Chapter 3

Chad barely glanced at the electronic invitation before turning his head away.

I watched his reaction.

And I knew right then that he hadn't even noticed the groom's name on it had changed.

He sat there for a moment, then gave me a lazy smile.

"So you went and had invitations printed."

"Lorraine, are you really that desperate to marry me?"

He propped his feet up on the desk, swinging them idly, looking down at me.

"First you talk the Gilbert relatives into speaking up for you so you can stand in on the memorial rites, and the very next thing I know you've got invitations ready to go."

"You and Grandpa cooked this up together, didn't you."

"I told you I'd marry you. Just not now."

"Was it really necessary to team up with Grandpa and force my hand behind my back?"

Question after question, and something in my throat closed up tight.

That he could think that of me and Grandpa.

Fine. If he wouldn't believe I'd gotten engaged to someone else, then let him see it with his own eyes.

I said it plainly.

"August sixteenth. It's an auspicious day. I had a master pick it."

"The invitations have already gone out. The toast gown is chosen too."

"A master picked the date."

The corner of his mouth curled, and he let out a scoff.

"See? I was right."

"You even had a master pick the date. You've been planning this for ages."

Then his face turned serious, his voice hardening.

"When did you send them out?"

"How many invitations have gone out already?"

He fought down the darkness in his eyes and clamped a hand around my wrist.

"Lorraine, I told you I'd marry you. Why would you use such a cheap trick to back me into a corner?"

"You stop sending those invitations right now. Find some excuse and put out word that the engagement party is off."

His words came fast and earnest.

Just like the sincerity in his voice two years ago, when he skydived with me and promised he'd marry me soon.

That day we put our lives in each other's hands, the wind roaring past us, no one in our eyes but each other.

"Lorraine, my heart for you will never waver."

"I'll do more than the family ever asked of me. I'll make the whole world know you're Chad Gilbert's wife."

"I'll make sure you never regret marrying me."

"Have you lost your mind?" His shout dragged me back out of the memory. "How many invitations have you sent?"

"Lorraine, you really are a disappointment to me."

"Chad."

The light went out of my eyes the moment I looked at him, and my voice rose.

My nose stung.

"You're the one who promised you'd marry me!"

"All I've done is put it on the calendar. Was there any need to come at me like this?"

"When you say you want to marry me, you're just lying to yourself, aren't you?"

His fist clenched until the knuckles cracked, but he couldn't get out a single word.

He snatched the phone from my hand and slammed it to the floor, like he needed something to break.

"I'm flying to Los Angeles for the auction in the morning." His voice was cold. "Before I get back, hurry up and find a reason to cancel the engagement party."

"Otherwise there'll be no groom at your engagement party, and you'll be the one making a fool of yourself."

Then he rammed his shoulder hard into mine as he passed me by.

I crouched down and picked up the phone, hollow inside.

The screen was shattered beyond saving.

I looked at the blurry photo of the two of us on it, and thought, so much for that red marriage certificate. It was never going to be ours.

The next morning he woke and didn't see me in the house. He packed his bags with a stony face.

Then he headed for the airport, weighed down by his thoughts.

It was the first time in five years he hadn't found me busy in the kitchen.

All those years of never complaining, of shouldering everything, and to him it had only ever been my due.