The Sun and the Moon

➸ Chapter Sixteen: Our Eclipse

Will

Twenty years later...

I wake up in the middle of the night, the moonlight streaming through the open drapes, and realize that Allie's no longer in bed. I rub the exhaustion from my eyes and I push myself up from the bed. I think I know where Allie might've gone. I walk into the hall and spot a crack of light emerging from behind the door of the room that used to be Zoe's. I push it open. Allie's sitting on the floor with an old photo album on her lap. She looks up when I enter and attempts a smile.

"Hey," I say, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She lifts her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. So, I sit down on the floor and Allie shifts closer to me, spreading the album over both of our laps.

The page she's on has a picture of Allie and me, at our wedding, with Zoe in the middle, smiling widely. Allie traces a finger over the picture and I wait as she opens her mouth, then closes it again.

"How can I be sure that she's doing this for the right reasons? That she truly loves her?" Allie says, her gaze focused on the picture and her hand trembling. "How do I know that she's not making the same mistake I almost made?"

I knew Allie had always been cautious when it came to Zoe's dating life but things had reached a peak when Zoe had announced her engagement. I think Allie never forgot how close she came to marrying Ian and some scars don't fade over time.

"You have to trust her. You have to trust that you've been an amazing mother. You've taught her to marry for love and only for love.

Allie smiles weakly and I continue.

"And you have, you've taught her well. Do you want to know how I know?"

She nods, her fingers tangling with mine.

"Because Zoe looks at Claire the same way you looked at me the day we got married...And I'd like to think that look was one of arduous, passionate love."

This time, Allie chokes out a laugh and I smile in relief.

"You might be right..." Allie teases me and I laugh.

"Oh, yeah?" I say, leaning closer to her.

"Yeah," She says, kissing me softly.

We break apart and I stand up, holding out a hand to help her up.

"Come on, it's late, let's go to bed," I say as we close Zoe's door behind us.

Allie falls asleep quickly and the moonlight bathes her in a silvery glow. When we first started dating, Allie could never sleep with the curtains open and I couldn't sleep with them closed. I'd woken up from a nightmare in the darkness too many times. After I'd explained, Allie had never complained. Our relationship wasn't always easy. Allie was always scared I would leave and I was still healing from the car accident. Throw in the fact that I was also the new CEO of a company I didn't want and our first few months together were pretty rough.

I was always at work and Allie was still setting up her dance studio. I realized that I wasn't doing what I wanted with my life. And I believed that my parents, whatever faults they may have, didn't want that for me. I talked to them about it and it didn't go very well. We didn't speak for a while but they eventually came around and we patched things up. It was actually perfect timing because my dad's replacement was perfectly situated to take over. So, I handed in my resignation and never looked back. Turns out being the CEO of a successful company does wonders for your CV. I got so many job offers that I could actually choose one that I liked instead of one that would pay the bills.