Paula finally explained that the lake wasn’t random at all. It was where Steven had proposed to me thirty-one years earlier, standing on a dock as the sun disappeared across the water. He had chosen that photograph as his laptop password clue because the entire surprise was meant to bring us back to where our marriage began. Sitting on the stairs, I started laughing through my tears. For days, every clue had seemed to point toward betrayal, when Steven had actually been planning one of the most loving surprises of our marriage.

That evening, I confessed everything to Steven, including how close I’d come to believing he was marrying someone else. He held me tightly and apologized for letting the secrecy frighten me so badly. Three weeks later, I walked down the aisle at the marina wearing the ivory dress Paula had secretly modeled. Our children flew in from opposite coasts, old friends filled the seats, and Paula cried harder than anyone. Steven read vows he’d rewritten eleven times before finally deciding they were right. Then I took the custom gold band and carefully slid it onto his injured finger. For the first time in fifteen years, my husband wore his wedding ring home. The following weekend, his friends finally gave him the fishing trip they’d pretended to take—and this time, I smiled when he packed his bags.