The second I was steady, I stepped back, searching for distance. His expression shifted. The raw wonder fading, replaced by something easier, confident, edged with arrogance. A smirk tugged at his mouth.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“What?”
“For not letting you fall. You were at least five feet up. Would’ve been quite the tumble.”
“Oh…” Heat flared up my neck as I looked down. “Thank you. The shock must’ve made me forget my manners.”
His fingers brushed my chin, tipping it up with soft, irresistible pressure.
“Look at me,” he murmured, gentle, but with a command that wrapped around my spine.
“There you are.”
We held each other’s eyes, and in that suspended silence, it felt as though the entire bookstore had disappeared, leaving only us standing in that narrow aisle.
Then he released me, leaning back against the shelf with casual ease, hands slipping into his jeans pockets.
“Now… about that gardening book?”
“What book?” I blurted, before my brain caught up. “Oh… right. This way. We should have something in the other section.”
I turned down the aisle, gesturing for him to follow, but he caught my hand.
“Colin Montgomery.”
“Cecily Sterling,” I answered a beat too late.
“Colin and Cecily. Both starting with C… must be a sign from the universe.”
Heat burned through my cheeks as I quickly turned away, walking faster while his low laugh followed close behind.
The flowers blooming outside that morning had seemed to herald only the arrival of spring.
But now, looking back, I know they were announcing something else entirely… the beginning of my life anew.
Colin spent two months trying to convince me to go on a date with him. He showed up at the bookstore almost every day, always with one of my favorite drinks and a small sweet treat, as if he somehow knew exactly what would make me smile.
I hesitated, not because I didn’t want to go, but because I was afraid of how he made me feel. I had kissed boys before, more than a few, but I had never dated seriously. My life was built on plans and ambitions, on carefully drawn lines… until Colin came along and stepped over every one of them without even trying.
Once I finally gave him the green light for our first date, he turned up the charm in ways that left me breathless.
On one of those early evenings together, he confessed that it had been my eyes that stopped him in his tracks the day we met… the way I’d looked at him from under my lashes, as if I could see right through him. That night, for the first time, I had been the one to kiss him.
Just over a week later, we were officially dating. Three months after that, he proposed.
He had told me, weeks earlier—after the first time we made love—that he wanted to marry me. I’d laughed and called him crazy. But when he finally asked, my heart answered before my lips ever could.
My parents were far from thrilled. I was nineteen, and Colin twenty-five. But even they couldn’t deny the force between us, the kind of truth that makes timelines irrelevant. As Colin liked to say,“When you know, you know.”
Three months later, we were married. At first, he insisted we elope, saying he couldn’t bear to wait another second to see his ring on my finger. But then he admitted he didn’t want to miss the moment he would watch me walk toward him down the aisle.
Our winter wedding was breathtaking. Soft light, crisp air, every detail perfectly ours. And our honeymoon in England felt like stepping into the dream I’d once planned for myself. All the cities I had mapped out for a backpacking trip becoming the backdrop to our first days as husband and wife.
Then came the surprise… I was pregnant with Ethan. My mind spun: college unfinished, plans paused, my carefully laid life suddenly shifting. But Colin’s joy was contagious. His reassurance steady. And it was in that moment I realized that every step, every leap, every risk I’d ever taken had led me here. To this love, this family.
Smiling softly, I shake the memories from my mind and look back at my blog homepage. The last post was dated January 16, 2025, just over six months ago.
