I Met My Husband's Fiancée – Story of the Day

Lana is crushed when she bumps into her husband outside the grocery store and discovers he's engaged to his obviously pregnant mistress. She hops into a cab and ends up at the mercy of the handsome driver, who takes her on a life-changing journey.

Lana walked her shopping cart up and down the aisles of the grocery store and tried to shake the gloom out of her thoughts. She'd been deeply troubled ever since she read an article about depression in a magazine that morning.

Feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, irritability, tearfulness, sleeping too much, loss of interest in things that used to give her pleasure, lack of energy...the list of symptoms went on and on, and Lana checked the box for most of them.

She stopped in the fresh produce section and leaned on her cart as she stared at the bins of fresh fruit and veggies. She'd tried telling herself that it was just a silly article in a magazine, but she could no longer ignore the fact that everything she'd read fit the way she'd been feeling lately. Lana was depressed, and she didn't know what to do about it.

For a long time, she'd managed to balance the joyless mundanities of married life by finding pleasure and a sense of purpose in her weekly volunteer work, get-togethers with the other women in her neighborhood, and crafting projects. For the past few months, however, it had all seemed pointless.

She sighed as she realized she'd been staring at a single lettuce for way longer than was necessary. She didn't even need lettuce. Lana checked her shopping list and wearily moved on. She'd thought it might help shake things up if she went shopping at a different grocery store, but it wasn't helping.

A while later, Lana left the mall with a bag filled with groceries. She'd bought a French baguette, a tenderloin roast for her husband Zane's dinner that evening, and a supply of his favorite variety of apples. She'd also bought herself chocolate, but now she regretted it. After all, it wasn't like she'd done anything to deserve the treat.

She looked up as she headed for her car and was struck by how late it was. It was around midday when she got here, but the sun was now low in the sky. It didn't make sense. How long had she been in the store?

As Lana was puzzling over this thought, somebody slammed into her from behind. Her groceries spilled from the bag, and apples rolled all over the parking lot.

She turned in shock to confront the person who'd bumped into her, but all the shocked anger she felt gave way when she recognized the tiny scar at the back of the man's neck and the faded spot on his upturned collar.

"I'm so sorry—" her husband, Zane, broke off when he recognized Lana.

The heavy weight Lana had been carrying all day threatened to drown her in its darkness as she stared at her husband and the beautiful woman walking arm-in-arm with him.

Lana wanted to be wrong, but the guilty look on Zane's face spoke volumes. She couldn't deny what she'd seen, and there was no reasonable explanation for why her husband would be walking around so intimately with this woman. Her husband was having an affair.

"What the heck is going on here?" Lana demanded.

It sounded stupid to ask when the answer was obvious, but it was the first thing that sprang to mind. Zane glanced at the woman beside him and then back at Lana. The shock on his face quickly turned to outrage.

"What are you doing here?" Zane asked. "You don't usually shop at this store."

"I'm buying you groceries, you colossal jerk!" Lana threw the grocery bag at Zane's chest.

Zane threw up his hands, and the grocery bag fell, landing at his feet. While he protested, Lana glared at the woman accompanying him. She was at least ten years younger than Lana, dressed in a fine woolen coat and wearing a knitted dress that stylishly displayed her prominently rounded belly.

"She's pregnant!" Lana exclaimed.

The woman smirked and flipped her coat aside to show off her baby bump even more. The confidence Lana read in her face when they locked gazes made her sick to her stomach.

"No, she's not pregnant," Zane replied, "she's just...she's chubby."

"Hey!" Zane's mistress lightly slapped his shoulder, but she looked directly at Lana as she continued. "That's no way to talk about your child."

Lana's heart shattered. The way the woman said that told her two devastating things: this woman knew Zane was married, and he'd told her that Lana couldn't have children.

The woman smiled cruelly as she placed her hands on her belly, exaggerating the gesture to draw attention to the diamond ring on her finger. Lana's jaw dropped.

"She's got an engagement ring! And her stone is bigger than mine! What the heck is that supposed to mean? Are you planning on becoming a bigamist now, Zane?"

The woman ran her hands up Zane's arm as she studied Lana. Zane hooked his arm around her waist, an absent-minded gesture, and glared at Lana.

"Honey, just pick up the groceries, go home, and make me dinner, okay?" he snapped.

Lana couldn't believe what she was hearing or what she was seeing. "I'm not going home!" she shouted. "It's over between us."

