Chapter 10 - This Time, Neither of Them RanClare moved back to Chicago permanently on a cold Friday afternoon.
Theo attempted to send three vehicles to collect her belongings.
Clare allowed one.
This compromise represented significant personal growth on both sides.
By Saturday morning, her apartment looked like a warehouse.
Suitcases.
Boxes.
Artwork.
Material samples.
Gifts from Paris.
Theo stood in the middle of the chaos holding a lamp.
“Why do you own three lamps that look exactly the same?”
“They are completely different.”
“They are beige cylinders.”
“One is linen.”
“Obviously.”
“One is handmade ceramic.”
“They look identical.”
Clare pointed toward the door.
“You can leave.”
Theo smiled.
“Not a chance.”
They had decided Clare would keep her apartment for now.
She would spend more time at Theo’s, gradually move belongings, and eventually decide whether they wanted another home together.
No rush.
No assumptions.
No disappearing.
For the first two months, normal life felt almost embarrassingly wonderful.
Clare worked.
Theo worked.
They argued about whose turn it was to buy groceries despite Theo employing people perfectly capable of doing it.
Clare insisted.
“Normal couples buy groceries.”
“Normal couples don’t have fourteen-hour workdays.”
“Normal couples also don’t own jets.”
“Exactly. Our baseline is compromised.”
She dragged him to the supermarket anyway.
Theo was recognized in aisle seven.
Clare laughed for twenty minutes when an elderly woman asked him to reach cereal from the highest shelf without realizing he was a billionaire.
“This is the happiest day of your life, isn’t it?” he asked afterward.
“Top five.”
They built routines.
Sunday breakfast with Clare’s parents.
Wednesday dinner unless work made it impossible.
No phones in bed.
One weekend each month with no business.
The rules were broken occasionally.
But they tried.
And trying mattered.
The engagement ring remained in Theo’s safe.
Clare knew it existed.
Theo knew she knew.
Neither mentioned it.
Until one Sunday morning, ten months after Theo first returned to Chicago, Clare said something unexpected while eating pancakes at her parents’ house.
“I think I’m ready.”
Theo nearly dropped his coffee.
Owen looked between them.
“For what?”
Clare kicked Theo beneath the table.
“Nothing.”
Theo stared at her.
She gave him a look.
Later.
For the rest of breakfast, Theo heard absolutely nothing.
When they finally reached his car, he closed the door.
“Ready for what?”
Clare fastened her seat belt.
“You know.”
“I need verbal confirmation.”
“Theodore.”
“Clare.”
She looked at him.
His expression was so hopeful she almost cried.
“I think I’m ready for you to ask.”
Theo became completely still.
“For me to—”
“Yes.”
He leaned back.
“Okay.”
Clare narrowed her eyes.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all?”
“What response do you want?”
“I don’t know. More excitement?”
Internally, Theo’s heart was detonating.
Externally, he forced himself to remain calm.
“Noted.”
Clare stared.
“You’re weird.”
He started the car.
For the next week, Theo behaved normally.
Suspiciously normally.
Clare expected something every day.
Dinner reservation?
Nothing.
Flowers?
Nothing.
Weekend getaway?
Nothing.
By day seven she became irritated.
By day ten she decided Theo was deliberately torturing her.
By day twelve she complained to Mia.
“You told him you were ready twelve days ago.”
“Yes.”
“And now you’re angry because he hasn’t proposed.”
“I’m not angry.”
“You’re aggressively reorganizing fabric samples.”
“I organize when calm.”
“No human organizes beige by emotional tone when calm.”
Clare glared.
Mia smiled.
“He’s planning something.”
“I hate surprises.”
“You love surprises.”
“I love controlled surprises.”
“That is not a thing.”
Theo proposed on day fourteen.
Clare should have expected the location.
She did not.
He told her they were attending dinner with their parents.
Instead, the car turned toward the Ashford coast house.
Clare looked at him.
“No.”
Theo smiled.
“What?”
“The pool?”
“What pool?”
“Theodore.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The pool is becoming ridiculous.”
They arrived at sunset.
The house was empty.
No family.
No staff visible.
Theo took her hand.
They walked through the back doors.
The pool gleamed beneath string lights.
Clare stopped.
There were no roses.
No orchestra.
No giant signs.
Just the place where everything almost started.
