“Yep, though I teach English now instead of history,” he said with a laugh.
“English? What happened to history?”
“Turns out I’m better at Shakespeare than the Civil War,” he joked, his laughter warm and familiar.
Over the following weeks, casual chats turned into coffee dates, which evolved into dinners. By our third dinner, in a cozy bistro with candlelight casting soft shadows, I realized I was falling for him. The seven-year age gap didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was the way he listened and believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself.
“You’ve always had a way of seeing the bigger picture,” he told me one evening. “I know you’re going to do incredible things.”
A year later, under twinkling fairy lights in my parents’ backyard, I slid a ring onto his finger. It wasn’t the life I had imagined for myself, but it was everything I never knew I needed.
After the wedding, as we sat alone in the living room, Leo handed me a small, worn notebook. “I thought you might want this.”
I opened it and froze. It was my old dream journal from his class, filled with teenage aspirations of traveling the world, starting a business, and making a difference.
“You kept this?” I asked, stunned.
“I found it when I switched schools,” he said. “I couldn’t throw it away—it was too good.”
I flipped through the pages, overwhelmed. “This is just the ramblings of a kid.”
“No,” he said gently. “It’s the blueprint for your future. You just needed to see it again.”
With his encouragement, I dusted off those dreams. I quit the job I didn’t love and poured myself into a passion project—a bookstore café. Leo stood by me through every challenge, his belief in me unwavering.
On opening day, as the scent of coffee and fresh books filled the air, I watched our dream come to life. It wasn’t just a business—it was a space where stories, both written and lived, could unfold.
Now, sitting behind the counter, I watch Leo help our toddler pick up crayons from the floor. He glances up and catches my eye.
“What’s that look for?” he asks, smiling.
“Just thinking,” I reply, my heart full. “I really did marry the right teacher.”
He grins. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”