Zane let out an incredulous laugh. "Really? And where are you gonna go? You're nothing, Lana, just another housewife who can't stand on her own two feet."

The dam walls broke and buried Lana beneath a flood of dark hopelessness. Everything Zane had just said was true. They both knew it, but to have him laugh at her while pointing it out in such a public space, in front of his darn mistress, was devastating.

"I'll go anywhere," she replied, "all that matters is that you aren't there, you pig."

Lana whirled away. A taxi had just pulled up to the curb, and she stomped toward it.

"Hey, that's my taxi!" Zane's mistress shouted indignantly.

"Well, that's my husband, so we're even," Lana snapped back. She pulled the taxi door open and stepped inside.

"Get back here!" Zane stomped after her.

Lana hastily pulled on the door to shut it, but Zane was too fast. He caught the door, forced it open, and leaned inside. Lana jerked away from him as he spoke right in her face.

"You know what? You're going to come crawling back to me, begging for forgiveness," Zane said, his mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. "So, let's skip all this melodrama. Be a good little wifey and do as you're told."

"I told you, we're done!" Lana replied, her voice shaking as tears spilled down over her cheeks.

"Oh, go home and cook me dinner." Zane retreated and slammed the car door shut.

Sitting in the back of the cab that day, I thought my life was over. I knew that Zane and I didn't have a perfect marriage, but I believed we were stable in our routines, that one day, I'd snap out of my gloom, and life would be comfortable again. The spark might've died a long time ago, but I never thought he could be so cruel.

Where could I go from here? I'd married Zane briefly after graduating high school. He was older than me, a hot college guy I met at some party, and he promised to look after me. He said I'd never need to worry because he would provide for me for the rest of our lives.

I hated myself for believing him, and I hated myself even more for not realizing he'd been having an affair all this time. The world had just crumbled beneath my feet, and as much as I hated to admit it, Zane was right.

Lana saw Zane kissing his mistress in the cab's mirror and broke down sobbing. She heard the driver clear his throat and looked up as he offered her a box of tissues.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said sheepishly. "Where can I take you?"

"I'm a 36-year-old woman, and I devoted the last 18 years of my life to my husband," Lana told him. "I'm nothing without him, and I have nowhere to go."

"Oh, come on!" he replied. "You're not just an add-on to your husband."

"What am I cut out to be, then? Just a divorcee? And everyone will start talking about me behind my back if they aren't already..."

"Nonsense!" He turned to look at me in the backseat. "You're a beautiful woman, and you're not going to be alone...not for long, anyway."

"Yeah, because I'm going back to my husband, just like he predicted. Nobody else wants me, and I won't be able to survive without him," Lana replied.

"Are you sure about that?" The driver asked.

"What else can I do? I hate what Zane did to me, but I either go back to him and make his darn dinner, or I live homeless on the street."

The driver was still for a few moments. Lana was grateful not to have to face any more of his awkward, challenging questions and sobbed freely into the tissue he'd given her. She snapped out of it only when he started the car.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lana straightened up and glanced frantically at the driver. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he replied.

He pulled away from the curb and sped out of the parking lot. She glanced back, but Zane and his mistress had vanished. Lana was now alone in the cab with the driver, headed to a destination unknown. Nobody knew where she was or where she was headed either.

Lana turned back to the front and used the rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of the driver's face. He had kind eyes and a rugged, outdoorsy handsomeness. He looked like a good person, but wasn't that what everyone said after people turned out to be mass murderers or serial killers?

Part of Lana's brain felt certain she should be worried as the cab followed the flow of traffic through an intersection and turned onto a main road that headed out of town, but mostly, she just felt numb. Maybe she should've been trying to escape, but it seemed like nothing this man might do to her could be worse than how she felt already.

The driver was quiet for the entire drive. He used a number of alternative routes to cross the city, and soon, we were leaving the quiet suburban houses and gleaming skyscrapers behind us.

He brought me to the woods. Tall trees covered in golden fall foliage lined the narrow road. As time passed, I snapped out of my stupor and grew increasingly worried about my situation.

I took out my phone, thinking maybe I could text Zane to let him know what was happening, but I didn't have even a single bar of reception.

It was really just me and this strange man out here all alone. We were hours away from the city, and I hadn't seen any signs of human habitation for miles when he turned down a winding track that took us deep into the forest.

