Victoria’s eyes filled.
Ethan knelt.
“But I want you here.”
“I want you when the tractor breaks.”
“I want you when Lily asks impossible questions before sunrise.”
“I want you when things are good enough that there’s nothing to solve.”
“I want to argue with you about debt until we’re eighty.”
Victoria laughed through tears.
“That sounds terrible.”
“I know.”
He opened the ring box.
“Victoria Hayes, will you marry me?”
She stared at him for perhaps two seconds.
Then:
“Yes.”
Ethan smiled.
She pointed.
“Stand up.”
“What?”
“I’m not kissing you while you’re down there.”
He stood.
She kissed him.
The screen door opened immediately.
Lily ran outside.
“I knew it!”
Ethan pulled back.
“What?”
Lily pointed accusingly.
“Grandpa Richard told me not to tell.”
Victoria stared.
“Grandpa Richard?”
Lily froze.
Richard had apparently acquired a promotion without formal approval.
Ethan started laughing.
Victoria did too.
Their wedding happened six weeks later.
Not at a luxury hotel.
Not at one of Hayes Global’s corporate properties.
Not in the city.
They married in Cedar Ridge town square beneath strings of warm lights stretched between the old maples.
Victoria wore a simple white dress.
Ethan wore a dark suit Richard insisted needed tailoring.
Lily wore a pale yellow dress and carried flowers for approximately thirty seconds before deciding she would rather distribute petals directly to people she liked.
The guest list was larger than Ethan wanted and smaller than Richard wanted.
Farmers came.
Hayes Global executives came.
Teachers.
Neighbors.
Employees from the distribution center.
Betty from the diner.
Hank from the feed store.
People who had known Grace came too.
That mattered to Ethan.
Before the ceremony, he went alone to the cemetery.
Grace’s grave sat beneath an oak on the east side.
Ethan stood there with his hands in his pockets.
For several minutes, he said nothing.
Then:
“I’m getting married today.”
The sentence felt strange spoken aloud.
He looked down.
“I think you’d like her.”
Wind moved through the branches.
“I know that sounds stupid.”
He smiled faintly.
“She loves Lily.”
“That’s the part I needed you to know.”
His throat tightened.
“I used to think moving forward meant leaving you behind.”
He wiped his eyes.
“Turns out that’s not how it works.”
Ethan touched the top of the headstone.
Then left.
At the town square, Victoria waited in a small room above the library.
Richard stood beside her.
For once, he had nothing clever to say.
He looked at his daughter.
“You happy?”
Victoria smiled.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“That’s it?”
“I’m old.”
“I’m simplifying.”