On the back, beneath her childhood sentence, she had written a new one:
Ben kept his promise. Claire kept me safe even when she forgot she needed me to keep her safe too.
I hugged her.
“You are not supposed to make the maid of honor cry before the ceremony.”
“You cry all the time now.”
“I have had a difficult year.”
“So have I.”
“Fair.”
Ben took Rosie’s hands.
The lake shone behind them.
“I promised to take you to prom,” he said. “Then I promised to marry you. Today I promise something harder.”
Rosie raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“To tell you the truth even when I am afraid of losing you.”
She smiled.
“Good. I promise not to hide murder evidence in Claire’s attic.”
Everyone laughed.
I laughed too.
But Ben’s eyes remained on Rosie.
“I married you because I loved you,” he said. “I married you because you were brave enough to ask for help and strong enough to help everyone else. I married you because when the world underestimated you, you never became smaller to make it comfortable.”
