Always and Forever

Her parents had loved each other immensely. In an age when arranged marriages were still common, they’d had a love match and didn’t care who knew. On more than a few occasions the adolescent Grace had come into a room to find her smiling mother standing in the circle of her father’s arms. She’d even seen them sneaking kisses in the kitchen. Watching them bask in their love made Grace grow up wanting to have a marriage just as special, but now she knew it would never be.