“I did give her an ultimatum,” Robert said. “But only because I want to get married—to her.” He gave her a pointed look.“I had a health scare after your wedding. She had to go through some red tape to see me at one point. It’s not only that, because I can fix that situation legally, but I just want to do something meaningful, be connected to her in a way that no one else is.”
“Yeah,” she cried, wiping her eyes. “But things were so perfect. Marriage only ruins it.”
“Does it look like it’s ruining anything for them?” Robert nodded to us.
“Not now,” she barely got out. “But we’ve both seen what it does. Our parents. Our friends. We were the only ones who never said vows, and we’ve outlasted all of them.”
“Vows aren’t going to change that, Del.”
“Exactly, so why do you need them?”
“I just do. I want to be your man, your husband, not some fuck boy, as the kids call it these days.”
She nodded and turned forward, like she couldn’t bear to look at him when he said the same thing to her for what seemed like the umpteenth time. I wasn’t sure if the fighting this morning was over me and my husband getting involved, or over their relationship.
“No,” she breathed, not looking at him. “You were just my partner. In all things.”
I could have sworn Robert mouthedmarriage won’t change that, but he didn’t say it. I looked away from my friends, the woman who had always been a warm figure in my life, and cleared my throat. My eyes were burning. It was hard to look at two people who seemed to defy all of life and love’s challenges, and then watch as their relationship became a train wreck. Or already was.
Delaney cleared her throat. “Hey, Mae?”
I blinked back the tears and turned to face her.
“There’s something about me you should know. I didn’t tell you because it’s always been easier for me that way. I don’t want you to be mad at Robert. Or even me. You of all people know…things just don’t work out in life sometimes. But that something I never told you about—I got married when I was really young. It wasn’t a good or even decent relationship. I can say this now. He abused me. Physically. Emotionally. In all the ways imaginable. That’s why I fell into romance so hard. I stole a bodice ripper at the grocery store. He couldn’t beat me for it because it wasn’t on the receipt.”
She looked away from me, took a sip of her tea, and seemed to steel herself before she turned back to me. I tried not to make it obvious, how hard I was clutching my husband’s arms.
“The bravest thing I ever did was leave, you know? And I made promises to myself once I did. I’d help other women by giving them the power to read these stories that connected with them on a deeper level. A healing level. That story I stole emboldened me, as silly as it sounds. I gained enough confidence to leave him after I read it. And just for the record, I bought ten of the same book once I was able to and returned them to the store.” She wiped her eyes even though she wasn’t crying, but this part of her story seemed harder for her to share than the first.
“Another promise…I’d never get married again. My parents’ marriage. Mine.” She stuck a thumb at Robert. “His parents. All our friends…just further proof that marriage only dooms us.” She drained her cup and shook her head. She walked over to me and took me from Cian.
We wrapped each other in a tight hug. Tears fell from my eyes. Because I realized…no matter how much you think you know someone, sometimes you never do. I had no clue Delaney had gone through so much.
“Not you, kiddo,” she whispered in my ear. “I can tell. You’ll have the storybook ending we all rush to the last page for. It’ll be devastating in a way mine wasn’t.” She looked at Cian. “Your man knows what I’m talking about.”
The kitchen grew quiet, and as Delaney pulled away, Cian cleared his throat.
“I’ll kill him,” he said evenly.
Delaney and I both looked at him. I was usually pretty good at understanding everything my husband said, even without words, but this time, I was as lost as Delaney was, and he was using words.
He nodded to Robert. “He hurts you, or tries to run after you’re married, I’ll kill him.”
Delaney looked me in the eyes. She wanted me to tell her he wasn’t being for real, but he was. I could only shrug.
Robert stood from his chair. “I’m good with that.”
“What?” Delaney whirled to face him.
“Just what I said. If I’m willing to put my heart on the block, I’m willing to put my life on the same one.”
“This is ridiculous!” Her eyes searched, and landing on Keenan, she said, “Mind giving me a ride home?”
Robert stepped up in front of her before she could rush out of the door. She lifted her arms, like she was going to push against his chest to get him to move, but he wrapped her wrists in what didn’t seem like a strong hold, and after a second, her head came down to his chest and she started to cry. He wrapped her up in his arms, and they left.
I turned and wrapped my arms around my husband, holding him as tightly as I could. He gave me a hard kiss to the top of the head, but it only seemed like he was fazed by all of this because I was. He had no intentions of ever letting me go.
Suddenly his body froze, and when I didn’t move, he turned me around.