Theo led her toward the exact chairs where they had sat nine years ago.
“Sit.”
Clare’s heart raced.
“Theodore.”
“Please.”
She sat.
Theo remained standing.
For once, he looked nervous.
Actually nervous.
Clare had seen him negotiate acquisitions worth billions without appearing this unsettled.
She smiled.
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m aware.”
“That makes me feel powerful.”
“Enjoy it.”
He took a breath.
“Nine years ago, you sat beside me here and asked why I had stopped teasing you.”
Clare’s eyes immediately burned.
“You told me I was beautiful.”
“You were.”
“I still am.”
Theo laughed.
“You are.”
He became serious.
“Nine years ago, I was scared because I realized my best friend’s annoying little sister had become someone I could fall in love with.”
Clare swallowed.
“I almost kissed you.”
“You did.”
“And then I ran.”
“Yes.”
“I spent years thinking leaving was the responsible thing.”
He looked directly at her.
“Maybe part of it was. You were too young. I was too immature.”
Clare nodded.
“But I also ran because that was what I did then.”
His voice softened.
“When something mattered too much, I ran before it could hurt me.”
Clare’s tears escaped.
Theo knelt.
Her breath disappeared.
He took the ring box from his pocket.
“Theodore.”
“I’m not finished.”
She laughed through tears.
“Sorry.”
He opened the box.
Clare stared.
The ring was perfect.
Simple enough to feel like her.
Beautiful enough to steal her breath.
Theo held her left hand.
“You taught me that loving someone isn’t chasing them until they surrender.”
His voice shook slightly.
“It’s listening. Changing. Showing up. Letting them remain themselves.”
Clare covered her mouth with her free hand.
“You also taught me that forever isn’t something you promise once.”
Theo smiled.
“It’s something you choose every day.”
She was openly crying now.
“So, Clare Elizabeth Montgomery, I’m asking you to choose it with me.”
His own eyes were wet.
“Keep designing. Keep arguing with me. Keep wearing horrible pajamas. Keep making my apartment look less depressing.”
Clare laughed.
“Keep being Clare.”
Theo’s grip tightened around her hand.
“And let me spend the rest of my life being the man who gets to love her.”
His voice dropped.
“Will you marry me?”
Clare had imagined this moment a thousand times.
As a teenager.
As an adult.
During the months she hated herself for still loving him.
During Paris.
During every fight.
Every kiss.
Every moment she wondered whether choosing Theo meant losing herself.
Now the answer felt incredibly simple.
“Yes.”
Theo exhaled.
“Yes?”
“Yes, Theodore.”
He barely managed to put the ring on before Clare threw her arms around him.
They fell backward onto the grass.
Theo laughed.
Clare kissed him repeatedly between tears.
“You took fourteen days.”
“You were counting?”
“Obviously.”
“You waited nine years.”
“That was your fault.”
“Fair.”
She looked at the ring.
Then at him.
“I love it.”
“Good.”
“I would have said yes with a plastic ring.”
“I know.”
“You spent too much.”
“Almost certainly.”
“Theodore.”
“Can we postpone financial criticism for fifteen minutes?”
Clare laughed.
He kissed her again.
Their families appeared from inside the house approximately ten minutes later.
Clare screamed.
“You were all here?”
Her mother was already crying.
Theo’s mother was crying harder.
Owen looked deeply annoyed.
“I have been hiding in a pantry for forty-five minutes.”
Clare hugged him.
“You knew?”
“I helped pick the ring.”
She pulled back.
“You touched my ring?”
Theo immediately said, “He was told not to.”
Owen stared.
“I hate both of you.”
Celebration followed.
Champagne.
Dinner.
Photographs.
Caroline even appeared.
She looked at the ring.
Then at Clare.
“Congratulations.”
Clare blinked.
“Thank you.”
Caroline leaned closer.
“For what it’s worth, I was wrong.”
Clare stared.
Caroline Ashford admitting error might have been more shocking than the engagement.
“About?”
“You.”
The older woman looked toward Theo.
“He needed someone who would challenge him.”
Clare smiled.
“That part is easy.”
“I imagine.”
Then Caroline walked away.
Clare found Theo watching.
“What?”
“She apologized.”
Theo looked genuinely alarmed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Should we contact a doctor?”
Clare laughed.
They married eight months later.
