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In spite of my better judgment, I had clung to the belief that my parents were going to come after me, and I had waited at the bus stop across the street, praying and hoping I was right.
But they let me leave, and all these years later, I hadn’t seen nor heard from them.
After three flights of stairs, I stopped and placed an arm around my stomach. “What are we doing here? I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Albin took my hand in his and squeezed. “I know you haven’t been back here since that night, but I’m going to make things right. For you and for Jimmy.”
“I don’t think you can.”
Albin came to a stop outside the front door and rang the doorbell. “I’m going to try.”
Jimmy stood between us, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Feet shuffled behind the door before it creaked open, revealing an old, weathered face with thinning hair. He shifted, and I saw the clothes hang off his frail frame.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi. You don’t know me, but my name is Albin Arkwright.”
When the man stood up straighter, a jolt of recognition went through me. He looked older and a lot more worn out than I would’ve expected, but there was no doubt in my mind that the man in front of me was my father. When he glanced over at me, his eyes widened in surprise, and his mouth fell open.
“You’re my grandfather,” Jimmy announced, jutting his chin out. “Where’s grandma?”
“Sweetheart, who’s at the door?”
I stilled when another person appeared in the doorway, and my mom’s familiar face, only older and far more weathered, appeared. She took one look at me, threw the door open, and pulled me to her. My hands came up around her shoulders, and my entire body shook.
****
A short while later, when we were all seated in the living room, with Jimmy wedged between my parents, Albin stood up.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” Albin began, his voice clear and steady. “I should’ve been there to take care of Martha and Jimmy, but I’m going to make it up to them. If I have to spend the rest of my life, I will.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Auden, I want to take care of your daughter, and I promise I’m going to treat her well,” Albin continued. He reached for me, brought my hand to his lips, and smiled. Jimmy couldn’t stop talking or moving until Albin got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
With my parents’ blessings, I agreed.
When he rose to his feet and kissed me, it felt like the whole world was right again. For the rest of the day, my parents and I talked, mending fences and filling in the gaps until it felt like no time had passed between us. All of the old hurt and heartache didn’t seem to matter.
Because every heartbreak, every wrong turn, and every sleepless night had led me here. At the end of the day, when Albin took us back home, I was buzzing with excitement and impatience and unable to believe my good luck. We spent the night holding each other and whispering until the sun came up.
A few weeks later, on a warm spring afternoon, in the lush green garden of a hotel, the two of us exchanged our vows in full of view of our family, friends, and Albin’s entire company.
And underneath the light of the stars, we danced the night away.
Chapter 30
Albin
“How does it feel to be married, Mrs. Arkwright?” I swung her out of my arms and back in, leaving her breathless and giggling. “Is the wedding everything you hoped it would be?”
“It’s better,” Martha replied, tilting her head back to look up at me. “This is everything I could’ve hoped for.”
Underneath the pale glow of the moon, in her wedding dress, with her soft curls around her face, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Since I saw her gliding down the aisle a few hours ago, a breathtaking vision in white, I’d barely been able to look away.
The entire event was already a blur, but the only constant was her.
Martha hadn’t left my side the entire night, and I couldn’t wait to have her all to myself. The live band continued to play music, wafting over us while everyone drifted in and off the dance floor, faces lit up by the lights strung up outside. Now and again, I spotted Jimmy out of the corner of my eye, looking handsome in his suit as he played with a few of the other kids.
When I dipped Martha backward and pressed my lips to hers, her sigh of contentment reverberated inside of my head. My head was spinning when I lifted her off her feet and swung her around. Martha laughed and buried her face in my neck, smelling like vanilla and peaches. I held her to me, conversation rising and falling around us until my heart felt like it was going to burst.