We were out in the middle of nowhere, and my fate rested entirely in the hands of the cab driver.

The driver stopped outside a small house at the end of the track. Lana thought it was a cabin at first, but then she realized it was more like a large tent set up on a log platform. He climbed out of the car and came around to open Lana's door.

"Get out," he said.

"What?" Lana stared up at him as a wave of fear crashed over her. "Why...where are we, and where are you taking me?"

"Get out," he repeated, giving her a strangely blank look. "I'll show you why we're here, just follow me."

Lana was uncertain about the whole situation, but staying in the car wouldn't do anything to help her. She hesitantly stepped out.

The man immediately started walking away. Lana glanced out at the trees surrounding them. The woods thinned out in front of her. Maybe she could run off and get away from this stranger, but what then? She still had nowhere to go, and with his rugged physique, the driver could easily catch her if he wanted to.

In fact, he could easily have tossed her over his shoulder and carried her off if he wanted to, but he didn't. He wasn't trying to force her to do anything, and Lana didn't understand it at all.

"But what do you want with me?" Lana asked as she followed him. "I've got a ring; it's genuine gold with a real diamond. It might be smaller than the one Zane gave that hussy, but it's still worth a lot of money."

They'd reached the cabin now. The stranger stopped near the chopping block where a pile of wood and an ax waited. He glanced down at Lana's ring with an amused smile.

"My husband has a lot of money," Lana continued. "He'll pay up if it's a ransom you're after."

"We both know he won't." He leaned over, grabbed the ax, and lifted it in one fluid motion. "Didn't you say your husband doesn't want you?"

Lana's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the stranger in front of her and the sharp-looking ax in his hands.

At that moment, Lana knew without a doubt that she was completely and utterly broken and possibly insane. Why else would she feel a rush of attraction for a man she suspected wished her nothing but harm?

In her heart, she didn't truly think this man would hurt her, but what did she know? She'd never thought Zane would cheat on her either, and she'd been profoundly wrong about that.

"Please, wait." Lana raised her hands in front of her, partly as a shield and partly to show her surrender.

The man shook his head slightly and looked quizzically at her.

"What's wrong with you?" He gestured to the woodpile with his ax. "We need some wood. It's going to get cold later."

"What?" Lana paused as her thoughts struggled to switch from fearing imminent death at the hands of an ax-wielding cabbie to splitting logs for a fire. "Why did you bring me here?"

The man frowned and let out a sigh. He embedded the ax in the chopping block and turned toward the steps leading up to the log platform.

"Come," he said. "I want to show you something."

He stood at the railing and stared out at the trees growing near the tent cabin. When Lana approached him, he nodded at a nearby pine.

"That's what I wanted to show you," he said.

He seemed almost mesmerized by the tree and stared at it with a mixture of reverence, fear, and hope. Lana was a city girl through and through and knew little about the outdoors, but she studied the tree anyway. There had to be something special about it for this man to bring her all this way so he could show it to her.

But the longer Lana looked at it, the more she realized that it looked just like any other pine tree. She didn't understand what she was missing, and it frustrated her.

"You wanted to show me a tree?" she asked. "Who cares about a tree?"

Lana turned and started to walk away, but what he said next shocked her to the core.

"This is the tree I planned to use to take my own life," he said softly.

Lana turned and stared at him in horror. He met her gaze calmly, seemingly unmoved by the heavy confession he'd just laid on her. She couldn't imagine him ever reaching such a dark and desperate place, but she understood it.

"You see," he continued, "I loved my wife very much. We were together for fifteen years when I caught her cheating on me with my boss. Seeing them together like that...it destroyed me. I saw no reason to move on."

It was like he'd given voice to the tumultuous feelings inside Lana's own heart. Everything changed at that moment. She studied the cab driver in a new light now that she knew he'd experienced the same pain she was now feeling.

More than that, she couldn't imagine this gentleman had ever treated his wife as badly as Zane had treated her. Somehow, she just knew that he hadn't deserved to suffer such a betrayal any more than she had.

"What stopped you?" she asked as she retraced her steps to stand at his side.

"The woods," he replied. "You see, I realized that even if you lose everything, that doesn't mean your life is over. I've seen trees fall in this forest after storms and start growing back from the stumps. Mushrooms grow in the deadwood, and birds and chipmunks will build their homes there. It's beautiful how life carries on. And I just figured that I don't need to rush."

