My Wedding, Not With You

yn Bar

ly sunny in Miami. A cruel joke. My phone rang precis

voice was tight with an anxiety he

said, my own voi

elief. "Good. Great. I' ll send a car

ied, looking at my re

ingly paid for. It was the one I had found months ago, a secret purchase, a whis

horn honk outside. At the exact same

ush. "Brooklyn, oh my god

ait

re panic attack. Hyperventilating, the whole th

distress, making her fi

and, not a question. "You have to go to the venue without me. I' ll get th

ay. Because his mistress had a c

said, my voice sti

he sensed something was off. My c

re not mad?" he

thing I' d said to him in months. "I' m no

d silence before he stammered,

understanding Brooklyn had come through for him once again. He probably thought he was the lucki

d no

lankens

Annmarie, bless her dramatic heart, had put on a real show, but a couple of deep breaths a

okay with it?" Annmarie had

ts it," I' d said, g

. The perfect Miami wedding, a happy bride, a

rated beachfront hotel in South Beach. The place looked incre

latives were there, milling about awkwardly. But the rows and rows

ingle guest. Not her parents, not her sist

and unfamiliar, sl

I sent it a dozen times. The invitations went

y phone, my thumb jabbing at her contact

again.

Again

asked, her face a mask of concern. "

ound the empty room, looking at the clock on the wa

hand rang. It wa

er me, so potent

nicked words spilling out. "Where the hell are you? Did you

voice, calm and clear as a winte

wind. And bells. Church bells. A

e, Kaden,"

the wind of a Miami beach. It was

m in