union has been more fervently anticipated. And I know no couple has loved each other with greater intensity. Dante, would you like to say your vows?”
Dante takes both Simone’s hands in his own. His massive fingers swallow up her slim hands so they can’t be seen at all from the outside.
“Simone,” he says. “I have loved you from the moment I saw your face. I know that will sound shallow, since I’m talking to the most gorgeous woman in the world. But I promise you, in your face I saw your bravery, your intelligence, and your kindness. As soon as you spoke to me, it was like a door opened into your mind. I saw this whole other universe of creativity and cleverness. A way of looking at things that I’d never imagined. And I wanted to walk through that door. I wanted to live in your world. You made such an impact on me that I never forgot you. Through all the time we were apart, I thought of you constantly. I dreamed of you. I longed for you. To have you back in my arms brings me a joy that I can’t express. The reality of you is a hundred times better than my imagining.”
He pauses for a moment, and he looks down at his son. He lays his heavy hand on Henry’s shoulder.
“Thank you, Simone, for coming back to me. Thank you for bringing our son. Thank you for raising him. Henry, you’re a good man already. I’m so proud of you.”
I’ve never heard Dante talk like this, with raw openness and honesty. He always keeps his feelings stuffed down tight. Or at least, he did before Simone came back into his life.
It’s having an effect on me I never would have expected.
I’m starting to feel emotional.
I have never cried in public, not once in my life. I certainly haven’t cried at a wedding. But all of a sudden my eyes feel hot and my face is stiff.
“I will love you every moment of my life,” Dante says. “I will cherish and protect you. Anything you want, I’ll get it for you. I’ll be your best friend and your ally. I’ll make your life better, always, and never worse.”
Simone is freely crying, her tears silver on her flushed cheeks. She is so beautiful that it’s hard to even look at her. She’s glowing with happiness, illuminated by it.
“Dante, you are everything to me,” she says. “My heart and my soul. My happiness and my safe haven. Life without you was lonely and bitter. The only thing that brought me joy was Henry, our son. He’s a piece of you and me, the best thing we ever did. I love him for himself, and I love him for how he reminds me of you.
“I promise to choose you for the rest of our lives. To choose you over fear or selfishness. Over ambition or other cares. I promise to never let you down again. To always be there for you. I promise to give you every bit of joy this life has to offer. You are the most incredible man I’ve ever known, and I promise to be the wife you deserve.
“I’m so lucky today. I’m the luckiest person in the world.”
She, too, puts her hand on Henry’s shoulder, still looking up into Dante’s face.
I want to look at Raylan, but I can’t. I know I’m about to cry and I don’t want him to see it.
The tears are partly for Dante and Simone—I’m so, so happy for them.
But they’re also tears of anguish, because I’m realizing that I love Raylan. I truly, truly love him. And that terrifies me.
Simone’s words are like an arrow in my heart.
I promise to choose you over fear or selfishness. Over ambition and other cares.
Is that what love is? Is it putting the other person above your own fears and desires?
I thought that might be the case. And that’s why I thought I’d never fall in love.
But now I have, by accident.
And I want that love. I want Raylan.
I think I might want him more than all the things I wanted before. More than my fears, and yes, even more than my ambitions.
Does that make me weak and pathetic?
Do I have to give up myself to have love?
I feel wetness on my cheeks, and all of a sudden Raylan puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close to him, so my face is hidden against his chest. He’s doing that