Chapter 19 - THE CONTRACTThat evening, after Toby had fallen fast asleep in his bedroom upstairs, Nora walked out onto the back patio of the cottage.
Adrien was sitting on the newly finished cedar bench, watching the stars come out over the Ohio countryside.
Nora sat down beside him, setting a single piece of yellow lined notebook paper on his knee.
Adrien picked it up. Written across the top in Nora's neat, elegant handwriting were the words: WILLOW LANE AGREEMENT.
"What's this?" Adrien asked, looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a contract," Nora said, her tone serious, though a faint smile played at the corner of her lips. "I spent six years avoiding promises, Adrien. So if we're going to build a life together, I want the rules clearly stated."
Adrien unfolded the paper and read the handwritten bullet points aloud:
Rule 1: No secret acquisitions. All real estate purchases must be discussed over two-dollar gas station coffee.
Rule 2: Twelve billion dollars stays in the blind trust. We live on what we earn and build together.
Rule 3: You are required to hold the cardboard steady whenever Toby works on a project until the glue is 100% dry.
Rule 4: You never get to sit in the cold rain for three hours again.
Adrien read the last rule twice. He looked up at her, the starlight reflecting in his dark eyes, his chest rising and falling slowly.
"Is there a signature line?" he whispered.
Nora pulled a pen from her pocket and set it on the paper. "Only if you agree to the final clause."
"What's the final clause?"
Nora reached into her pocket, pulled out the tiny plastic ring with the green glass jewel that Toby had given him earlier, and pressed it into his palm.
"That you stay," she whispered.
May you like
Adrien took the pen, pressed the paper against his knee, and signed his name in bold, dark ink: Adrien Cole.
Then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her under the spring stars.
