She didn’t look relieved.
She looked resigned.
That should have stopped me.
Instead, I said nothing.
Because stopping meant acknowledging that I cared how she felt.
And I don’t know what to do with that.
When Claire returned with the officiant, I saw Lucy’s composure fracture.
Just slightly.
Her eyes flicked to me, wide for half a second, and I knew,knew, she hadn’t understood that this was happening today. Panic flared across her face like a fault line.
I could have stopped it.
One word would have done it.
Wait.
Instead, I asked, “What did you expect?”
The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back.
Not because they were cruel.
Because they were defensive.
Because they were a wall.
Theo said her name, softly, uncertain, and something about the sound of it from him made my jaw tighten.
Lucy closed her eyes. For a heartbeat, I thought she was going to say no. That she was going to walk out. That she was going to look at me and tell me she couldn’t do this.
And God help me... I would have let her.
I would have told everyone to leave.
I would have told her we could do this any way she wanted.
Courthouse. Church. Waiting. Never.
I would have kissed her right there just to feel something human again.
Instead, she exhaled.
And said, “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
Those words didn’t feel like victory.
They felt like failure.
The ceremony took less than five minutes.
No music. No vows worth remembering.
