The evening air in Napa Valley felt different this time—gentler, warmer, like the world knew something important was about to happen.
Jake had rented the same secluded vineyard house where Samantha had first allowed herself to laugh again.
Where she had first breathed without pain.
Where she had unknowingly let him in.
The sun was setting, casting gold across the vines as Samantha stepped out of the car in a simple black dress. No jewelry. No mask.
Just her.
Jake waited beneath the wooden pergola wrapped in white lights, hands hidden behind his back, heart hammering like the first confession of a lifetime.
Samantha approached slowly.
"You brought me back here," she murmured.
Jake smiled softly.
"You said this was the first place you didn't feel like a ghost."
She inhaled, realizing he remembered everything.
Every word she never thought mattered.
