Chapter 18 - Lucy’s Fifth Birthday
The salt-scented breeze carried the sounds of laughter, splash battles, and joyful squeals across the manicured lawn of our Sullivan’s Island home.
It was Lucy’s fifth birthday.
The backyard had been transformed into an enchanted seaside wonderland, complete with a pastel carousel bounce house, a gourmet ice cream cart, and a canopy of fairy lights strung between the grand palmetto trees. Dozens of Lucy’s school friends were chasing soap bubbles across the lawn, while my sister Clara, Arthur Crowley, Vanessa, and our closest colleagues sat beneath the cedar pergola, sipping lavender lemonade.
"Mommy! Watch this!" Lucy shouted from the edge of the lawn, wearing a shimmering turquoise mermaid dress and a flower crown.
She sprinted across the grass and leaped straight into Owen’s arms. Owen caught her effortlessly, spinning her in a high circle above his head while she giggled with pure, unadulterated delight.
"Safe landing, Captain Lucy!" Owen laughed, pulling her into a warm hug and kissing her freckled cheek. "Did you eat all the strawberry macarons Auntie Clara brought?"
"Only two!" Lucy declared proudly, holding up three sticky fingers. "Daddy, can we open the big present now?"
"After the cake, little lady," Owen smiled, carrying her toward the table where a four-tiered strawberry-lemon cake sat topped with a miniature sugar lighthouse.
I watched them from the kitchen steps, my heart swelling with an emotion so deep, so profound, it almost brought me to tears.
Five years ago, after Drew packed his designer luggage and slammed the door of our downtown apartment, I had spent nights sobbing on the hardwood floor, wondering what flaw in my character had driven him away. He had convinced me that I was cold, unlovable, and incapable of inspiring devotion. He had made me believe that success for a woman meant staying quiet, accommodating cruelty, and being grateful for scraps of affection.
Then came Owen.
Owen, who had never once asked me to diminish my light. Owen, who celebrated every contract I won, who held our crying baby through midnight fevers so I could rest, and who stood beside me like an unbreakable shield against every storm.
Owen walked over to me, setting Lucy down so she could race to the bounce house with her cousins. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, resting his chin comfortably on my shoulder as we watched our daughter play.
"What are you thinking about, beautiful?" Owen whispered against my ear.
"About how close I came to believing him," I murmured, leaning back into his solid, comforting chest. "When Drew told me I would never amount to anything without him... part of me was afraid he was right."
Owen tightened his arms around me, his voice steady with pure reverence. "Drew Halston was a blind man holding a diamond, Maren. He threw it away because he was afraid its sparkle would outshine his counterfeit gold. I thank God every single day that he was foolish enough to let you go."
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I turned around in his embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck, looking into the warm gray eyes of the man who had given me the world. "I love you, Owen."
"I love you more than life, Maren," he whispered, bringing his lips down to mine in a slow, passionate kiss that tasted of sweet summer salt and eternal devotion.
