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My head pops up, and I look at Luke. His expression doesn’t have the dire resignation it did a moment ago. He looks calm. “Over the past couple of months, I’ve had the chance to spend time with a woman who has brought stability, playfulness, and sincere caring to my son’s life. And to mine.”

He wraps his large hand around mine, which sits trembling on his arm, and brings it to his lap.

“I see,” the judge says. Her expressionless gaze moves from Luke to me and back to Luke. Then she turns to John. “I assume you had no idea of the deception?”

John puts up his hands as though defenseless. He’s such a turd. “No, Your Honor.”

She nods, frowning. Maybe she knows he’s lying. Maybe she doesn’t care.

“Well, then, we have a bit of a problem,” she says.

Luke scoots his chair forward and leans toward the judge’s desk. “I sincerely apologize for the earlier deception. But as I was sitting here looking at the photos and experiences and souvenirs of our time together, I saw something I’ve been feeling but unable to put into words.”

He slides a photo out of the album. I’m kissing his cheek outside the horse barn, and he’s rolling his eyes. Even at that moment when I was trying to push his grumpy buttons, and he hated every minute, I now see something different. He wasn’t hating it at all.

Now that I know what his smile looks like, I see the barest hint of it in this picture. It was there all along, even when I couldn’t discern it.

“This is me falling for a woman I didn’t plan on loving. It was the last thing I wanted, frankly, because I was worried about my son forming attachments and later being disappointed. But if you look at these photos, you’ll see why I had no chance of stopping her from taking over my heart.”

He pushes forward a framed photo of us laughing with Luke’s arms encircling my waist and me looking adoringly over my shoulder at his equally adoring face. I was there at the lake, but even I didn’t see what is so obvious now.

We were a starry-eyed couple falling in love.

My heart skips a beat as I admit to myself that I love this man, and that was never supposed to happen. A flicker of panic sets in. I want to bolt from the room and cling to Luke all at once.

“It’s true. This is a real relationship,” I say, unsure what it means for the two of us going forward. But that’s not important right now as we wait for the judge to make the final call.

The judge takes all the evidence we’ve laid out on her desk and examines each photo and example individually. John stands by, doing exactly nothing useful, but at least he doesn’t say anything to make things worse.

Finally, the judge looks at us and nods. “I dislike the way this all came about, attempting to sway me with a lie and being dishonest as a ploy to prove you’re a good father. Lying is not a sign of good parenting, as I hope you understand.”

Luke swallows hard. “Yes, Your Honor. Again, I’m so sorry that I lost my sense of what was right. It was out of love and desperation to retain the relationship I’ve built with my son over the first four years of his life.”

“I understand that. I’m also a parent, and I can appreciate the lengths we go to to protect our kids. I will consider that with the other evidence presented by your ex-wife and her lawyer.”

“Thank you,” Luke says.

“Yes, thank you,” John parrots.

“I’ll see you on Tuesday for my verdict in the case.”

We nod and file out of the judge’s office. After John pulls the door closed, he claps Luke on the back. “Nice work.”

Luke says nothing, striding down the hall toward the exit of the building. I nod at John and chase Luke, who storms through the front doors of the courthouse and jogs down the steps. By the time I catch up to him, he’s reached the sidewalk. He turns and grabs my hand, as though he knew exactly where I’d be.

Silently, we walk down the block to a leafy park square in front of the town’s city hall.

I don’t know what I’m expecting. Maybe an outburst about how frustrating John is for saying virtually nothing helpful to Luke’s case? Or regret about spilling his guts in front of the judge?

I’m not expecting Luke to lead me to a bench in the shade and drop down to one knee in front of me.

Even when he’s there, taking my hands in his and staring into my eyes with steady focus and the hint of a smile, I still don’t know what’s happening.

“I know I threw some curveballs in there. Believe me when I say that was not my plan.” He blinks a few times and nods. “None of this was.”

I know him well enough now that I can tell he has a plan. It’s in the certainty I see on his face. It’s wrapped up in the way he spoke to the judge, presenting evidence of our relationship. Our actual relationship, not the one we thought we were acting out for show.

“I know. It’s okay.”