"Miles?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you." Her voice was soft, serious. "For not giving up on us. For coming back to me."
I stopped walking, turned to face her, and kissed her one more time, slow and deep and full of everything I couldn't put into words.
"I will always come back to you," I said. "That's my promise. That's my vow. Starting now and ending never."
She smiled, with that sunrise smile, and I knew, with absolute certainty, that every moment of pain and fear and loss had been worth it.
Because it had led me here. To her. To us.
To forever.
19.Charlotte
Iwoke on my wedding day and cried before I even opened my eyes.
Not sad tears. Not scared tears. Just the overwhelming realization that today, after fifteen years of silence and weeks of almost losing him and a lifetime of believing I wasn't enough, today, I was marrying Miles Cameron.
"Charlotte?" Beth's voice came from somewhere near my kitchen. "If you're having a breakdown in there, I brought coffee."
I laughed, wiping my face with the back of my hand. "I'm not having a breakdown."
"Liar." She appeared in my bedroom doorway, two steaming mugs in hand, already dressed in the soft blue dress she'd chosen for today. "You've been crying."
"Happy tears."
"Those are the worst kind. They ruin mascara, and you can't even be mad about it." She handed me a mug and sat on the edge of my bed. "How are you feeling?"
I took a sip of coffee, letting the warmth settle me. "Terrified. Excited. Like I might throw up or start laughing hysterically at any moment."
"So, normal wedding feelings."
"Is this normal?" I gestured vaguely at myself, at the small apartment I'd kept even after Miles proposed, at the white roses on my kitchen table, his daily tradition, even now. "Any of this?"
Beth was quiet for a moment. Then she set down her mug and took my hands.
"Charlie." Her voice was serious in a way she rarely allowed. "You have waited your entire life for this. Not for a wedding, for someone who sees you. Really sees you." She squeezed my fingers. "Miles sees you. And you see him. That's the rarest thing in the world."
My eyes burned again. "You're going to make me cry before I even put on makeup."
"That's what best friends are for." She pulled me into a hug so tight I wheezed. "Now drink your coffee and let me make you beautiful. You have a man to marry."
The next two hours passed in a blur of preparation. The dress was simple, tea-length, cream-colored silk that swayed when I moved. Not a traditional gown. I'd tried those on and felt like I was wearing a costume. This felt like me.
"Hair down?" Beth asked, her fingers working through my waves.
"Down." I looked at myself in the mirror, the honey-brown threaded with silver I'd stopped dyeing months ago. "Miles likes it down."
"Miles would like you in a burlap sack."
"That's romantic."
"It's true." She stepped back, surveying her work. "You look perfect. Not magazine-perfect.Youperfect."
I turned to face her, something catching in my throat. "Thank you. For everything. For not letting me disappear."
