My heart hammers in my ears as the last year of my life flashes in front of my eyes. The pretending to be interested in church, the Pretty Woman date, the sex, the walks in the park, even when he turned me away in the jail, the look in his eyes in every single one of those memories never wavered, despite his actions, and I know he’s telling me the truth. I feel God wrapped around us, confirming everything he’s saying, the way He always does when I pray. Dominic’s hand tightens around my forearm, and his words ring out in my head over and over. “I always loved you.” It’s the first time he’s ever said it to me out loud, and it sends the best kind of chills shivering up my arms, mainlined straight into my heart.
I nod a little. “I know you do, Dominic.”
“And I will never,” he pauses to collect himself, “I will never stop loving you. There is no one else on this earth my heart beats for. Not one soul. You are it. I’ve known it since day one, and I wanted to stop being a coward, running away, and look you in the eyes and tell you that, even if you never want to see me again, or have anything to do with me. Because you deserve to know it, deserve to hear me say it out loud.”
His hand reaches up for my face, and he brushes a few strands of hair behind my ear, then he wipes the tears from my eye with his thumb. I can’t stop myself from leaning into his palm because I never want it to leave. I want it to be there, forever. I want to come home to him every day, I want to have his children, I want to share every detail of my life with him.
“I also want you to know.” He hooks a thumb over his shoulder at the baptism tank. “I didn’t do that for you. This isn’t some show to win you back. I did that for me. I will be a new man, whether you take me back or not. It will hurt so much, if you cut me loose, but I want to say thank you for showing me all this, for leading me to all this.” He glances around the building, then back to me. “You brought me to God. And because of that, I’m free now. It’s the greatest gift anyone has ever given me in my life. I haven’t f-felt—” He breaks down and the tears pour out from his eyes, but he smiles through it. “I’ve never known this. I’ve never been free before, and I didn’t think I ever would be.” He pauses and sucks in a huge breath. “So thank you for that. Thank you.”
This time, I reach out for his face, and I’m the one who wipes his tears away. “You’re welcome. You deserve it. You’ve always deserved to know God loves you, and I’m sorry it has taken over thirty years for you to know that feeling. I want you to be happy more than anything in the world.”
He nods a little, and I already know the right decision for me to make in my heart. There’s no way on earth this man, on his knees in front of me, couldn’t win me back. I’ve known it the past few days, somewhere deep inside me, no matter what my brain told me. Because everything he just admitted in front of me, I feel the exact same way, whether it’s logical or the right thing to do. I’m meant to be his.
I. Just. Know.
“Dominic?”
His eyes lift up to mine. “Yeah?”
“There’s something I need to tell you too.”
He tries to hide a small grin, but it peeks through a little. I can see it written on his face because he knows my heart. What he feels I feel, and what I feel, I know he feels the exact same way.
I glance around and suddenly realize we’re still in front of the entire church, and they’re all staring at us intently to see how the scene unfolds. Pastor Jeremiah looks down at us from above, and there’s not one eye anywhere but on the two of us.
I stand up in front of him, and put both my palms on his face, cradling it in my hands. His eyes flutter closed at my touch, then land back on mine.