Chapter 26 - THE HOUSE WITH NO LOCKA year later, Ryan and I tried again.
Slowly.
Separate homes.
Therapy.
No promises to Noah until we were sure.
Sarah called us ridiculous.
Caroline, before she died, called us brave.
I wasn't sure either was correct.
Eventually Ryan proposed.
Again.
No expensive restaurant.
No Hale heirloom.
No family diamond.
Just our backyard.
Rocket tried to eat the ring box.
I laughed so hard I cried.
“Yes.”
Noah shouted from the kitchen window:
“I KNEW IT!”
Ryan looked betrayed.
“You were spying?”
“Yes.”
We remarried six months later.
Small ceremony.
No chandeliers.
No inheritance politics.
No Linda.
No Mark.
Sarah stood beside me.
Noah carried the rings.
And when he spilled sparkling cider on Ryan’s jacket, everyone froze for half a second.
Ryan looked down.
Then laughed.
“Of course you did.”
Noah laughed too.
May you like
The moment passed.
That was when I knew the old family was finally losing its grip.
