Page 266 of Time Stops With You

“Well, life isn’t fair, Cullen. Maybe you didn’t learn that as a kid, butIdid. People die. They separate. They divorce. Sometimes, kids have crappy dads who tell them they’ll die a failure.”

I chuckle wryly.

“Sometimes, women who desperately want to be mothers… can’t be.”

My eyes go serious and I sigh heavily. “Nardi…”

“No one has arightto be happy. We just choose to be despite the cards we’ve been dealt. I choose to be happy with you, Cullen. I choose you.”

Those words strike me somewhere deep and, for the first time, I can see where Nardi is coming from. Just as I chose to love her more than death, her choice is to love me while I’m dying.

“I understand now,” I whisper.

“Good.” Her hands frame my cheeks and she speaks through tears. “You make me happy, Cullen. I’m a happier, healthier, better version of myself when I’m with you. Promise me this time will be different. I want to be right there with you when you take your last breath.”

I notice the chain glittering around her neck and tug it out, stroking the wedding ring I gave her. “‘Till death do us part.”

She leans in. “‘Till death do us part.”

“I love you, Nardi.”

Nardi sweeps her arms around my neck. “I loveyou. So much.”

Our lips meet for a tender, sweet kiss and it feels like coming home.

After a moment, Nardi eases back, a mischievous smile on her face. “I just want to clarify something. Youwerestalking me.”

“Stalking is,” I wince, “that’s a harsh word.”

“How long were you following me?”

I sheepishly run a hand over my beanie. All my hair is gone. Every last strand. Now I have a new appreciation for the spiky, uneven haircut I used to have.

“Cullen,” Nardi prods.

“A few weeks.”

She blinks in surprise.

“I missed you. Sometimes, the pain was so unbearable, I had to find you and remind myself of why I was doing this.”

She looks touched. “So the umbrella?”

“I couldn’t watch you standing in the rain when I had a perfectly good umbrella.”

Her eyes glitter. “And that night outside the house… wait, why didn’t you show up on the security feed?”

My stare remains blank. “I programmed the security system.”

She nods and then she laughs happily. “Speaking of programming, you totally gave yourself away to Josiah. He found you in the PLP mainframe.”

I cringe.

Nardi slams her hands on her hips. “Were youworkingwhile you were getting treatment?”

“I didn’t have the energy to do too much, but I did check in.”

“That’s so like you, Cullen.” Nardi offers an exasperated grin. “And just to confirm, youweregetting my voicemails, weren’t you?”

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