Four twenty-five.
“Cal,” Chance said softly. “Maybe?—”
“She’ll be here,” I insisted, though the conviction in my voice had waned. “She has to be.”
But even as I said it, doubt crept in. I had hurt her. Deeply. Why would she forgive that? Why would she take a chance on someone who had dismissed something she found fundamental? Why would she show up for someone who had called what we shared “just a good time”?
Four thirty.
I really was an idiot.
The string quartet had cycled through their repertoire and were now repeating selections, their glances toward me growing increasingly uncomfortable. Ms. Windsor hovered at the periphery, clearly contemplating some kind of intervention. I tried to keep my chin tall as my attention remained glued to the wall of hedges at the back. But it was clear at that point.
Anica wasn’t coming.
I really had lost her for good.
“I think,” I said finally, my voice cracking as I struggled to keep the hurt contained, “we should?—”
The music changed.
It happened so suddenly that at first I thought I’d imagined it. The quartet shifted seamlessly into the processional we’d selected months ago. A collective rustle passed through the guests as heads turned toward the back.
Mari and Devonna, both in simple blue dresses, walked down the aisle arm in arm looking equal parts surprised and delighted to be there. Devonna gave me a look that clearly communicated “hurt her and they’ll never find your body,” while Mari winked at me.
But I couldn’t focus on them, couldn’t focus on anything but the woman who’d just appeared at the end of the aisle.
Anica stood beneath a second archway, illuminated by the golden late-afternoon sun, wearing the dress that had stolen mybreath the first time I saw her in it. It did it again. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs had completely rejected the notion that they were supposed to work. I choked and made what was definitely one of the most pathetic sounds I’d ever made.
But, fuck, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever been lucky enough to lay eyes on.
The simple, elegant ivory silk that followed the curves of her body before flowed gracefully to the ground. Her dark hair had been swept up, a few tendrils framing her face. She looked nervous, determined, and so stunning it physically hurt to look at her.
Next to her, Anica’s father patted her arm–when had he slipped away without me noticing? The sneaky bastard. They began their walk down the aisle. Each step she took toward me felt like a miracle, a gift I didn’t deserve.
Shit. A tear escaped down my cheek, and I wiped it away with the back of my hand hoping no one noticed. All eyes better be on Anica. How could they not be? My goddess was radiant.
When she reached me, our gazes locked, and the rest of the world faded away. I thought that was just a cliché lovesick fools talked about. But no. There were no guests, no friends, no string quartet.
Just us, standing face to face after everything that had happened.
God, I’d missed her.
“Sorry I’m late. There were ducks.”
“Fucking ducks.” I choked on something between a laugh and a whimper.
Her father passed her over to me, kissing her cheek and placing her hand in mine. I nodded once to him, watching as he went to sit back down by her mother, who was crying silent tears with a wide smile. He kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her.
Anica followed my gaze and squeezed my hand. “Thank you for that. For them.”
I squeezed her hand back. “You came,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I didn’t want to waste a good dress,” she replied, smoothing the fabric with her other trembling hand. “And Mari said if I didn’t show up after all this drama, she’d repost my college karaoke video where I massacred ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ while wearing a feather boa and a criminal amount of body glitter.”
Another laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep inside me, relief and joy mingling into something that felt dangerously close to uncontrollable tears. “I would pay good money to see that video.”
“You can’t afford it,” she quipped, her eyes shining. “Besides, you look like you’ve been standing here for days.”
