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I look at her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Just trying to remember what I was gonna say.”

Her expression softens.

“Take your time.”

I breathe.

The words come back.

Not the speech I practiced.

Something better.

The truth.

“Ten years ago, I thought I’d lost everything.”

Her smile fades.

The crowd grows quiet.

“I lost Eli. Lost a hell of a lot of myself. And because I was too damn stubborn and scared to let anybody help me, I lost you, too.”

“Gray…”

I squeeze her hand.

“Let me finish, sweetheart. Took me three days to get this speech right.”

A ripple of laughter moves through the crowd.

Autumn smiles.

“Okay.”

I take a breath.

“For ten years, I told myself I was doing the right thing by staying away. That you deserved somebody better. Somebody without all the scars and baggage.”

Her eyes shine.

“But then I came home. And you looked at me like I was still the same man you used to love.”

I shake my head.

“Even when I was being a complete asshole.”

“Which was frequently,” she whispers.

“Frequently,” I agree.