Her skin was soft and warm. He leaned closer, catching the faint scent of her perfume. Katie stirred, opened her eyes, and blinked up at him.
“Gene, you’re home already? I was trying to surprise you. I got dressed up, lit candles, planned the whole thing… and then I fell asleep waiting.”
He smiled. “You look beautiful. May I kiss you?” Katie answered by slipping her arms around his neck, and their kiss made the rest of the evening take care of itself.
That night the lights in their room stayed on until dawn.
Eugene could hardly believe this was real. He kissed her as if he had been waiting forever—which, in a way, he had. They fed each other strawberries, drank champagne, and finally stopped pretending they were anything less than husband and wife.
Near morning, half asleep, Eugene murmured, “We wasted so much time being careful. I’m not letting you drift away from me now.”
Katie smiled, rested her head on his chest, and fell into the deepest, happiest sleep of her life. For the first time in years, everything in her felt settled. Their delayed honeymoon had done the trick, and when Tammy and Sophie came home, they noticed the difference immediately.
Katie moved through the house like a woman lit from within, and Eugene looked years younger. Tammy gave a satisfied little nod to herself. “Well,” she thought, “about time.”
The parents scooped up their returning girl, who chattered nonstop about the trip with Grandma. Since finding a real family, Sophie had changed completely. The frightened, hungry runaway from the children’s home was gone.
Now she was confident, bright, and openhearted. She started first grade, made friends easily, and blended right in with the other children. Around that same time, Eugene decided it was time to do one last thing he owed Natalie: find her grave.
He needed to go there, to say what should have been said long ago, even if only in private. He took a day off and drove to the old cemetery in the next county. It took him hours to find the overgrown plot with its weathered marker.
He hired workers to clean the site and ordered a proper stone. Around it, he planted her favorite red poppies himself. When everything was done, he sat on the bench and spoke quietly.
“This is better,” he said. “Now I won’t be ashamed to bring Sophie here someday.”
“I’m sorry, Natalie. I was blind, and I let other people think for me. I took a cheap lie and used it to destroy what we had.”
“I want you to know I never forgot you. Not once. And recently life brought me Katie. I hope you’d understand. She’s a good woman, and she loves our daughter deeply.”
“Sophie’s in first grade now. Full of energy. The other day she even got into a scuffle with a boy at school.”
“Rest easy. I’ll take care of her. No one is ever going to hurt her again.” One warm evening not long after, Eugene decided to treat the family and ordered sushi for dinner.
Tammy turned the chopsticks over in her hands, amused by the whole business. Dinner went well enough, but late that night Katie became violently sick. She was nauseated and vomiting until morning…
