He pulled away then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Mrs. Owens. I love the way that sounds.”
“Me too, Mr. Owens.”
Calloway took my hand and guided me to a seat in the front aisle. A woman I hadn’t noticed before was sitting there, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. It took me a second to understand who she was.
“Your mom…?”
Calloway nodded. “I visited her today, and things went well…”
“Then she knows who you are?”
“Yeah.”
His mother rose to her feet, her eyes still wet. “You look so beautiful.” She pulled me into her arms and hugged me in a way my own mother never did. Her touch was full of affection even though, to her, she’d just met me that day. She didn’t know a single thing about me, but she already loved me. “You’ll give my son such beautiful children. That makes me so happy.” She pulled away and kissed me on the cheek. “So proud of you, Cal.” She moved into his side and hugged him.
“Thanks, Mom.” Calloway never showed his weak spots to anyone. The only time his shell seemed to soften was when he was with me—and his mother. I loved the fact that he wasn’t callused all the time, that he wore his heart on his sleeve sometimes. “Jackson is gonna take you home so Rome and I can head on our trip.”
“That’s wonderful,” she said. “You two have the best time, okay?”
“We will.” Calloway grabbed my hand and guided me to the large church doors I’d entered through in the beginning. When we got outside, a white limo was waiting for us, Tom holding the back door for us.
Sunlight hit us hard in the face on that spring afternoon, making Calloway’s eyes light up brighter than usual. He rarely smiled, but right now he wore a grin I’d never seen before. It was the kind of happiness that infected all of his features, turned him into a softer version of himself. Sometimes he chuckled when I made a joke, but it wasn’t anything compared to this. It was the first time he’d seemed truly happy.
“I like it when you smile like that.”
He guided me to the car, but his eyes were on me the entire time. “Smile like what?”
“Smile like you’re free.”
“I don’t feel free,” he said. “I’ve been free my whole life, and that’s why I was so miserable. But now…I have something to live for.” He took the door from Tom and extended his hand so he could help me inside.
“Now I have something to live for too.”
Epilogue
Calloway
Mom sat on my left at the table, while Jackson sat on my other side. Rome just finished placing all the dishes on the table and finally sat down to eat. Our wineglasses were full, and the meal smelled incredible.
“So how long have you two been married?” Mom asked.
“A year,” I answered. “Our anniversary is next week.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mom said. “They say the first year is the hardest… I’m not sure how correct that is. Honestly, I can’t remember the first year of my marriage. I can’t even remember your father.”
“That’s okay, Mom,” I said. “We can always remind you.”
“Yeah,” Jackson. “Calloway and I look just like him—except we have your eyes.”
“And that’s not correct,” I said. “The first year was a breeze.” Rome and I enjoyed our honeymoon and all the fantastic routine of our married life. We worked together every day, used the gym together, came home and had dinner, and of course, the sex was as great as it’d always been—in and out of the playroom.
Rome wore a smile as she sat down. “I’ve enjoying picking up his dirty socks a lot more than I thought I would.”
Mom chuckled. “I just hope they didn’t smell too bad.”
“I don’t smell,” I countered. Mom could probably contradict that with stories of my childhood, but fortunately, she didn’t remember any of that. When I went to visit her in the nursing home, I reminded her who I was, and she took the revelation well. But there were times when she didn’t take the news well at all. She screamed and cried and got so worked up that she demanded I leave and never come back.
“I’m sure they smelled like ass.” Jackson dug into his food immediately, shoving large chunks of food into his mouth like a grizzly bear.
“Manners,” Mom snapped.
Jackson took his elbows off the table and took smaller bites of food, eating like a human rather than a wild animal.
Mom took a few bites then turned to Rome. “You have a brother, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“I do.” Rome sipped her wine before she returned the glass to the table. “His name is Christopher. He works in bonds and mutual funds at a private wealth company in the city. He likes it.”
“Delightful. Is he older than you?”