Chapter 1

The customer service rep’s voice was still echoing in my ears when I held my phone, my fingers going cold.

Canceled three days ago?

But three days ago, Mia was still discussing the design of the invitations with me.

She was still asking me whether I’d picked the color for the groomsmen’s suits.

I hung up and stood in the living room, staring at the wedding schedule spread out on the coffee table.

The lock clicked.

I heard Mia changing her shoes.

“Ethan, I bought that chestnut pastry you like.”

Her voice came from the entryway.

“I stood in line for half an hour, and I grabbed the last box.”

I stood there without moving.

She walked in carrying the bag, still smiling. When she saw me, she froze for a second.

“What’s wrong? Just standing there spacing out?”

I watched her set the bag on the coffee table, take the box out, open the lid as usual, and hand me a fork.

“Try it. It’s still warm.”

I didn’t take it.

“Mia.”

“Is there something you need to tell me?”

Her hand paused for a second.

Then she kept setting the fork on the box and looked up at me, still wearing that same smile.

“What is it? Are you talking about my mom coming over? She just texted me and said—”

“The hotel.”

She fell silent.

The living room went quiet.

She stood on one side of the coffee table, and I stood on the other, with that table full of wedding documents between us.

“Today the hotel customer service told me that three days ago, you went to the front desk and canceled the booking.”

Mia lowered her head and looked at the papers on the coffee table.

“Ethan,” she said softly, “I was just about to talk to you about that.”

“Talk to me about what?”

“The wedding.”

She looked up at me.

“I think all this stuff is unnecessary. It’s a waste of money. Look at this table full of dishes—5,888 dollars. Ten tables means more than fifty thousand, and we only eat for a few hours.”

“And the wedding planner, the host, the photographer—put all that together, and it’s several more thousands. Wouldn’t it be better to save that money and spend it on something else?”

I looked at her, at the way her mouth moved.

“Didn’t we already agree on this?”

“You said a wedding only happens once in a lifetime, so a bigger budget was fine.”

“You said we should find a good wedding planner, and the photographer should have two cameras so we wouldn’t regret it when we watched the video later.”

“I thought about it later, and I decided it wasn’t necessary.”

“A lot of young couples don’t even have weddings anymore, right? A travel wedding is so much better—saves money and trouble. We can go to Colorado, to Aspen. You’ve always wanted to go, haven’t you?”