He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 15

He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 15

The makeup artist arrived before sunrise.

My mother stood in the bedroom doorway watching me, her eyes red.

“Avery, are you really sure?”

I adjusted the veil in the mirror and turned toward her.

“How many times are you going to ask? I’m sure.”

She smiled.

At the hotel, white roses framed the ceremony space.

Weston stood at the far end of the aisle.

I walked toward him one step at a time.

People laughed softly around me. Someone clapped. Someone whispered, “Here comes the bride.”

But all I could hear was my own heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Each beat said the same word.

Finally.

Garrett

That morning, Garrett drove to the Lane house.

He had finally decided it was time to talk.

He was going to make Avery understand that he did care about her and that he had not ignored the fact that she wanted to get married.

He just did not want to be tied down yet.

He thought she was still the sixteen-year-old girl who blushed when he kissed her and eventually

agreed with whatever he decided.

He thought all he had to do was show up, say the right things, and promise that the wedding would happen later.

Another year.

Maybe two.

When his career settled down and he felt ready, they would get married.

Naturally.

He had rehearsed the conversation in the car.

But when he arrived, the house was locked.

He knocked for several minutes.

The woman next door finally came outside with a small dog on a leash.

“Looking for Avery?”

She smiled.

“You’re too late. She’s getting married today. The groom picked her up hours ago. The ceremony is

probably over by now.”

Garrett stared at her.

Then he looked down at his phone.

The eighteenth.

Of course.

He had known the date.

He had simply believed it still belonged to him.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he said.

His voice sounded dry.

“My parents didn’t plan anything. Where would she even have a wedding?”

The neighbor stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Why would your parents be planning it? She’s marrying someone else.”

Then she pulled out her phone.

“Here. I took a picture when she left this morning. She looked beautiful.”

She held out the screen.

In the photo, Avery wore white.

Her head was turned toward another man.

She was smiling.

Garrett’s keys slipped from his hand and hit the sidewalk.