We stood outside the same bakery where we had first talked honestly.

He carried no expensive watch and drove his old pickup rather than a company car.

The cabin still needed repairs, but the porch no longer tipped under our feet.

I had a proposal of my own.

I wanted to renew our vows privately, with a few friends who knew the truth.

Not because the first ceremony had been invalid, but because I wanted a memory of marriage that did not begin with my stepmother’s laughter.

Silas listened, then asked if we could include Mrs.