Page 119 of By the Letter

“I’m going to be a good husband, Goldie. We’re going to have the best life,” he promised.

“I don’t doubt you at all, Rome. Look how good we already have it.” I kissed him again, slow and deep, the kind of kiss that needed to happen in times like these. “By the way, what did Ben whisper to you when we first got home?”

“Ah.” The corner of his mouth hitched. “My brother asked if I was going to marry you.”

My breath caught in my throat. And he hadn’t just said yes, but “hell yes,” because he loved me and couldn’t wait to marry me.

I kissed him again, harder, deeper. His fingers tangled in the sides of my hair, and he rolled his forehead along mine.

“You’re happy?”

I nodded.

“Feel good?”

Another nod.

“Love me?”

“Love you.”

His exhale gusted across my lips. “Ready to start down this new path with me?”’

I immediately knew he was referencing what I’d written to him long ago, back when we were little more than strangers yet connected on a level we hadn’t understood.

You can walk a hundred paths in your lifetime. If this one is coming to an end, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of your dreams. You’ll get up, walk down a new path, and find the next dream.

I was more than ready to walk this path beside Roman, Jonah in our arms, to seek our next dream together.

I answered him the only way I could.

“Hell yes, I am.”

Epilogue

Roman

Two years later

Jonah squealed with laughterand made a run for it. Fortunately, he was in our fenced-in yard and couldn’t escape, but Ben was hot on his heels.

“Come on, buddy. Don’t you want to sit down, maybe for a minute?” Ben called.

That only made Jonah run faster, following the edge of the yard like it was his personal racetrack.

Shira crawled onto the bed behind me and leaned over, her chin on my shoulder, the curve of her belly pressing into my back, peering at the tablet in my hands. “Is Ben chasing Jonah again?”

“Yep.”

She snickered. “Doesn’t he know if he stopped chasing him, Jonah would stop running?”

“I’ve told him, but as much as he complains, I think my brother enjoys the chase.”

It was true. Jonah was tall for his age, but Ben was an adult, not to mention a professional athlete. He could have overtaken Jonah in two steps if he’d really wanted to. Instead, he spent his days letting my son run him ragged. Ben liked it, and Jonah couldn’t get enough.

Jonah loved all his uncles, but it was no surprise Uncle Benny was his favorite. They shared the same head of curls—though Jonah’s were black and glossy, like his mother’s—and a similar sense of humor. Jonah cackled at funny faces and fart sounds, which coincidentally stirred Ben’s funny bone too.

I trusted Ben implicitly, including with my son, which was why I felt comfortable whisking my wife away on a babymoon for five nights and leaving Ben in charge—with the help of Louise, Jonah’s beloved nanny. That didn’t mean I could stop myself from watching the security cameras around our house. Seeing Jonah happy and not missing us made it easier to enjoy the time away,

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