“I promise to keep learning the difference.”
A tear escaped down my cheek.
Reid watched it fall.
“I promise to choose the life we actually have instead of mourning the one fear says we might lose. I promise honesty before bravery, listening before answers, and coffee strong enough to offend every doctor in this room.”
Dr. Whitcomb made a disapproving sound.
The guests laughed.
Reid’s voice softened.
“I promise the ordinary days. The bills, the laundry, the broken engines, the tired evenings, the arguments about ladders, and every morning we are lucky enough to wake beside each other.”
His hands tightened.
“You are not the man I almost lost. You are not a memory I was waiting to get back.”
He looked straight into my eyes.
“You are the man I love now.”
My vision blurred.
“And I will love you in every future we are given.”
Silence held for a beat after he finished.
Then someone sniffed loudly.
Owen.
Talia patted his back.
“My turn?” I asked.
Reid nodded, unable to speak.
I had written my vows in the journal I began after the accident.
The first pages contained facts.
Names.
Medications.
Things I could not trust my mind to hold.
Today’s page contained no instructions.
Only choice.
“Reid.”
His mouth trembled.
“When I woke in the hospital, people gave me facts about my life.”
