Two years later

I was in Madison Green again and I stared up at our old house.

It hadn’t been looked after in years. Neither Mona nor I had come back here since our parents passed.

From that spot in our little driveway, I got a good view of both my old home and Jared’s too.

His house looked completely different now. It belonged to a new family who looked after it. The front yard was well looked after, there were toys scattered on it, and sounds of a new young family emerged from inside.

I stood there a while. I didn’t want to go into our old home. I knew that if I did, I would miss my parents. I still hadn’t forgiven them yet, but I also couldn’t forget the old good memories. I would always cherish those in my heart.

I knew that wherever they were, they were happy for me.

Jared hadn’t come with me to see his old house. He still carried a lot of resentment and anger in his heart. I couldn’t blame him for it. I hadn’t lived his childhood. I was aware that if he saw the house, it would bring back old, horrid memories of growing up in it.

He didn’t want to spoil the progress he’d made. The difference having Scout had made to his life.

Instead of joining me to look at our old homes, Jared had taken Scout to the lake. I made my way towards it now.

I walked the old streets, saw the old neighborhood. Most of the shops were gone now; our little town looked different. To me, it looked the same, though. I still recognized every street corner and every spot where Jared and I had spent time together.

All those years ago, I pined for him. I fantasized about having a future and a family with Jared. And now I did.

I arrived at the lake some time later. Our lake…the place where our love for each other had unknowingly bloomed.

Jared was sitting on a boulder by the bank, with Scout in his arms. He was showing our son the art of making pebbles skip on the calm surface of the water.

“Having fun without me?” I said. Jared and Scout looked up to see me there. Our son threw his arms open and I lifted him up. He was a true mamma’s boy, even though he knew he could get away with murder as far as his daddy was concerned.

“How was it?” Jared asked and leaned towards me for a kiss when I sat beside him. He threw an arm around me. We were sitting at the same spot by the lake, where we used to spend hours as kids.

“Everything is different now, but somehow still the same,” I replied.

It was our first wedding anniversary. Jared and I had now been married for a year. When I told him I wanted to do something special but nothing too extravagant, Jared suggested that we go back to our lake. After all, what else could be a bigger symbol of our love?

Jared reached for my belly then, stroking it lovingly. We were expecting our second child in six months now. A little brother or sister for Scout. So much had changed since those times we’d sit here by the lake.

When Jared and I talked about life and dreamed of a happy future, away from this town. Everything had come true. Jared was a successful man, just like he wanted to be. I still worked for the Camphill Foundation. Working for a charity that did amazing things for people…had always been a dream.

Not only that, but we were together. We were in love and married. We were building a family, and nothing could stop us now.

I leaned my head on Jared’s shoulder, just like I used to. Scout pointed at the lake and cooed at his father. Jared kissed his son’s plump cheeks and ruffled his hair.

Scout was growing up to look more like his father every day. The same thick head of sandy blond hair, the same sparkling gray eyes.

“I’m glad we came back here,” Jared said, stroking my back.

“Really? I thought you were doing this for me, because you knew how badly I wanted to come here again,” I exclaimed. Jared sighed as he looked back out at the lake again.

“I don’t care about the town, but I will always care about this lake,” he said. I kept my cheek pressed to his chest so I could hear his heart. I would never stop loving this man, I thought. I’d loved him pretty much all my life already. And he made me happy every day. Now, I couldn’t even recall those ten years we’d spent apart.

How stupid we’d been! So much time was wasted…but now we had Scout and we were going to have another baby. Could our lives get any better?

“I’m going to buy this lake,” Jared said suddenly. I jerked my head up to look at him and laughed.

“What?”

But there was a determination in his eyes. The kind I knew meant that he was going to find a way to get what he wanted.

“I’m going to buy this lake and build a cottage there,” he remarked and pointed to one side by the bank.

“Jared…” I tried to dissuade him, even though I knew there was no point. He’d already made up his mind.

“I’m not going to let this lake belong to anyone else. It’s going to be ours forever,” he said.

I shook my head indulgently. I was smiling. When he kissed me, I was reminded of how much this man loved me.

We sat together by that lake for hours, just like old times. This time, we had our son with us. We were going to spend the rest of our lives together…nothing was going to separate us now. We had our family and we had our love.