But she’d spent years wondering whether he’d ever lay it down forthem—for the life they’d planned. Or whether she’d just been another casualty of the mission. She stared at the bride and groom as they exchanged private communion—a quiet moment between them, heads bowed, hands joined. Something in her throat went tight.
She’d imagined standing up there once. With Marshall, wearing a dress her mother would cry over. With a future stretched before them like the open fields behind the barn.
And now . . . she didn’t know what she imagined anymore.
Her mother sniffled loudly two rows up. Classic. Marshall’s parents sat across the aisle, his mother dabbing her eyes, his father’s hand resting steady on hers.
Norah’s heart ached. Not just for the past, but for the distance between where she was and where she wanted to be. For the questions she couldn’t answer. Could she ever trust him again? Could she ever trust anyone again?
And underneath it all.. . something even quieter stirred. During the vows, she felt it—an echo of something she hadn’t touched in years. A whisper of faith she’d long put on a shelf.
Love bears all things . . . believes all things . . . hopes all things . . . Never fails.
Her stomach twisted. She didn’t know if she believed that anymore. She wanted to. She wasn’t sure she knew how.
Was she really supposed to believe God still had anything to say about her life? About love? About the man sitting behind her like a ghost of every prayer she once prayed? The man she had loved since she was seventeen. The man she’d told to leave. The man who’d left because she’d said the words—and who, she was certain, would make the same choice today.
She blinked hard, fixing her gaze on the ceremony.
The couple finished their private communion. And the groom whispered a prayer over his bride. Julie’s faith had only deepened since high school. She’d found a man who cherished her and cherished his walk with Jesus.
Norah’s chest constricted.
She wanted to look away.
She couldn’t.
The pastor’s voice returned, gentle and unwavering.
“A love like this only works when you are anchored in something greater than yourselves. A love that endures hardship, fear, loss, and distance. A love that is rooted in faith.”
Faith.
The word pricked like a needle.
Faith was something she’d once had—in God, in love, in the man sitting behind her.
Numbers made more sense. Numbers never betrayed you.
Marshall had betrayed her. Or she’d betrayed him. Or they’d both done their best with wounds and fear and timing that hadn’t been kind.
She swallowed the thought.
The ceremony ended in a burst of applause and laughter, the couple kissing beneath the arch as the string lights flared like stars. Norah stood with the crowd, clapping, smiling, feeling something warm press against her ribs. Something nostalgic. Something hopeful.
She wasn’t sure she trusted it. But it was there.
As everyone began drifting toward the reception barn, Marshall lingered a step behind her—close enough she felt him like a shadow, like a promise, like a mistake she might make twice.
CHAPTER 15
MARSHALL
Distraction wasa luxury he’d disciplined out of himself years ago. Which made it deeply inconvenient that Norah Winslow in a silk dress qualified as one.
That was his first thought as the crowd shifted toward the reception, a huge barn converted into event space. Warm light spilled from the open doors and the scent of pulled pork and eucalyptus drifted on the evening air. The outside air was chilly, but the venue was warm and inviting. His eyes automatically mapped entrances, corners, blind spots. The place wasn’t extravagant, but the string lights and weathered wood gave it the kind of understated charm small towns pulled off without trying. He’d spent enough years away from here that it felt both familiar and foreign, like stepping into a postcard of a life he no longer lived.
But none of it mattered. Not when she was three steps ahead of him, catching every glint of light like she was built for it.
