Chapter 14 - The Choice
“You should take it.”
Cassidy stared.
Declan had barely finished reading the proposal.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
“It means travel.”
“I know.”
“Long stretches away.”
“I know.”
“What about the girls?”
“I’m their father.”
Cassidy's eyes filled.
Declan continued.
“You don't have to choose between being their mother and being Cassidy Monroe.”
That sentence healed a wound he had created years earlier.
She accepted the project.
Declan reorganized his life.
When Cassidy traveled, he handled school mornings.
He burned pancakes.
Forgot picture day.
Learned.
The girls thrived.
So did Cassidy.
For the first time, she understood that love did not have to shrink one person so another could feel larger.
Sometimes love expanded the room.
Six months later, Cassidy returned from Europe.
Three girls raced toward her at Atlanta Arrivals.
“Mommy!”
Cassidy laughed as they collided with her.
Then she looked up.
Declan stood behind them.
The same airport.
The same curb.
A completely different man.
He smiled.
“Welcome home.”
May you like
Cassidy kissed him.
And neither noticed the photographer standing across the road.
