Chapter 14
Summer came early that year.
Hot, sunny days that stretched on forever.
The girls spent every minute outside.
Swimming in the small above-ground pool James had bought them.
Climbing trees.
Chasing Sunshine through the yard.
Eating popsicles until their fingers were sticky.
We took a family vacation to the beach.
The first real vacation any of us had ever had.
We rented a small cottage right on the water.
We spent our days building sandcastles.
Collecting seashells.
Swimming in the ocean.
Eating seafood at the little shack down the road.
Grace had never seen the ocean before.
The first time she saw it, she stopped and stared.
Her mouth open.
Her eyes wide.
“It’s so big,” she whispered.
James picked her up and carried her to the water.
“Want to feel it?” he asked.
She nodded, too awestruck to speak.
He walked into the shallow water.
The waves lapped at her feet.
She squealed.
“It’s cold!”
But she didn’t want to leave.
She stayed there for an hour, jumping over the small waves, laughing every time one splashed her.
Lily was fearless.
She ran straight into the water, body boarding, jumping waves, begging James to take her out deeper.
I sat on the sand under an umbrella, watching them.
My perfect family.
My beautiful girls.
My amazing husband.
I felt a tap on my shoulder.
I turned around.
A woman I didn’t know was standing there.
She was holding a book.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m sorry to bother you. But you’re Emily Carter, right?”
I tensed.
I always tensed when strangers recognized me.
Even two years later.
“I am.”
“I read your book.” She smiled. “The one you wrote about your experience. About finding Grace. About the trial. It changed my life. My sister’s daughter was kidnapped twenty years ago. We never found her. Your book gave me hope. It made me keep looking. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
She hugged me.
Then she walked away.
I sat there, tears in my eyes.
I’d written the book six months before.
I’d written it for me.
To get all the pain out.
To tell Daniel’s story.
To tell Grace and Lily’s stories.
I’d never imagined it would help anyone else.
But it had.
Hundreds of people had written to me.
Telling me their stories.
Telling me how my book had helped them.
Given them hope.
Given them strength.
James came over and sat down beside me.
“Who was that?”
“Someone who read the book. She said it helped her.”
James smiled and squeezed my hand.
“Of course it did. You’re amazing. You help everyone you meet.”
That night, we walked along the beach as the sun set.
The sky was pink and orange and purple.
The girls were running ahead, collecting seashells, their footprints washing away in the surf.
James stopped and turned to me.
He got down on one knee in the sand.
My heart stopped.
“Emily,” he said, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket. “We got married ten years ago in a big fancy wedding my mother planned. I don’t even remember most of it. I just remember thinking you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And that I was the luckiest man alive.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple, perfect diamond ring.
“These last two years have been the hardest of my life. But they’ve also been the best. Because I got to really know you. I got to fight beside you. I got to build this family with you. I love you more today than I did the day we got married. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone.”
He took my hand.
“Will you marry me again? Renew our vows. Just us. Just our family. No Margaret. No fancy guests. No lies. Just love.”
Tears were streaming down my face.
I nodded, unable to speak.
He slid the ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly.
The girls came running back.
“What’s happening?” Lily asked.
“Daddy just asked Mommy to marry him again,” James said, smiling.
Grace’s face lit up.
“Can we be the flower girls?”
“Of course you can,” I said, laughing through my tears.
We renewed our vows a month later.
Right there on the beach.
It was small.
Perfect.
Only our closest family and friends were there.
Clara.
Darlene.
Sarah and her family.
Detective Rao and his family.
Ben and his wife.
Dr. Maya.
The girls wore white dresses and carried baskets of flower petals.
Sunshine was the ring bearer.
He wore a bow tie.
We said our vows barefoot in the sand, the ocean behind us.
James promised to love me, to protect me, to stand by me for the rest of his life.
I promised the same.
When we kissed, everyone cheered.
The girls threw petals in the air.
Sunshine barked.
It was the best day of my life.
Better than the first wedding.
Because this time, it was ours.
All ours.
No one else’s rules.
No one else’s expectations.
Just love.
Pure, simple, perfect love.
As the sun set, we danced on the sand.
Just the four of us.
James and I.
Lily and Grace.
Our family.
Whole.
May you like
Complete.
Perfect.