Lana gazed out at the trees. She waited and hoped that she'd feel some semblance of the experience he'd just described or even something else that might give her a reason to go on. She wanted some guidance, a compass needle she could follow, but the woods gave her nothing.

"Well, I'm glad you found a way forward but I don't know what I'm going to do now," Lana replied.

"For starters, you can take a walk in the woods with me," he said.

He offered Lana his hand. She was deeply hurt by Zane's betrayal, but as Lana looked into this strange man's eyes, she felt almost overwhelmed by the kindness and support that flowed from him.

She placed her hand in his and let him take her where he willed.

We silently walked through the forest, and he showed me his world. He would point out a bird to me as it whistled from the boughs of a tree or beckon me closer to smell the fragrant leaves of a shrub. He paused sometimes and stared out over the flowers growing beneath the trees, and I'd stop beside him to admire the view.

The forest was full of simple but amazing things. It was incredible to witness the subtle yet profound way the light changed as the sun sank lower in the sky and cast the more thickly forested areas into deeper shadows while bathing the more open areas in a gorgeous, golden glow.

He gave me a knowing smile as he veered off the track and crouched beside a rotting log. I stared at the young saplings growing from the trunk, some of them almost as thick as my wrist. I felt a smile growing on my face as I felt the sense of hope he'd mentioned before filling my heart. Maybe this stranger was right, and life could go on for me, too.

He rose a few minutes later and showed me the basket full of mushrooms he'd foraged from the dead tree. I laughed, and that made him smile. He took my hand then and led me to a thick tangle of berry brambles. He carefully selected several of the fruits and fed them to me.

I hadn't enjoyed life as much as I did that day in a long time. Being out there, under the trees with him, was a breath of fresh air, both literally and figuratively. I felt good with this stranger, and something about him made it a little easier to set my problems aside for a while. At this stranger's side, the gloom I'd felt weighing me down for so long seemed lighter.

Eventually, the trail through the forest led Lana and her mysterious stranger back to his home. It was almost sunset by that time, and the sun's rays cut through the trees. He gave Lana the basket of mushrooms he'd gathered and asked her to take them in while he split some logs.

They ate a simple but tasty meal together, and then he led Lana down to the lake shore. He built a fire on the sand, and they sat there together, toasting marshmallows and watching the sparks from the fire flicker into the sky.

"I guess girls like you are used to drinking fine wine from fancy glasses, but..." he popped the cap off a bottle of beer and offered it to her.

"I think it's time I change my habits anyhow." Lana smiled as she accepted the beer.

He chuckled. Lana sipped at the beer and turned to look at him. Their gazes met, and Lana felt...something. It began as a warmth around her heart and spread through her chest, into her belly, and down to the very end of each limb. She couldn't put a name to the feeling, but it reminded her of the moment the first spring blossoms poked through winter's last snowfall.

Something about this man made her feel like she'd come back to life after a hibernation she hadn't even realized she was experiencing. It was clear he also felt something for her as he leaned in closer.

But Lana panicked and turned away. This was all so new, unexpected, and strange. Zane was the only man she'd ever been with, apart from some awkward fumblings with boyfriends when she was a teenager. Lana didn't know how to navigate this situation or if she should rein in the powerful feelings in her heart.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, staring into the fire. "This has been a crazy day for you and I didn't mean...the last thing I'd want to do is make everything worse."

"On the contrary, you're the only man in the last fifteen years who's brought some perspective into my life, the only one who's shown me that I can have a life. I..."

Lana let her words trail off. As she gazed into this stranger's eyes, she knew that she didn't need to say anything more. He understood her pain and how she felt at that moment—she knew that without a doubt, just as she knew what was in his heart by the way he looked at her.

No, she wasn't going to fight what was burning inside her. Why should she? She owed Zane nothing, and this right here was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Lana wasn't going to let life pass her by anymore.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling as she bridged the gap between them and pressed her lips against his. It seemed as if all of Lana's life narrowed into that single, electrifying moment like everything that had ever happened to her had been intended to lead her here, to him.

They stared into each other's eyes when the kiss ended, smiles on their faces. There was a warmth between them that had nothing to do with the fire or the narrow space between his body and hers.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she confessed, "it just feels...I don't think I can even explain it, but being here with you..."

"Feels right," he said. "I know...I feel it too. I hope you know that I never meant for things to happen like this when I brought you out here. I just wanted to help you, not take advantage, but now we're here, I..."

