst years. The handful of relatives who had watched me climb back toward something like happy.
Two days out, everything was rolling. Grant was staying at his parents' place on the far side of Maple Grove. Thursday night he FaceTimed me while I was folding laundry.
"Quick one," he said, his face too close to the lens. "Table runners. Blush or red?"
He turned the camera toward a board of fabric squares.
I held up the florist's mockup. "Blush. It'll sit right with the roses."
"Perfect." That easy grin. "Hang on, babe. My mom's calling me."
The screen went black.
May you like
I kept the phone in my hand and waited. Figured he'd be back in ten seconds. Or maybe he needed to settle something about the rehearsal dinner seating.
Then — voices.