Not at an enormous cathedral.
Not at one of the Ashford hotels.
Not in front of a thousand society guests.
They married at the Montgomery family property.
One hundred and twelve guests.
Family.
Friends.
People who mattered.
Clare designed everything herself.
Theo was forbidden from seeing her dress.
He attempted bribery.
Failed.
On the morning of the wedding, Clare stood in her childhood bedroom wearing white silk and looking at herself in the mirror.
Her grandmother’s enormous old glasses sat on the dresser.
She had kept them all these years.
Her mother entered.
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m thinking.”
“About?”
Clare picked up the glasses.
“The first day he came back.”
Her mother laughed.
“That outfit.”
“I looked terrible.”
“You looked committed.”
“To sabotage.”
“That too.”
Clare smiled.
Then the emotion hit.
“I used to think I had to become beautiful enough for him to love me.”
Her mother’s face softened.
Clare looked at her reflection.
“I spent years thinking maybe if I changed enough, Theo would finally see me.”
“And now?”
Clare smiled.
“Now I know the right person doesn’t love the version of you designed to impress them.”
She put down the glasses.
“They love the person underneath.”
Her mother hugged her.
Outside, Theo was losing his mind.
Owen adjusted his tie.
“Stop pacing.”
“I’m not pacing.”
“You’ve crossed the patio seventeen times.”
“What if she changed her mind?”
Owen stared.
“She moved to Paris and still stayed with you.”
“I know.”
“She survived Caroline.”
“Yes.”
“She forgave you for calling her Matchstick.”
Theo winced.
“Don’t remind me.”
“She said yes.”
“I know.”
“She’s coming.”
Theo looked toward the house.
“How do you know?”
“Because she’s my sister.”
The music began.
Everyone stood.
Theo stopped breathing.
Clare appeared.
For a moment, everything else vanished.
There was no Ashford Industries.
No childhood teasing.
No nine-year separation.
No Paris.
No newspapers.
No doubts.
Only Clare.
Walking toward him.
When she reached the front, Theo whispered, “Wow.”
Clare smiled.
“You said that the day we reunited.”
“You looked different then.”
“Excuse me?”
“Both memorable.”
“Theodore.”
“You’re beautiful.”
She laughed softly.
“So are you.”
During the vows, Theo cried first.
Owen later insisted on documenting that fact.
Clare promised to love Theo without allowing him to control her schedule.
Everyone laughed.
Theo promised to respect every ugly hoodie she brought into their home.
Clare pretended to reconsider the marriage.
Then they exchanged rings.
When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife, Theo kissed Clare with enough enthusiasm that Owen loudly told him children were present.
The reception lasted until midnight.
Clare danced with her father.
Theo danced with his mother.
Then they danced together beneath warm lights in the garden.
“Mrs. Ashford,” Theo whispered.
Clare raised an eyebrow.
“Montgomery-Ashford.”
“Right.”
“You had one job.”
“My wife is distracting.”
She smiled.
“How does it feel?”
“What?”
“Forever.”
Theo looked at her.
“Like not enough.”
Three years later, the Ashford-Montgomery home looked nothing like Theo’s old apartment.
There was color everywhere.
Art.
Books.
Clare’s design samples.
Theo’s documents.
Photographs.
And toys.
Far too many toys.
Clare entered the living room wearing an oversized hoodie and pajama pants.
Their two-year-old daughter, Sophie, sat on the floor building a tower.
Theo was beside her wearing an expensive dress shirt with crayons drawn across one sleeve.
Clare stopped.
“What happened to you?”
Theo looked offended.
“Your daughter attacked me.”
“Our daughter.”
“She looks like you. Therefore currently yours.”
Sophie held up a purple crayon.
“Daddy pretty.”
Clare laughed.
Theo sighed.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Clare sat beside them.
Sophie immediately climbed into her lap.
Theo watched.
The sight still affected him.
His wife.
Their daughter.
The life he had once been too frightened even to imagine.
Clare caught him staring.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s suspicious.”
Theo smiled.
“I love you.”
She softened.
“I love you too.”
Sophie looked between them.
“Me?”
Theo immediately picked her up.
“You most of all.”
Clare gasped.
“Excuse me?”
“Current ranking.”
“You’re sleeping on the couch.”
Sophie laughed.
