“That said, if my party were to nominate me, and if you, my fellow Americans, were to elect me to a full term, I would willingly accept that honor and continue as your president for four more years. I will not campaign. I will not raise money. I will not travel around the country, asking you to give me a full term. That, my friends, will be entirely up to you. If all I ever get are the next three years to serve my country and its citizens, I’ll consider that to be the honor of my lifetime. Thank you for your attention tonight, and for your support and encouragement as my family and I embark on this incredible adventure. I look forward to serving you with humility and grace and an optimistic view of the future.

“May God continue to bless our troops stationed around the world, as well as all of you, my fellow citizens, and the United States of America.”

Nick was surprised as most of the room stood to cheer.

When he glanced up at Sam, he caught her wiping tears from her face as she smiled and accepted congratulations on his behalf from Gloria and the others seated with her.

If she was proud of him, he’d already succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Epilogue

When you couldn’t wait for something to happen, time slowed to a crawl. At least that’s how it seemed to Brooke as she counted down the days to her weekend with Nate. With each day that passed, she became less nervous and more excited to spend time alone with him. He’d sworn to her that if all they did was hold hands, he’d be happy because he got to be with her.

How lucky was she to have found a man who understood that trauma wasn’t something you just “got over” on some preexisting timeline? Her trauma was as much a part of who she was now as the blood that ran through her veins. There would be no “getting over it.” Not now, not ten years from now, not ever.

It’d taken a lot of therapy to understand that new reality after the attack, but because she’d done the work (well, her parents had made her do it), she felt like maybe she might be ready to move into a genuine relationship. But that was only possible because the other person in that relationship would be Nate, whom she’d come to trust implicitly.

He was patient, kind, understanding, indulgent and sweet—always sweet. He’d worn down her defenses over months of texts, calls, FaceTime conversations and a few strictly platonic in-person meetings, as if he’d known that pushing her for too much too soon would only push her away.

He got her, and that was such a priceless gift.