Among All The Stars I Found You Chapter 27
Two years later, I went to Savannah again.
This time, I wasn’t running away.
I was working for an organization that helped single mothers and children in need.
At first, I only volunteered.
Later, I went back to school and learned everything from the ground up, starting as an ordinary case coordinator.
Preston had asked if I wanted to use the Rhodes name.
I refused.
I didn’t want people to trust me because of him.
He didn’t insist.
He just parked a few blocks away every time he came to pick me up from work, so my coworkers wouldn’t recognize his car.
Leo was very unhappy about that.
“Dad, why are you acting like someone who has to be hidden?”
Preston looked at me.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
That line was probably going to follow him for a long time.
That evening, we walked with both children along the Savannah River.
Leo ran ahead, holding his sister’s hand.
Preston took mine.
“When you came here the first time, what were you thinking about?”
“Divorce.”
His hand tightened around mine.
“And now?”
I paused for a few seconds on purpose.
“Now I’m thinking about what to have for dinner.”
He gave me a helpless look.
Leaning against his shoulder, I finally laughed.
After my mother died, I used to think that for the rest of my life, I could only survive by clinging to others.
That was why a slice of cake, a medical bill, a marriage—each one felt like a debt I could never repay.
Now I have my work, my children, and money that is truly my own.
I still love Preston.
But I no longer need his love to prove that I am worthy of being kept.
The sunset spread across the river in strokes of orange and pink.
Leo turned around and shouted for us to hurry up.
I squeezed Preston’s hand and walked toward our children.
This time, no one else was choosing the direction for me.
The life ahead was mine.Â