“In our rush down the aisle, we skipped a step. I thought we could make up for it.”

A quiet gasp stole her words, but gave him the best reaction possible. Inside the box she stared at two gleaming bands. One for him and one for her. “When did you have time to do this?” A smile crossed her lips and before his secret was revealed, she took his ring out, and said, “This has some weight to it.”

“It’s solid like us.”

She reached for his hand. “Hazel Barrett, will you marry me and let me take care of you for the rest of our lives?”

“I will.”

She put the ring on him.

Taking the box from her, he slipped the other ring out and took her hand in his. “Jude Barrett, will you marry me and let me love you for the rest of our lives?”

“I will. Again and again.”

He slid the ring on her finger right against the other ring that sealed a promise months earlier. When she looked at the ring, with the large diamond surrounded by smaller ones, she tilted her head in disbelief. “You spent too much.”

“You’ve promised me your life. No price can be put on that. So accept this token as a show of my dedication to you and as a thank you for saying yes.”

“Okay, Romeo. You already got the yes. You don’t have to try so hard.”

He laughed but didn’t say anything. The tears in her eyes were evidence of her happiness. And for the smile on her face, he would have paid a lot more. Tapping his glass against hers, he said, “To a lifetime filled with happiness.”

“To a lifetime filled with happiness.”

After dinner, they stayed to finish off the champagne. They had become quiet, the weight of the day tiring them. Hazel finally suggested, “Home?”

“I’d love to.”

The rush they’d felt earlier, to feel everything all at once, had gone, and peace settled in. In front of the living room windows, with the city they fell in love in as their backdrop, they had their first dance as a married couple. Bryan Ferry’s “These Foolish Things” was playing and she spun around until he caught her. Swaying back and forth, she rested her head on his shoulder, and he held her tight.

She didn’t leave his arms for two weeks. He called into work and organized some time off, using some of his saved vacation time. The lavender sundress and the floral dress were pulled from his closest. She’d loved them at the store. She loved them even more now because he had bought them for her. He watched her dance around their living room, jump on their bed, and admire herself in them. Her happiness meant everything to him and when he saw her laughing, he knew he was the luckiest man alive.

Their days were filled with walks in the park, shopping the farmer’s market, or exploring Chelsea Market. They hung out at cafes and bookstores. Jude started drinking coffee for him and Taylor embraced her faltering storms. A visit to her family was looming, clouding her eyes. Those times, he would work to bring her back to the present, back to him, where she belonged. He loved her and everything about her.

No one else he’d ever met was more aware of who they were than she was of herself. Marriage turned this stunning girl into a striking woman. He encouraged her stardust dreams and let her soar through the moonlight.

He admired her optimism and enjoyed the freedom to be his true self when he was with her. With Jude, everything felt new. He felt new. He felt invigorated and excited for life, for their life together, and he could tell she felt the same. Perhaps he gave her this same feeling of freedom, of a new start without her damaged past weighing her down, inhibiting her.

Taylor also held steadfast in their future, protecting her from the bad of the world so she could capture the world in her pocket. So her carefree view of her surroundings was never tainted. Her past held enough of that for a lifetime or three.

Taylor didn’t realize she was only like that with him, that being with him gave her the strength to be who she really was, the woman she was meant to be.

The last day before he would return to work, Taylor was organizing his drafting table and Jude was napping. He straightened the blueprints of their future house and put the last of his pencils in a holder. The apartment was quiet until a demanding knock on the door intruded into their peaceful world. Rushing to answer it before the annoyance woke Jude, he was irritated before he even opened it.

Rufus and Isla stood there. Rufus, with a smarmy smirk on his face, and Isla, looking less convinced this unannounced visit was a good idea, shifted uncomfortably. Rufus lead the charge. “What? No hello?”

“What do you want?”

He wrapped his arm around Isla, looking relaxed. “We’re looking for Judith. Her family is worried. Right, Isla?”

“Yes,” she said, nervously. “She’s been gone for over two weeks now and we’re all worried that something bad has happened. Have you seen her?”

With the worst timing in history, Jude opened the bedroom door and stepped out. Two sets of eyes, both looking shocked, peered over Hazel’s shoulders, and he dropped his head down. A million lies crossed his mind.

Isla ran around Taylor to her cousin and hugged her. “Jude! Oh my God, you had us all so worried.”

When Taylor looked back, Rufus walked past him, letting himself in. “Guess we found her. What’d I tell ya, Isla? I knew she’d be he—”

Taylor’s gaze shifted to Rufus when he stopped suddenly, then volleyed back to the girls. He saw the moment of recognition on Rufus’s face—wide eyes, mouth open—and Taylor’s stomach sank.

“Holy shit! Is that a wedding ring?” Rufus’s gaze went from Jude to Taylor, searching his hand.

It happened too fast for Taylor to hide the evidence, and he didn’t want to anyway. He would never hide their relationship again. “It is. What of it?”

Rufus laughed manically. “Oh fuck. Taylor ‘Golden Boy’ Barrett has married the crazy girl.”

Taylor was prepared to be mocked. That was Rufus’s style. What he wasn’t prepared for was hearing his wife be mocked. “What the fuck did you just say?”

Rufus was still laughing, but he was more than happy to repeat it. “Talk about irony.” He looked at Taylor. “Your body is all messed up,” he said, then redirected his attention to Jude, “and her mind is all messed up. Together you guys actually make one fucked-up person.”

Taylor swung before his senses caught up with him. He landed a cross punch on Rufus’s jaw sending him to the floor and eradicating his grin. Jude sprang between them, pressing her hands against Taylor’s chest to stop him from hitting Rufus again. With Taylor’s eyes locked on Rufus, Isla dropped to her knees to help him while Jude began whispering to her husband, “Stop! Please. Stop! He doesn’t matter, babe. He doesn’t matter.”

When their eyes met, a calm washed through him, his better senses returning.

Isla barked, “You’ll pay for this, Judith. Wait until your parents hear about this.”

Jude sighed heavily and leaned the top of her head to Hazel’s chest. “I guess the honeymoon is over.”

Maybe it was the rush of adrenaline still coursing through his veins. Or maybe that was just damn funny, but Taylor burst out laughing. “Guess so.” He looked down at her, glancing every couple of seconds at Rufus to make sure there’d be no retaliation through cheap shots. “The silver lining is that we now get to start the rest of our lives together.”

She smiled. “That is a silver lining.”

He moved her behind him while Isla helped Rufus up from the floor. Rufus’s nose was bleeding, so he held his head back. Jude went to get napkins, passing them across the bar to Isla who helped Rufus.

Slightly muted from the bloody nose, Rufus threatened, “Fucker! You’ll pay for this.”

Taylor took a step closer. “Don’t come into my home and fucking threaten me and don’t ever talk shit about my wife.”

Isla looked dumbstruck and her hand dropped away from Rufus. She glared at Judith skeptically, and asked, “So it’s true? You two are married?”