His sigh blew across her lips as he trailed off. Lana knew what he meant. She also would never have imagined she'd end this awful day by sitting on the lake shore with a handsome man, fighting to contain her attraction for him.

"I want what you want," Lana whispered. "I know it's crazy, but maybe I need a little more crazy in my life."

He chuckled and closed the gap between them, his body pressing against hers as he kissed her. It was different this time, and they both felt it. Where that first kiss had been spontaneous and filled with affection, this one had a hunger underlying it that neither one of them could deny.

He carried me back to his home and set me down gently on his bed. I felt as nervous as a virgin when he joined me there, but his sweet kisses soon left me feeling nothing but joy. The feel of his strong hands sliding beneath the fabric of my clothes to gently trace along my side filled me with anticipation.

In his warm and tender embrace, I finally felt like a woman, not just a servant bound by duty to fulfill my husband's needs and desires. When he stripped away my last item of clothing and told me how beautiful I was, it sounded almost like a prayer.

I didn't even know his name, but this man gave himself to me body and soul that night, and I gave myself to him with the same unfettered passion. Every touch was fire, and every kiss was electric, but underneath it all, being with him was pure, sweet, and tender.

Zane had never made me feel like that in bed, and he was the only man I'd been with before that night. I couldn't stop smiling or looking at him afterward when I lay nestled in his arms. I watched him fall asleep with a smile on his face and couldn't help but wonder if this was what love was meant to be like.

The next morning, Lana sat on the small porch in front of his cabin tent with a cup of coffee cradled in her hands and watched the darkness of night give way to the light of a new day.

The man emerged from his home carrying a suitcase. He set it down near the steps and then came to join her on the swing seat. He smiled sheepishly as he eased down beside her and reached out to run his fingers over her arm.

"Are you going somewhere?" Lana asked.

He glanced at his suitcase regretfully. "Yeah, actually, I'm going to Brazil."

"And you're leaving today?" she asked. Her heart panged uncomfortably at the thought of him leaving, but she brushed the feeling aside.

"I have to." He smiled at her and ran his fingers through her hair. "You should come with me."

"I can't come with you!" Lana averted her gaze.

Lana would certainly never forget her walk through the forest with this cab driver or the passionate night that had followed it, but everything was happening far too fast. Her heart was telling her one thing, but it would be completely irrational to abandon her whole life to run off to Brazil with this stranger.

"Why not? You said you were finally happy," he replied.

Lana scoffed. "Yes, but it's only for one day."

"Why settle for one day when your whole life could be filled with happy moments like that?"

Lana's breath caught in her throat. He smiled at her with such gentle affection that she couldn't deny the meaning beneath his simple question. His eyes held an open sincerity and a vow that held more power than any of the offhand promises that Zane had made to her when they married.

"Unless you want to go back to your husband and cook his daily dinner." He looked away then as though it hurt him to say those words.

Lana sat up as the weight of the moment settled on her shoulders. She wanted more of this strange, wonderful man, but to go with him to Brazil was crazy. He'd been nothing but kind to her so far, but she couldn't risk everything for a stranger.

Her marriage to Zane was far from perfect, but she also couldn't just ignore the fact that they were married. The previous night, Zane would've returned home to a dark house and no dinner. The experience might've taught him a lesson. Maybe he'd learn to appreciate her now.

Lana looked at the driver. He was still staring off into the distance with a serious look on his face, his fingers still idly combing through her hair. She wished more than anything that they could've met at a better time, under better circumstances, anything that would've made it easier for her to accept his invitation.

She leaned over and kissed him. She knew what she had to do and that it wouldn't be easy for either of them, but she hoped that her kiss could tell him what was in her heart more completely than her words.

When she pulled away, he looked into her eyes sadly and nodded.

That night, Lana cooked stew for Zane and set it on the table at precisely 6 pm. He hadn't said anything to her since he returned home from work and found her in the kitchen. In fact, he'd barely even looked at her.

Lana sat at the table and looked on as Zane poked his fork into a piece of potato and popped it into his mouth. His face fell, and he rolled his eyes as he chewed. He swallowed it quickly and dropped his fork onto the plate as he turned to Lana.

"It's cold. Can you heat it up, please?" he asked.

Lana smiled. "Can you not have a mistress?"