Theo kissed his daughter’s cheek, then Clare’s.
That night, after Sophie was asleep, Clare and Theo sat beside the pool at the Ashford coast house.
The same pool.
Of course.
Clare leaned against him.
“We really need another meaningful location.”
“I disagree.”
“This pool has carried our entire relationship.”
“Efficient use of real estate.”
She laughed.
Theo kissed her hair.
Nine years ago, Clare had sat beside him here believing he did not truly see her.
Nine years ago, Theo had run because loving her felt too dangerous.
They had wasted time.
They had hurt each other.
They had made mistakes.
Even after finally getting together, they had discovered love did not magically solve everything.
They had fought about careers.
Distance.
Control.
Independence.
Fear.
They had learned that happily ever after was not a destination reached after one perfect kiss.
It was work.
Beautiful work.
Choosing each other while allowing the other person to remain whole.
Clare looked at Theo.
“Do you ever think about what would have happened if Owen hadn’t interrupted us that day?”
Theo smiled.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I still would have left for London.”
Clare frowned.
“That’s not romantic.”
“It’s honest.”
She waited.
Theo continued.
“But maybe I would have called.”
“You should have called anyway.”
“I know.”
“Idiot.”
“Definitely.”
She rested her head against his shoulder again.
“Do you regret the nine years?”
Theo thought carefully.
“Sometimes.”
“Me too.”
“But.”
Clare smiled.
“There’s always a but with you.”
“But those years made us who we are.”
She looked at him.
“If I met you again at nineteen, I probably would have hurt you.”
“That is weirdly reassuring.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
“And if I had gotten everything I wanted at fifteen, maybe I never would have learned how to build my own life first.”
Theo kissed her forehead.
“So maybe we weren’t late.”
Clare looked toward the dark water.
“Maybe.”
“We arrived when we were ready.”
She smiled.
“That was suspiciously wise.”
“I’m aging.”
“You’re thirty-six.”
“Ancient.”
Clare laughed.
Then Theo reached beside the chair and handed her something.
Her grandmother’s old glasses.
She stared.
“Why do you have these?”
“I found them when we moved boxes from your apartment.”
“You stole them?”
“Preserved historical artifacts.”
Clare put them on.
The lenses were enormous.
Theo immediately laughed.
“Oh God.”
She crossed her arms.
“What?”
“You look exactly like you did when you were thirteen.”
“The glasses pest?”
His laughter disappeared.
He touched her cheek.
“No.”
Clare waited.
Theo smiled.
“The girl I should have recognized much sooner.”
She kissed him.
This time there was no interruption.
No fear.
No one running away.
Years ago, Clare had deliberately dressed horribly because she wanted to frighten away a stranger her father had chosen for her.
Instead, she walked downstairs and found the boy she had secretly loved for nine years.
She fell on the floor.
Lost a flip-flop.
Humiliated herself completely.
It had seemed like a disaster.
Maybe it was.
But sometimes the best parts of life began as disasters.
Sometimes the person who once hurt you could grow enough to apologize.
Sometimes forgiveness did not mean forgetting what happened.
Sometimes it meant allowing someone to prove they had become different.
Sometimes love required distance before it understood closeness.
Sometimes forever began with an almost kiss that arrived nine years too early.
Theo pulled Clare closer beneath the quiet night sky.
Inside the house, their daughter slept safely.
Tomorrow would bring work.
Meetings.
Designs.
Arguments.
Laundry.
Family dinners.
Ordinary problems.
A real life.
Their life.
Clare looked up.
“You know something?”
“What?”
“If my father had told me that morning you were the man downstairs, I would have dressed completely differently.”
“I know.”
“You probably would have liked me more.”
Theo smiled.
“Impossible.”
“You were horrified.”
“I was fascinated.”
“I looked homeless.”
“You looked like Clare.”
She stared at him.
“That was disgustingly sweet.”
“I’ve had practice.”
“You’re still annoying.”
“And you still love me.”
Clare kissed him.
“Yes.”
Theo held her tighter.
“Good.”
The pool reflected the stars.
The house behind them glowed warmly.
And after all the years they had lost trying not to love each other, Clare and Theodore finally understood the simplest truth of all.
They had never needed a perfect beginning.
May you like
They only needed the courage to keep choosing what came next.
And this time, neither of them was going anywhere.
