I started closing the distance.
“I know you’re not perfect, Jack. I’m not dumb enough to believe in fairytale endings, but I want to work for us. If we practice loving and forgiving, it gets easier and the reward gets better. I want that with you, Jack.” She gave a half laugh through her tears. “The painandthe gain, I guess.”
I stopped right in front of her. She looked up at me. “But, if we are going to have all that, I needyouto forgivemefirst. For giving up on us. For leaving when crap got hard.”
My eyes roamed her full cheeks. A layer of tears pooled on her bottom eyelid. I lifted my hand and brushed one off her cheek as it fell. “Miranda, it wasn’t all your fault. Neither one of us were willing to do the hard thing for each other. I ran too.”
“Well, forgive me for my part. Please, Jack.” Her quiet pleading tugged on my heart.
“I forgive you. I already have.”
She nodded, her shoulders falling with relief. “I know. I needed to hear it.”
“I’ll say it again then.” I slipped my hand into her hair and let my fingers gently drag through it while I spoke. “Iforgiveyou. We lost time, but we won’t lose any more.”
I pulled her into my arms and she squeaked with emotion. I leaned down, kissing the top of her head. “I love you, Miranda.”
Her words were muffled into my chest as she squeezed me. “I love you, Jack.” She pushed back, looking up again. “You know how you said you meant our wedding vows?”
I nodded.
“Well, I didn’t mean them. I don’t even remember what the heck we said. I was just trying not to faint.”
I chuckled. “I remember.”
She turned back to the table and picked up a little card. “I wrote some vows. I want to say them to you.”
Miranda was unbelievably sincere. With everything she did in life. My chest tightened. She wanted to read vows to me? I’m not a good judge of romance, but vows were a bold move, leaving me feeling a bit breathless with anticipation.
I nodded for lack of words.
“Can we sit so my neck stops breaking?”
We moved to the chairs, her settling in the one opposite me— too far away.Waytoo far. Had to do something about that.
She smoothed her dress. “I feel so cheesy.”
“Here, let me make it worse.” I grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her seat and leading her to my lap. I grabbed the back of her knee and directed her to sit, straddling my legs, facing me. She laughed, only inches from my face now. “Oh my gosh, this does make it worse.”
I couldn’t laugh. I loved this woman more than my next breath. The slit in her dress fell open, bearing one of her legs in totality. I slid my hand up her thigh and back down. Her eyes fluttered closed on an inhale.
But she recovered quickly and swatted my hand. “Now, you can’t be doing that. I won’t get through this.”
She held the card up. Took a deep breath to start, but didn’t start. She pressed her lips together and blinked a few times. Tipped her head to the side, like she was trying to move the moisture around in order to see the words. She whispered, “I’m going to cry, Jack.”
“You can cry.”
She took a steadying breath again. “I, Miranda Leigh Barkley, give my heart to you, Jackson Nathaniel Barkley.”
Heat pressed behind my eyes.
“I promise to love you in all seasons of life.” She sniffed. “To grow with you through every storm. I promise to protect your heart. To keep a watchful eye over things that would steal from our love. And to purge myself of selfishness that would choke out our reward.”
Her sweet lips trembled. “I promise to nourish you and help you be everything you are meant to be. When things are hard, I promise to stay. To mess up. To learn with you. To change with you. And to mature with you.”
“May our love be ardent, faithful, and unending. May our love be so deeply rooted, it outlasts us. From this day forward, my heart will be your only home. And yours, mine.”
She put the card down and looked at me, waiting for some type of response. I closed my eyes, that feeling pressing in on me. My eyes filled as I plucked the card out of her hand. I held it up, my voice a rasp of emotions I rarely felt. “My turn.”
