My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it.
Three months earlier, I’d stood at Adrian’s funeral believing I’d never hear his voice again.
Now he was alive.
His mother knew.
And they had both let me mourn him.
I turned and ran.
I barely made it to the restroom before the tears came.
I locked myself inside and cried until I could barely breathe.
My phone started ringing. It was my assistant.
“Meredith? The coordinator’s looking for you. They’re about to start.”
I looked at
myself in the mirror.
My eyes were swollen.
My mascara was ruined.
“Meredith? Are you okay?”
here for you. The groom needs his mother.”
I stared at Colleen.
For a moment, that seemed to explain everything.
Adrian had an older brother, Julian.
Of course.
This must be his wedding.
Julian and I had always gotten along well.
He had been quieter than Adrian, but he was kind to me.
At holidays, he was usually the person helping me carry dishes into
the kitchen while everyone else argued over football.
I won’t lie — it hurt a little that he hadn’t invited me.
But after Adrian’s death, I’d barely spoken to his family.
Maybe they thought a wedding would be too painful for me.
Maybe Julian had decided that seeing him stand at an altar would remind me too much of everything I’d lost.
I tried not to take it personally.
Then I noticed the corsage on her wrist.
I’d made it myself that morning.
It was for the groom’s mother.
Colleen glanced at me, then quickly followed the coordinator away.
I watched her leave.
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
“I stood beside your family at his funeral.”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
“Please. Let me explain after the ceremony.”
“The ceremony?”
He lowered his voice until it was barely audible.
“It’s complicated.”
“No. Complicated is changing a wedding date. Complicated is finding out your fiancé cheated on you. This is something else.”
A few guests looked over.
Julian stepped closer.
“Adrian was going to tell you.”
“When?”
He didn’t answer.
I felt something inside me settle.
The grief was
still there, but another feeling had moved beside it.
Clarity.
“Who’s the bride?”
Julian looked away.
“Her name is Sarah.”
“How long?”
“Meredith.”
“How long has she been with him?”
His silence lasted too long.
“Before the accident,” he finally confessed in a low voice.
A wave of nausea hit me.
