“Because they were changing who you were. And you were perfect before.”

He seemed okay with this answer and they continued on. Ten more minutes without either of them offering anything more had led them to this point, and her feet slowed until they stopped. “I can’t go to your apartment, Hazel.”

“You’re not. You’re going home.”

“Semantics.”

“Our hearts don’t know the variances of words. Our hearts only know what they feel.” He kissed her again, simply because he could. If it reassured her, all the better.

When their lips parted, she said, “I don’t want to cause you harm or pain, or worry. Give it time, and I’ll come back.”

“I feel those things now,” he insisted. “Time won’t fix this. Time spends every second torturing me while we’re apart. Do you not feel that already? It overrides everything in my life.”

His hands were cupping her cheeks, so she covered them. The intense focus he had on her was felt like an explosion inside, reviving her latent heart. She relented, for him, for herself, and they started walking again.

Entering that apartment was like hugging an old friend—warm and comforting. The smell made her smile and the place made her happy. Hazel locked the door behind him and leaned against it. “I’m never letting you go.” Then a smile appeared and he added, “That’s not creepy in the least, is it?”

It wasn’t. Not in the least. Not to Jude. She stood with nothing but herself to offer him and the way he looked at her, that was enough.

Looking around, she saw the photo of her brother on the bookcase and went to it. It had been a while since she’d seen him, and through her soon-to-be freedom found in her new eyes, she saw his happiness. The sadness she once felt looking at it was gone.

Hazel and Ryan were a lot alike. Both gentle souls with passionate sides for the things and people they loved. She set the frame on the shelf and sat down at Hazel’s drafting table.

It felt like Christmas, and all the small memories wrapped in the apartment were like gifts to her soul. Sketches she thought he might not want her to see were scattered across the white surface. House plans mixed with familiar lips, eyes, a nose, hair, and a dress that when pieced together could have been a mirror. “These are beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.” He moved around her, giving her space though not much. Peering over her shoulder, he felt no shame in his pastime. “So tell me, Jude Barrett, why did you give up?”

“I didn’t give up. I let you be by setting you free. Isn’t that what the selfless do?”

“I didn’t want to be set free. I’ll happily be grounded to you forever.”

“I know. That’s why I had to do it.” She spun around and faced him as he sat on the couch. “You were going to fight until your last breath, but we were losing. You heard them—my sickness for yours. Yours for mine. Nothing could have changed their minds. Hazel,” she pleaded, “you have to start thinking of yourself. I loved that you were fighting for me, that I wasn’t alone, but it would be no victory if it came at the expense of your health.”

“I was fine until you ’set me free.’ Because don’t you see? It was never about you being sick or me fighting my disease. It was always about being together for as long as we both shall live.”

He sat back, crossed his leg over his knee, and said, “You once told me you married me despite my illness. Now you’re telling me you left me because of it. But I don’t see it. I don’t see it in your eyes. I don’t hear it in your words. I don’t feel it when we kiss. You love me. You love me no matter what my health because that’s what love is. Love bends and folds, straightens and secures itself to the one it cares about.” Sitting up, his enthusiasm was contagious and Jude smiled at his architectural references. “We’re tied together, fastened, and bonded. They can take away that piece of governmental paper, but we remain married in the eyes of God and in my heart.”

He was so easy to believe with his grand statements and flattering declarations. He was easy to believe because she agreed. “Our marriage can be annulled, but our love remains. Always.”

“Our commitment is still there.”

“You didn’t have sex with her, did you?” Jude might have been smiling to control her jealousy, but she was still hoping for only one answer.

Taylor admired Jude’s eyes that were persuasively blue today, against the backdrop of the light blue dress she wore. “No. But you know that already. You know what we have doesn’t go away because you convinced yourself you had to set it free.”

“I knew. I just thought maybe I should ask anyway. Isn’t that what normal girls would do? Ask if you did?”

“There’s nothing normal about you, Jude, which is exactly why I like you.”

She got up and settled onto his lap, tired of fighting the inevitable, and just not wanting to anymore. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he rubbed her hip and back. “And I thought it was because I gave you my virginity.”

With a big cocky grin, he popped an imaginary collar. “I will proudly carry that V card of yours right here in my wallet.”

“Hazel?”

“Yeah?”

“We live in an impossible world,” she said, astonished she was back where she wanted to be. She was home. “Impossible like your eyes.”

“We’ll get through it together.” He leaned his head on her shoulder and she tilted hers to him. “Stay.”

THE SUN WAS setting and Jude could see the last of the rays disappearing between the buildings outside the window. The tea she had made earlier was now cold and she debated warming it up. But she didn’t want to move from Hazel’s arms, so she scooted closer to him and his arms tightened around her.

Hazel was right. That paper didn’t represent who they were to each other. Their souls were eternally bonded, and so here she would stay, his arms her safe haven.

“You’re not going back,” he breathed against her shoulder blade.

“There’s nothing there that matters to me.” She thought of Roman, but he wanted her to be free. Once she was, she’d find him to say goodbye. In the meantime, she rolled over to face Hazel. She looked at him. Really looked at him and leaned her head against his. “I will love you long after this life and into the next.”

“I’m counting on you.”

It was good to be counted on. She closed her eyes and in the comfort of their home, she fell asleep.

The next morning, Jude sipped coffee on one barstool. Hazel was on the other. The newspaper remained untouched between them. “Isla called newspapers antiquated,” she remarked.

“That’s why I like them,” he replied. “I like that the ink comes off on your hands and the smell of the paper. It’s real, not like reading online.”

“That’s why I like books. They give me something to hold on to when my emotions are unraveling from the story.” She touched his thigh, and said, “We should talk about what’s going on with me.”

His gaze left the mug and went to her face. Leaning in, he kissed the side of her mouth, then sat up. “Okay. What’s going on?”

“My mother fears for her life.”

“Ironically.”

“Yes. Ironically, but I’ve seen her twice. I might forgive her one day. I’m not asking you to do the same, but I might.”

“Can you? Will you ever really be able to forgive her?”

“She was manipulated when she was at her lowest. Ryan’s death devastated her.”

“Your life should have meant more to her after that then.”

“You’re right. I’m not defending her. I’m only stating that she’s a troubled woman who now fears for her life, but she fears for my life more and has offered to be there for me.”

Taylor absorbed what she was saying. “You can’t change the past so you want to change the future.”

“Yes. I don’t want to live with an angry heart. She’s seeing a therapist a couple times a week. All I can hope is that she gets the help she needs and is there for me when I need her.”