I had called repeatedly, but each try had gone straight to voicemail. Either his phone was off, or it died without being charged overnight. I didn’t want to speculate about which it was. I drove as quickly as I could and slammed the SUV in park in the first spot I could find before racing into the courthouse. I followed the signs to the Justice of the Peace, but when I reached the office, completely out of breath, Dan was nowhere to be found. The clock on the wall read 10:11 am.

My eyes scanned the room, making sure to identify each person as a stranger before moving on to the next face. Surely, he hadn’t left after ten minutes. He had to know I’d come. A guy slammed into my shoulder in his haste to rush out of the office, not even bothering to apologize for nearly knocking me over. But standing stock-still in the middle of the doorway probably wasn’t the best idea. I just couldn’t believe he’d left. I waited for hours for Matt to show up at the hospital, but Dan hadn’t waited ten lousy minutes for me.

Nervously, my thumb spun the ring on my left hand. People continued to dance around me when an older lady finally took my elbow and ushered me to the side and out of the way.

“Sweetheart, are you all right?” She was a tiny, little whiff of a thing but likely quite beautiful in her younger years.

“Oh, yes ma’am. I was supposed to meet someone here.”

Her eyes glittered in the fluorescent lights. “Tall man? Dark hair, spectacular green eyes?”

“Yes! Was he here?”

“He must have left when I was at the counter. He paced near the door from the moment I got here.” She patted my forearm. “It hasn’t been that long. I’m sure you’ll find him somewhere. You have a good day.” As quickly as she’d come, she was gone.

But there was a chance Dan was still here…somewhere. I didn’t have a clue where to look. This building was one of several in a cluster of municipal offices. But standing here wouldn’t help me find him. And if I had to scour the country, I would. Staying inside likely wasn’t the best use of my only resource—me. There were far too many people continuously moving for me to spot Dan by chance. If I were outside, people would pass by me in much smaller groups, even individually. Dan’s height should help me locate him but thus far, I had come up short.

By the time I pushed outside the doors and back to the parking lot, I looked at my cell to see it was now twenty minutes passed our scheduled meeting time. My chest constricted, and my heart hurt. I didn’t want to imagine what Dan felt standing there, watching the minutes tick by, and my not showing up. One time in my life to be late. I was never late—ever. Which I could only assume, Dan took as his sign that I wasn’t coming.

My hand shielded my eyes from the glaring morning sun to look into the sea of vehicles. The parking lot was vast and full. Trying to look at each car to find Dan’s was like trying to count the stars in the sky, or the hairs on someone’s head—two or three rows in and I’d lose my spot and get frustrated. I neared a point, I wanted to call out his name, scream at the top of my lungs, hopeful he’d hear me. But just as I opened my mouth to release the first battle cry, I spotted him.

He sat on a bench in front of a tree with his head hung and his shoulders dropped. The shade obscured him along with the crowds moving on the sidewalks. But it was him. My feet refused to move while I watched him. His body language conveyed devastation. And while my instinct was to comfort him, my eyes absorbed the way he cradled his head in his hands with his elbows on his knees, and the fact no one stopped to check on him seemed strange to me. A grown man, visibly upset, but not one person sat down next to him or asked him if they could help.

I didn’t know what I would say, or how I would say it. I just knew I had to be with him. He’d shown up today, he had to love me. That had to be enough for us to make our way. Each step closer to him echoed in my heart, my pulse raced, and my breathing grew heavy. He ran his fingers through his hair, but he never glanced up. Even when I was inches from him, and took the seat to his right, he never moved. He wasn’t crying, but he was in pain.

The only thing I knew to do was slip my left hand, the one still wearing the ring he’d put there the day Alissa was born, between his arm and torso and cupped the inside of his thigh. My thumb stroked his jeans while I waited. He didn’t lift his head immediately, but he knew I was there. My presence might be all I could offer right now, but I’d wait. Unless he told me to leave, I wouldn’t budge from this spot—not without him.

