“What you deserve,” he whispered back and then spoke into the mic again. “Harper once told me she wondered if life might slingshot her into the ground or into a beautiful life of her own making.” My husband’s jaw worked, and he paused for a moment. “I predicted the latter. And I was right.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Orion…”
“She went to MIT,” he continued, “and did what Harper always does: She outworked everyone in the room. She earned her doctorate and is now about to build a career where her genius will provide communities with clean water. She’s going to help so many people who will never know her name.” He looked to me, his eyes full of pain and pride, and memories that were years old. “Again.”
A sob tried to choke me. I knew what he meant. Langford had been charged with sexual battery and might’ve gotten off with a slap on the wrist for a first offense had Sierra and three other girls not come forward. The prosecutor, backed by the full weight of Dr. Sterling and the Academy, argued Langford had a pattern of predatory behavior and deserved jail time. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, stripped of his teaching credentials, and would be listed on every sex-offender registry until the end of his life.
It had been a bittersweet victory, and while the memory of that horrible night grew older and its darkest shadows dispelled by the light of therapy, the scar was there. It would always be there, but Orion never let me forget that our scars didn’t define us. They weren’t what made us beautiful or strong. They were signposts on the roadmap of our lives, telling us where we’d been.
And how far we’d come.
Overcome by my husband’s bottomless heart and endless love, I looked to the crowd, and found my mother’s eyes streaming too. Dash’s jaw was clenched, and Tessa dabbed her cheeks and eyes. And then I saw them. Colleagues from MIT…andEmery and Xander Ford, Odin and Octavian, Rockwell and Celeste Mercer, and Ezra Wolfe…
Ezra. Oh my God…
“She is the bravest person I know,” Orion said, his voice thick and his eyes so full of love and pride, I could hardly breathe. “And so tonight, I want everyone here to know her name too. It is my great honor and privilege to introduce my wife, Dr. Harper Bennett, PhD.”
The applause hit me like a wave, and I pressed a hand to my mouth. Orion replaced the mic and pulled me to him. He held me close while a handful of his musicians procured violins and a cello and played “Pomp and Circumstance.”
“Congratulations, love,” he whispered.
“I can’t believe you did this,” I managed. “This was supposed to be your night. Your first tour…”
“When was it ever going to be your night?” he asked, holding meclose. “You skipped your graduation because I had a bloody concert. You spend so much time cheering me on, and the rest of your time in the lab. You deserve this. More than this.” He cupped my cheek. “You deserve to be celebrated.”
Orion kissed me softly, then grinned. “Now, come on. There are a bunch of people dying to see you.”
We stepped off the stage, and I was surrounded by everyone I loved best in the world.
Emery Wallace and Xander Ford came first, my best friend with tears in her eyes. Orion and I had been a bridesmaid and best man at their official wedding five years ago. Their two-year-old daughter, Aurelia, was perched on Xander’s hip. The toddler’s golden hair was the same as her mother’s, but she had her father’s brown eyes. Or one of them—Xander had heterochromia. But it had been more than a year since I’d seen them last.
I shook my head. “How…?”
“Orion’s been planning this for months.” Emery threw her arms around me. “Congratulations, babe!”
“Thank you, Em. God, I missed you.” I turned to Tessa, who’d snuck up to join us. “And you. What acoincidence.”
“Some actor I am,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I panicked because Orion worked so hard on this. I was so scared I’d blown it.”
“I never would have guessed,” I said.
“Which worked in my favor,” Orion said. “Come here, angel.” He plucked Aurelia out of Xander’s arms and held her as if he’d been born to do it. My own stomach fluttered, my heart full of the sweetest ache.
“Dr. Bennett,” Xander said, pulling me from my thoughts. He offered his free hand with mock formality.
I shook it with a grin. “Dr. Ford.”
Xander had also done his post-grad at MIT in quantum physics, though our paths hadn’t crossed as often as we’d hoped, while Emery had broken free of her tyrannical father to make her own way. She now ran a successful design business.
I froze and then glanced around. “Wait. You did this,” I said to my best friend. “The decorating and planning. Didn’t you?”
Emery beamed. “Guilty as charged.”
I swatted Orion’s arm. “How on earth did you plan this while on tour?”
“It wasn’t bloody easy, I’ll tell you that. Was it, sweet pea?” Orion cooed at Aurelia and then grimaced as she grabbed a handful of his curls.
Dash and my mother approached, my mother wiping her eyes. “You wonderful man,” she said, kissing Orion on the cheek as he relinquished the baby back to his best friend. “I had no idea.”
