Chapter 17
A year passed.
Elodie turned five. We had a big party. All her friends from school came. Margaret baked a princess cake. Detective Chen drove up for the weekend.
Elodie was happy. Radiant. She ran and played and laughed.
If you didn't know her story, you'd never guess what she'd been through.
But I knew. I saw the small signs. The way she still checked with me before doing anything. The way she sometimes woke up crying from nightmares. The way she hated loud noises.
But those moments were getting rarer.
She was healing.
We all were.
I met someone.
His name was Tom. He owned the local hardware store. He was kind. Gentle. Good with his hands.
We met at the bookstore. He came in looking for a book on woodworking. We started talking. One thing led to another.
He was nothing like Harrison. He was calm. Patient. He listened.
I was scared at first. Scared to let someone in. Scared of getting hurt again.
But Tom was different.
He never pushed. He never rushed. He let me set the pace.
When I finally told him about my past, about Harrison, about everything, he held me.
"You're the strongest person I've ever met," he said.
He met Elodie after three months. I was nervous. So was he.
But Elodie loved him immediately.
"Can you build me a treehouse?" she asked five minutes after meeting him.
Tom laughed.
"Absolutely," he said.
And he did. He spent every weekend for a month building the most amazing treehouse in the big oak tree in our backyard.
Elodie thought it was the best thing in the world.
Margaret approved of Tom.
"He's a good man," she said. "You deserve someone good."
Detective Chen met him when she visited. She gave him the "protective friend" interrogation. He passed with flying colors.
Life was falling into place.
One evening, Tom and I were sitting on the porch, watching the sunset. Elodie was playing in the treehouse.
"Marry me," Tom said.
I looked at him. He was holding a small ring. Simple. Beautiful.
"Tom..." I said.
"I know you've been hurt," he said. "I know you're scared. But I love you. And I love Elodie. I want to be your family. Forever."
Tears filled my eyes.
"I love you too," I said. "Yes."
He slipped the ring on my finger. He kissed me.
Elodie chose that moment to climb down from the treehouse.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Tom knelt down so he was at her level.
"Elodie," he said. "I asked your mom to marry me. And she said yes. That means I'm going to be your dad. If that's okay with you."
Elodie's face lit up. She threw her arms around his neck.
"Really?" she said. "You're going to be my daddy?"
"Really," Tom said.
Elodie looked at me. Then at Tom.
"Can we have a big wedding?" she asked. "With cake and dancing?"
Tom laughed.
"Whatever you want, princess," he said.
That night, I called Margaret. I told her the news. She cried. She was happy.
I called Detective Chen. She screamed in excitement.
Everything was perfect.
May you like
But I'd learned the hard way that life could change in an instant.
I just didn't expect it to change again so soon.
