Page 105 of Holding Grace

I glanced up at him, loving the smirk on his face even as his eyes were still closed.

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask. How do you know the answer is yes?”

Now his eyes opened. He rolled me onto my back and leaned over me, sliding one leg between mine as he looked down at me.

“You don’t know this yet? If you’re the one asking, Gracie, my answer is always going to be yes.”

“Okay, then.” I gathered my courage. “Michael, will you marry me?”

He brushed a strand of hair from my face, his eyebrows bunched together. “You’re aware we’re already married, right?”

“I am.” I reached up and ran my fingertips over his cheek. “I know our marriage is legal and real. Maybe it’s silly but I want to say those vows to you with you knowing I love you. I want to make you those same promises again. Would that be okay?”

Michael didn’t say yes and didn’t say no. He didn’t say anything.

Instead, he folded me into him, holding me tight. I burrowed into him, listening to his heart race, wondering...

He drew back and my heart melted as I looked into his glassy eyes. “Yes, Grace. I’ll absolutely marry you again. As many times as you want.”

I smiled up at him. “I think once more should do it.” I tunneled my hand into his hair, the way we both liked. “To have and to hold, right?”

Michael nodded softly as he dipped his head down to kiss me. “From the moment we met and all the moments to come.”

I skimmed my fingertips over his cheek, thinking about the truth of his words.

This man had been in my corner, on my side, then by my side, since that very first day. He’d never stopped thinking about me, never stopped hoping. And once he’d found me again, he’d never stopped watching over me, never stopped believing in me.

He was my one and only. Whatever crazy set of circumstances it had taken, we belonged together.

“From the moment we met,” I echoed, “until forever.”

Epilogue

Grace

Four months later