Chapter 10 - The Vows of the Waterfront
One year later.
The historic Indianapolis Cathedral was filled with the warm, golden light of late afternoon, the stained-glass windows casting a beautiful, multicolored pattern over the long marble aisle.
The church was packed with family, friends, and colleagues from Cole Health Enterprises, all of them dressed in their finest attire to celebrate the union of Claire Morgan and Ethan Cole.
Standing at the altar, wearing a simple, elegant ivory wedding gown that trailed behind her like a summer cloud, was Claire. Her dark hair was styled in soft, elegant curls, and her face was illuminated by a radiant, beautiful smile.
Beside her stood Ethan, wearing a handsome black tuxedo, his gray eyes shining with a deep, tearful tenderness as he looked down at his bride.
And standing between them, wearing a tiny white dress and a flower crown in her hair, was two-year-old Sophie, her hand holding her father’s thumb, her eyes wide as she looked at the crowd.
"Do you, Ethan, take Claire to be your wedded wife, to love her, honor her, and cherish her through every storm and every sunrise?" the minister asked.
"I do," Ethan said, his voice steady and resonant, his eyes never leaving Claire’s face.
"And do you, Claire, take Ethan to be your wedded husband, to love him, honor him, and stand by him through every shadow and every light?"
"I do," Claire whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
The minister smiled, raising his hands over the family. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."
Ethan leaned down, his lips meeting Claire’s in a deep, beautiful kiss that carried the promise of a lifetime. The church erupted into a deafening roar of applause and cheers, the bells of the cathedral ringing out into the warm, late-summer air.
As they walked down the aisle together, holding Sophie between them, Claire looked back at the doors of the church, where the bright summer sun was streaming inside.
She remembered the night two years earlier, when she had sat in her dark, freezing apartment with $3.18 in her bank account, wondering if her daughter would survive the night.
May you like
She looked at her husband, her protector, and her partner, and she knew that the wrong number had been the rightest thing that had ever happened to her.
The storm had finally passed. And the sun had come to stay.
