Ignoring everything happening around them, Eric dipped his head, his mouth grazing Rowan’s ear as he murmured, “You’ve taught me to be brave, to risk love, to do whatever it takes to seize happiness and hold it close. It might have seemed at first like you were the one who was trapped, but in freeing yourself, you freed me as well.”
She looked up at him. “No,” she replied, laughing through tears of joy. “You did that all on your own, Eric. It’s like you’ve always told me. We gave each other a safe place, but in the end, we can only free ourselves.”
He reached for the necklace, his smile like sunlight spilling over her. “You’re right, my love. And together”—he ran his thumb lightly over the wings of the pendant, “we’re going to soar.”