Prologue

PROLOGUE

“Was it as good as you thought it would be?” he whispered; his forehead pressed against mine as we both struggled to regain our breath.

“Better,” I replied, my hand stroking his face. “So much better, Levi, than I ever thought it would be. I love you.”

“I love you more, Emerie,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. “You looked beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you got to take leave before being shipped off so you could take me,” I stated.

“I promised I would take you.”

He had said that very thing, that day when he left for basic training. Swore he’d come back to take me to my prom, and even though contact was limited during that long eight weeks, he’d still made it home. Even though he was three years older; twenty to my seventeen; we’d always known we’d end up being together. I knew he wanted to make a career of the Navy and he was leaving to go to BUD/s training to become a Navy Seal. While I was worried, I knew that our future would be spent traveling the world, because as soon as I graduated, we were going to get married and start our lives together.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I’d walk across the stage at graduation, a newborn baby girl in my arms as I accepted my diploma.

Too bad her father never got to meet her.