His chest expanded with a large breath, and when he released it he turned toward me. The sun hit his eyes in the most perfect way creating the appearance of being illuminated from behind—the green glowed in gilded light. My lips ached to touch his, my arms longed to wrap around him—but, instead, I waited.

“Penny.” One word. The beginning of a song when it came from his mouth. “Why are you here?”

The right side of my mouth tipped up in a half-grin. He had no idea how much I loved him, or he wouldn’t be asking such a silly question. “I’m sorry I was late, Dan. I tried to call.” It all seemed like excuses, like maybe I hadn’t been sure and had come as an afterthought. “I told Annie. And then I came here.”

He watched me scan his face but said nothing. With my free hand, I reached up to cup his cheek and just before our lips touched, my eyes closed. His mouth was soft and warm, and even just a peck conveyed emotion. When I began to pull away, his palms embraced my jaw, and he showed me more than he could say. Our tongues found each other in an unhurried twist, sensual and intoxicating. But he broke the connection far too soon.

My eyes opened to the world continuing to move around us unaware of the turmoil on the bench. But the sadness I’d seen in his features before I kissed him was replaced by the adoration I was accustomed to. The green in his irises warmed, and his lips hinted at a smile.

“I’m so sorry I was late.”

“You told Annie?”

Foolishly, I thought I could avoid speaking. I had hoped I could show up, we sign the paperwork, and walk off into the sunset as husband and wife. It was delusional, but a girl could dream. I leaned against the bench, and turned my body toward him, folding my knee in front of me. I stared at the gold stitching on the sole of my boot and played with the hem of my jeans. “She had to know the truth before I came. I needed to know that your marrying me wouldn’t destroy your relationship with them if they found out later.”

“How did she take it?”

My brow lifted, followed by my sight, and then my chin. “I’m here.”

“You would have walked away if she couldn’t forgive you? For something that happened before we knew you?” I couldn’t tell if it was confusion on his face or gratitude.

“I wouldn’t risk your friendship for myself, no.”

A huge smile took over his face, and his eyes crinkled at the sides. “You’re amazing.”

“Dan, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I don’t know that I’ll ever fully recover from the loss of my son or that it happened on my watch. I should have told you a long time ago, but losing the only person who had loved me since then was unbearable. For years, I believed I’d survived to suffer, but when I met you I began to think there was a chance I might redeem myself. Then came Alissa. Sweet Alissa.” I swallowed hard in order to keep speaking. “I had wandered aimlessly for years and suddenly there was clarity. There was hope. Music filled my mind again and colors became richer. I didn’t want to lose that, but if it meant sparing another person the unhappiness I’d felt for so long, if it meant saving you, I would have walked away.”

“I’m glad you didn’t have to make the choice.” He chewed on his bottom lip briefly. “I’ve sat here for however long wondering how I could convince you to be my wife. If you hadn’t shown today, there probably wasn’t any hope. But if you had run, I was coming to find you.” He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and stared for just a moment. “I don’t want to do life without you, Lissa. Ever. We’ll get through the other. Annie knows a great counselor.” He winked at my trying to lighten the mood, but he was serious.

“Lissa. We’re going to face problems. There are going to be things we have to deal with. I just don’t want to do them on my own. And I don’t want to do them with anyone else.”

I tipped my forehead to his. “Me either.”

“Will you marry me, today?”

I nodded and our foreheads moved together. I swiped the lone tear that had escaped from the corner of my eye just after it fell and stood with Dan to walk back inside. There was no pomp and circumstance, no wedding bells, not even a flowing white gown. We signed the marriage certificate and kissed, but the declaration changed nothing between us. Once the paperwork was filed, we walked back outside hand in hand.

Dan reached into his pocket and produced our wedding bands. I laughed thinking just how backward everything we did truly was. He slid the simple, thin, rose gold band on my finger before handing me his. There was nothing unique about it, and he hadn’t wanted there to be. He simply wanted to ensure the world knew with one glance—he was taken.

He had captured my heart and saved my soul.