The Two of Us
The short version: a borrowed umbrella, a bookshop, and eight years of everything after. The longer version, in chapters —
2019
We met in the doorway of a bookshop in a downpour, both pretending to browse the sale table while waiting out the rain. Noah offered to share his umbrella. Leah pointed out it was broken. We walked twelve blocks under a broken umbrella anyway, and got completely soaked, and got coffee, and that was that.
2021
Our first place together had a floor so slanted that a dropped orange would roll to the kitchen on its own. We loved it beyond reason. It’s where we learned to cook for each other, adopted Juniper the cat, and discovered that neither of us will ever agree about how to load a dishwasher.
2024
We started dreaming about the next chapter — a fresh start somewhere warm. Phoenix kept coming up in conversation, and eventually it became real. We're heading out west after the wedding, ready for desert sunsets and new adventures.
2026
You can read exactly how that happened on the next page. Spoiler: she said yes. So did he, technically, about four seconds later.