Nicholas Sparks - Safe Haven

When Katie finished reading the letter, she wiped her tears and ran her finger over the pages before slipping them back into the envelope. She sat quietly, thinking about the words that Jo had written, already knowing she would do exactly as Jo had asked.

Not because of the letter, she thought, but because she knew that in some inexplicable way, Jo was the one who’d gently urged her to give Alex a chance in the first place.

She smiled. “Thank you for trusting me,” she whispered, and she knew that Jo had been right all along. She’d fallen in love with Alex and she’d fallen in love with the children and she already knew that she couldn’t imagine a future without them. It was time to go home, she thought, it was time to see her family.

Outside, the moon was a brilliant white disk that guided her as she made her way toward the jeep. But before climbing in, she glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Jo’s.

The lights were on and the windows of the cottage were glowing yellow. In the painted kitchen, she saw Jo standing near the window. Though she was too far away to make out much more than that, Katie had the sense she was smiling. Jo raised a hand in a friendly farewell, and Katie was reminded again that love can sometimes achieve the impossible.

When Katie blinked, however, the cottage was dark again. No lights were on and Jo had vanished, but she thought she could hear the words in the letter being carried on the gentle breeze.

If Alex has chosen you, then I want you to believe that I have chosen you as well.

Katie smiled and turned away, knowing it wasn’t an illusion or a figment of her imagination. She knew what she saw.

She knew what she believed.