Chapter 10 - The Dawn of the Vales
The sunset over the Pacific Ocean painted the sky in brilliant shades of gold, rose, and deep purple.
I stood on the wooden deck of our coastal home, watching the waves crash softly against the white rocks below. Behind me, the warm yellow lights of the house cast a soft glow across the lawn.
Claire stepped out through the sliding glass doors, wearing a soft wool sweater. She walked up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her chin against my shoulder.
“Is she asleep?” I asked quietly, putting my hands over hers.
“Out cold,” Claire laughed softly. “She spent two hours trying to teach the puppy how to fetch orange leaves in the garden. She’s exhausted.”
I turned around in her arms, taking her face in my hands and looking down into the bright, clear eyes that I had mourned for two long years.
“Two years ago today,” I murmured, “I was standing beside an empty grave, thinking my life was over.”
Claire raised her hand, touching the small scar on my jawline with her thumb. “And two years ago today, I was staring at a stone wall, praying that somehow, somewhere, you were still fighting for us.”
“We made it home, Claire,” I said.
“We made it home,” she echoed.
May you like
We leaned in, pressing our lips together in a long, quiet kiss that carried no pain, no fear, and no ghosts of the past—only the sweet, unshakeable promise of a tomorrow that belonged entirely to us.
Out on the lawn, the ocean breeze whistled softly through the orange trees, carrying away the last shadows of the storm forever.
