At one point, she lifted her face and accidentally met Gage’s eyes from twenty feet away. The memory of their first kiss as fireworks exploded overhead passed between them.
Rowan blocked it out, disgusted with herself, and focused on the man she loved - who loved her.
Bennett was wrong.
Shedidn’tstill love Gage.
No heart was big enough to hold that much love.
Chapter Nine
2003 - Age 26
Standing beside Bennett while his cardiologist went over his latest lab results, Rowan thought she might shake out of her skin.
One year had turned into two…then three…and every day was another chance to hold her husband as tight to her as she could.
“It’s incredible, Bennett,” his doctor said. “The deterioration is total and irreversible yet here you are. I...honestly, I don’t know what you’re doing but keep doing it.”
Holding Rowan against his side, Bennett answered, “Love from an incredible woman. I swear to God, she’swillingmy heart to keep beating.”
Grinning, the doctor headed for the door. “Let me get your new prescriptions.”
Turning fully to him, “Stay with me, Bennett.” She whispered the words almost inaudibly at his neck as she hugged him. “Please stay with me.”
He kissed her temple. “Every second I can, darling.”
Every day was a battle between intense gratitude and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She bent her entire life to loving Bennett, checking one item after another off his bucket list, and monitoring everything from his diet to his daily steps.
She worked in the office beside his and kept the door open between them. There were times he’d be in deep conversation as Mary-Margaret took notes in shorthand and Rowan would zone out staring at him across the short distance.
Enthralled with the way he spoke, smiled, moved.
Every time, he eventually felt her watching him and their eyes would meet. It would startle her from her daydream and she’d get up to walk to him.
He always welcomed her into his space and his arms.
After a year of training from Mary-Margaret and Bennett himself, Rowan took over the entire charitable organization. Dozens of people reported to her and millions of dollars passed across her desk every month.
The way her husband gave to those in need never failed to humble her, to make Rowan want todomore,bemore. It was what gave her the idea for his birthday - which fell a few weeks after their second anniversary.
Pulling Mary-Margaret into her confidence, they planned the birthday Bennett had been told by doctors he wouldn’t reach.
It would be a testament to the life her husband had lived and the life she hoped tokeep livingwith him.
They invited fewer than a hundred people - those that his assistant explained were closest to him over the years. Setting up a stage in the back garden, the late fall weather ensured Bennett didn’t exert himself in the heat.
In the days leading up to the party, Bennett was introspective. After dinner one evening, he held her close to him as her head rested on his chest.
“You are the most beautiful, unexpected gift I have ever received. No one else in my life has loved me as you have.”
Rowan snuggled closer. “Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Being at your side is like running, the wind in my face and the warmth on my skin.” He made a sound that caused her to lift her head. Tears shimmered in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Placing her palm along his cheek, she whispered, “Tell me, Bennett.”
“I was selfish, Rowan.” Silent tears slipped down his face and she shook her head. “I hope - when all is said and done - that you’ll forgive my greed. I so desperately needed you, needed your love, that I took it despite the pain I drastically underestimated I would put you through.”
“No, Bennett.” Moving higher on the couch, she hugged him. “Even if-if it comes, I could never regret a moment spent with you. Not one.” He hugged her back as hard as he could and they stayed like that for a long time.