He started running, determined to catch the woman whose laugher floated back to him until she looked over her shoulder to see how close he was. Dustin saw the face of the woman who was worth dying and coming back to earth for … She was worth all the heartbreak he had gone through during his teenage years, going through his tumor … She was worth every damn second of it just to have her now and the years ahead.
Slowing his speed, he saw her jumping outside the back door, her arms high in victory, thinking she had won the race. She could win every race they would ever have, and he wouldn’t care, because he won what he wanted the most, and it was worth washing a hundred burnt pans for—a cigar box filled with a lifetime of memories that were filled with love.