Oops, Wrong Bride? Fine. No Wedding. Chapter 08

Oops, Wrong Bride? Fine. No Wedding. Chapter 08

Early one morning, Chloe showed up at the café I went to most. When she saw me, through her tears. “Iris, I knew it. You still love this place.

she laughed

We sat down across from each other. Three months had passed, and it felt like a lifetime.

She gave a bitter laugh. “Iris, I’m sorry for wrecking your wedding. I was so wrapped up in myself back then. I thought I was doing it for your own good. I thought I was helping you toughen up, but I never once stopped to ask whether you wanted it.

I shook my head, and when I looked at her, there was nothing left in my eyes but calm. I didn’t

think of her as a friend anymore, so there was nothing left to hold against her. “It’s all in the past. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going.”

I picked up my bag.

“Iris!” She bit her lip and dug a necklace in elaborate wrapping out of her purse. It was the one I’d wanted when I was eighteen. “Zach says he can’t face you. He asked me to tell you he’s

sorry.”

But an apology couldn’t cancel out that kind of pain. I pushed it gently back across the table. “Take it back. I don’t need it anymore. Let’s not see each other again.”

I gripped my bag and walked to the counter to pay. Through the front window, I could see Chloe with her face in her hands, and her tears finally spilled over.

But this time, there was no naive girl there to dab them away with a tissue.

Later, I saw Ethan one more time. He looked worse than ever. He was standing outside my building, and the snow had piled thick on his shoulders. He stood there for a long time, until the streetlights went dim. People walked past, pointing and talking, and his face was full of shame and regret.

He finally understood how hard it had been for me to face all that gossip alone. Every bit of cruelty I’d lived through had come back on him, all of it. It wasn’t until the knife was in him that he understood how sharp those words were, the ones he’d always thought were nothing.

I walked past him fast.

He called after me and slammed his fist into the wall, again and again. That kind of thing drew

eyes, and a small crowd gathered around him. His knuckles split open. “Iris, I’ll never lie to you again. I’m a bastard. I never once looked at things from your side.”

I felt completely calm. “Ethan.”

He stopped, and there was still hope in his eyes when he looked at me.

I said, “You could drop dead in front of me right now, and I wouldn’t lift a finger. I wouldn’t even feel sad.”

I’d never felt this calm in my life.

The light in his eyes went out.

I added, “Don’t come looking for me again. You’re bad luck.”

I never saw him again after that.

Later, Caleb and I made it official. We met each other’s families and set a date.

On a street in Riverton, Caleb bought a bag of clementines and, with a smile, peeled one for me.

I chewed the sweet, soft segments and leaned my head against his shoulder.

It started snowing again.

But my life had turned toward spring.