Zane laughed. "Sure, I'll break up with her tomorrow, okay? Now can you heat up my dinner?"

His sarcastic tone cut through the last of Lana's disillusionments. The careless, offhand manner he made that statement made Lana realize that he wouldn't hesitate to throw his mistress away like a used tissue once he got bored of her. It probably wouldn't be the first time either, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

"She's pregnant," Lana snarled.

"So? What, do you want me to take the baby away from her? Do you want to play mommy to my mistress's kid?" Zane pulled a face as he spoke in a mocking tone. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Since you can't have kids of your own."

Lana leaned away as Zane's casual cruelty sliced into her heart. She couldn't believe that she'd married such an awful man or committed so much of her life to him before realizing what a jerk he was.

"And if you get bored, or can't handle it, we'll just give the little brat back, right? Does that make you happy, Lana? I'll do whatever you want, just give me my darn dinner. My warm dinner!"

"How can you live like this?" Lana asked. "How can you—"

"Hey," Zane interrupted, "I've got one life, and I'm going to live it at my pleasure, you understand me? And for me, pleasure is when you're at home, waiting for me with a warm dinner, served with a smile on your face, okay? We're both comfortable with that, aren't we, sweetie?"

Lana had been playing with her wedding ring while Zane delivered his little speech. As she looked at her husband's smug face, she couldn't help thinking about what the driver had said when she first climbed into his cab about how she wasn't just an add-on to her husband.

Her meeting with the stranger had changed Lana forever, and her past life didn't suit her anymore. She removed Zane's plate of food from the table, took it to the kitchen, and tossed it in the trash.

Lana dumped the empty plate down in front of Zane and smiled sweetly at him.

"You're right, honey," Lana said. "And since this is my life, I'm going to live it at my pleasure!"

She removed her wedding ring and threw it down on the table. It clinked as it bounced off his plate. Lana made a detour on her way to the door to lean in close to Zane.

"By the way," she said, "I went to the lake last night, and I slept with a cab driver. It was the most amazing night of my life."

"What!" Zane exploded from his seat at the head of the table. "What did you say? Hey, get back here."

Lana marched out her front door with nothing but the clothes on her back. She wasn't sure where life would take her now, but when she stepped out into the street and looked into her lover's eyes, she knew she'd made the right choice.

"Thank you for giving me the time I needed to sort things out," she said.

"Sure." He smiled at her, but his eyes were clouded by uncertainty. "So...you aren't carrying a suitcase. I guess that means you're not coming with me."

He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets as he turned to stare at the house.

"Hey." Lana reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Why would I need a suitcase? On the beach, in Brazil?"

He glanced sideways at her now, and the beginnings of a smile curled the corners of his mouth. His brow furrowed as he looked down at her with confusion.

"I'm wearing my bikini under here." Lana grinned as she pulled at her coat lapels.

The driver grinned broadly, and that wonderful, tender look returned to his eyes. Her heart filled with joy to see him so happy. It felt like everything was right with the world when he looked at her like that.

"Take me to my new life," Lana said as she leaned in to kiss him.

His arms wrapped around her, and butterflies exploded in Lana's belly. Being in his arms felt like a world of its own, a place where everything was right and nothing but happiness could exist.

When they broke away for air, Lana rested her forehead against his. She smiled as she looked deeply into his eyes.

"I've been meaning to ask you," she whispered, "what is your name?"

The driver laughed and kissed her again.

I took a huge leap of faith that day, and I never regretted it. It was strange at first getting used to being with this man I barely knew, but we took it one day at a time. Jared (that was my strange cab driver's name) was always there to support me and showed his affection and appreciation for me in a thousand different ways.

Every day was a new adventure with him, and every night I spent in his arms was heaven. We lived together in a houseboat and found work in town. Our lives were simple, but we were very happy. I filed for divorce a month after we arrived.

It's been two years now, and I still get butterflies when Jared kisses me. I still can't stop smiling when I look at him. We fit together like we were destined for each other.

The sunset over the ocean is the only decoration the beach offers on our wedding day, and it's perfect. I giggle as I walk barefoot across the sand toward him, unable to contain my joy.

This time, when the priest says the wedding vows, I know it will be forever.

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If you enjoyed this story, here's another one: Anne can't wait to find out if her baby is a boy or a girl. Surrounded by close friends and family, she pops the balloon her husband offers her, only to find a deeply disturbing message hidden inside. Read the full story here.

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