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"What made you decide you wanted to be with him?" Summer peers through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows at the snowflakes that float down to the ground. It’s been snowing since the morning, enough to cover the trees with white and disrupt the trains in the city. Enough for the weather people to predict that this will be the heaviest snowfall in the last fifty years, or something like that. Truth is, I’m happy to snuggle up on the couch in the living room and watch the snow from here. I’m happy for my husband to wait hand and foot on me. He insists on carrying me everywhere in the house, and on bathing me and feeding me. He’s given the housekeeper—who I finally managed to meet and say 'hi' to—the week off so he can tend to me alone.
He also hasn't gone to work; hasn't even checked his phone. So much so, Nathan finally calledmeand asked to speak to him. He must have invited himself over because, a few hours ago, he arrived at our doorstep. Summer was right behind him. I convinced Edward I’d be fine with her for company for a few hours. He told Summer to keep an eye on me and retreated to his study with Nathan to catch up on his office related matters, but only after I insisted he leave us.
She turns to me. "He does seem cray-cray about you."
"He is." I nod.
"And you’re sure you want to do this?" She waves in the direction of the doorway he disappeared through.
I nod again.
"What made you decide to forgive him?"
"It wasn’t just one thing." I wind a strand of hair around my fingers. "Or maybe, it was the way he knew I was resistant to Penicillin, something I tend to forget."
"But he remembered?"
"He did…when the doctor asked. If he hadn’t, I’m sure he’d have recommended Penicillin for me, and that wouldn’t have any impact. Frankly, that shook me a little. That he knew it and had the presence of mind to bring it up to the doctor, when"—I swallow—"when my own father doesn’t know that about it."
"Oh, honey." She walks over and sits down on the couch next to me. "I’m so sorry."
"Of course, he seems to be coming around. He did stand up for me at Arthur’s New Year party."
"The one where the Witches of Eastwick were kicked out of?"
I laugh. "The same. And he came to my rescue when they were horrible to me, too."
She nods.
"No one has been in my corner for so long. All those years growing up and feeling on my own, trying to win my stepmother’s approval. It’s only after meeting Eddie that I realized I was looking for a place to call my own. I was looking for…" I glance about the living room with its elegant, yet comfortable couch; the deep armchairs; the fireplace he lit earlier; the Christmas tree up in the corner, which he hasn’t taken down yet, at my request; the windows that look out on the garden; the floor lamps lit at intervals; the lush carpeting on the floor—all of it is so Eddie and yet, also, so me. If I'd picked out the furniture for the place, I’d have probably ended up with the same look. "Home. I was looking for somewhere to belong to, but meeting Eddie made me realize home is wherever he is."
"You realized all this while you were away?"
I nod. "I know it should have taken me much longer, but for that small accident I had. It shook me, and all I wanted was Eddie by my side, holding my hand and telling me it would all be okay."
She smiles a little. "And you’ve forgiven everything he did?”
“Do I forgive him for spying on me without my permission and for replacing my contraceptive pills?”And for taking the life of a man who was responsible for what happened to him and his friends. A man whose actions emotionally scarred a twelve-year-old boy for life?I shake back my hair. "I do.”
Besides, who’s to say what's right and wrong.Aren’t these rules made by man, after all?
She begins to speak, and I hold up my hand. "All I know is, good or bad, he’s mine. He stalked me because he wanted me. He replaced my birth-control pills because he thought he was tainted by the incident. He was sure if I found out what he’d been through, I’d never want to be the mother of his child.”
"And now?" She tilts her head.
"Now, I believe he loves me enough to never do anything to hurt me again."
She looks into my features and her smile broadens. "I’m so happy you and Ed found each other. I always worried about him. Of all the Seven, he’s the one the incident affected the most. He’s the one who seemed to carry the most secrets. He’s also the most sensitive, though he never showed it. I always hoped he’d find a woman who’d love him as he is and you, my dear friend, are the perfect foil for him."
She throws her arms about me, and I hug her back. When the doorbell rings, she sniffs and breaks away. "I invited Gio and the girls. I hope you don’t mind. It felt like the right time to celebrate."
She walks away and opens the door, and when my friends join me, I can’t stop myself from smiling widely. I’ve found my tribe, and my man, and oh my god, it’s everything I hoped for, and more.
* * *
"Is there a party in progress?" My husband walks past Gio, sprawled in one of the armchairs, and Penny, in the other. Both are holding glasses of champagne. Summer and Abby are in the kitchen, getting us all some snacks. He approaches me, leans a hip on the arm of the couch, then leans in and kisses my forehead. "How’s my wife doing?"
"I’m perfect." I beam up at him.
