Too Late, Mr. Sterling—I’m Marrying Your Rival Chapter 14

I don’t remember walking down the aisle.

I only remember his face.

The way his jaw trembled. The way he didn’t even try to wipe his tears. The way he looked at me like I wasn’t just enough-like I was everything.

When I reached him, he took my hands. His fingers closed around mine, warm and fierce, like he’d never let go again.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“Hi,” I whispered back, laughing through my tears.

The minister began. I barely heard him. Then it was time for vows.

Rhys went first. His voice shook.

“Ava. Twenty years ago, I pulled you out of the water and told you I’d carry you home.” He swallowed. “I’m still carrying you home. Every day, for the rest of my life. When you’re strong, I’ll stand beside you. When you’re tired, I’ll hold you. When you call-” his voice broke, “I will always, always answer.”

The whole chapel went silent.

I couldn’t breathe.

He knew. He knew exactly what that meant to me.

It took me a long moment before I could speak.

“Rhys. For a long time, I thought I had to become someone else to be loved.” My tears spilled over. “You loved me before I ever tried. You loved me as a scared little girl screaming at the ocean. You’re the first person who never asked me to be anything but myself. I’ll spend my whole life loving you back.”

“You may kiss the bride.”

He cupped my face and kissed me like a promise.

The chapel exploded. Cheers. Whistles. Mrs. O’Leary sobbing loudly. The lobstermen stomping their

boots.

Rhys lifted me clean off my feet and spun me around while everyone laughed.

“Welcome home, Mrs. Calloway,” he murmured against my ear.

Home.

I finally had one.

We spilled out into the meadow under strings of golden light. Music. Dancing. Blueberry cake. The ocean glittering beneath a rising full moon.

And then, across the crowd, at the very edge of the trees, I saw him.

Damien.

Alone, in a dark coat, half-hidden in shadow. No one else noticed him. Every eye was on us.

He was watching me. Watching Rhys’s arms around my waist. Watching me laugh.

Our eyes met across the meadow.

His were red-rimmed. Wet. He didn’t come forward. He didn’t call my name.

He just looked at me-at the woman he’d told, a hundred times, she wasn’t enough-now glowing in

another man’s arms.

I could see it on his face. He’d never seen me smile like this. Not once, in three years.

He touched his chest, where I knew the St. Christopher medal hung.

Then he gave me the smallest nod.

Be happy.

I nodded back.

He turned and walked into the dark, his steps slow and unsteady, until the trees swallowed him.

I didn’t feel triumph. I didn’t feel pain.

I felt free.

“You okay?” Rhys asked, following my gaze into the empty trees.

“Better than okay.” I turned back to him and smiled. “Dance with me.”

He did. All night,

Eight months later, I stood in the brand-new maternity wing of Harbor Point Regional, staring at a positive

test in my shaking hand.

I’d been terrified to take it. Terrified of hope.

The door opened. Rhys walked in with two coffees and froze at the look on my face.

“Ava?”

I held up the test.

The coffees hit the floor.

He crossed the room in two strides, dropped to his knees in front of me, and pressed his face against my

stomach. His shoulders shook.

“Hey, baby,” he whispered against me, voice wrecked. “It’s Dad. I’m going to answer every single time you call. I promise.”

I laughed and cried at the same time, running my fingers through his hair.

Outside the window, the sun rose over Gull Cove. Gold on the water. Gold on the cliffs.

Gold on the life I’d almost let go of.

I’d been told I had to handle everything myself.

I’d been told I wasn’t enough.

But the right man never once asked me to be stronger.

He just held out his hand, the way he did when I was eight-

And carried me home.