Page 95 of Lovewell Lane

“It would,” she said. She seemed pleased with her negotiation skills.

“Okay,” Derek said. “I think that’s enough excitement for one day.”

We both stood up and made our way to the door. “Goodnight, Tessa,” I whispered.

“Goodnight, Margo. Goodnight, Daddy.”

My heart tightened at the sound of her sweet voice wishing us both goodnight. I grabbed Derek’s hand for comfort and squeezed. He looked down at me, and I nearly fell apart at the sight of tears welling up in his eyes.

“Sweet dreams, honey,” Derek said.

We closed the door together and stood in the hallway. I wrapped my arms around him and clung to him. He rubbed my back with a firm hand and held me tight. I was so damn lucky. Dreaming of having this kind of family, this kind of love, was always a far-fetched idea.

Now that I had it, I would never let go.

Epilogue

Margo

Eight Years Later

“Vodka soda, please,” I said to the bartender.

He didn’t even ask to see my ID, which I wasn’t sure if I should take offense to considering it was my thirty-fifth birthday. I tapped my fingernails on the countertop while I waited patiently. Only to be interrupted by a man swooping in to sit on the stool next to me.

“What’s a beautiful woman like you doing all alone in a bar?” he asked. I looked him up and down. He was about my age, maybe younger.

I laughed in his face. “I only like old men, but thanks for the compliment.”

Derek groaned next to me. Already sick of this bit that I used nearly every time we were out together. “I’m not fuckin’ old,” he grumbled under his breath.

He leaned back to look at the man who hit on me, and with one look, the man was sent running. I ran a hand through Derek’s salt and pepper hair lovingly. My wedding ring glinted in the neon lights behind the bar.

“I love you,” I whispered in his ear. “Even if you’re old and grumpy.”

He sighed, but his eyes gave him away. He looked at me with pure fondness in his gaze. “We should probably get home soon.”

“You miss our babies?” I asked.

“Mhm,” he nodded while checking his phone. “Tessa says they’re still asleep. We can stay, I just don’t want to stay for too long.”

His hand came up to wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer. “Want to dance first?”

I nodded and stood to pull him over to the dance floor with me. They were doing the only line dance I’d managed to learn in my nearly ten years of living in Honeyfield.

“Let’s finish this one song and dip. I miss our babies, too.”

The bartender returned with my vodka soda, and I did my best to drink it as fast as possible while Derek pulled out his wallet. Something caught my eye as he pulled out his card. I snatched his wallet from him and pulled out the picture stuck in the back.

It was the Polaroid. The one he took of me when we had our first date that his father set us up on. In the picture, I was laughing without any care and soaking wet from head to toe. On the bottom in his careful handwriting was the date and Honeyfield, Georgia. The picture was worn, and there were creases where he’d folded it at some point.

It was weathered, like he pulled it out often to stare at it. I flipped it over to the back to read what he’d written.

There I found five simple words.

The love of my life.

I gasped softly and looked up at him. He was already looking at me, undying love swimming in his eyes.

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