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“Can I be brutally honest?” I asked.
He straightened, looking over at me with a grimace. “Do I have a choice?”
“You not telling him—not being able to think about hurting him—is about the worst thing you could say to me. Because all I can think of is this—you’d rather hurt me than him. You don’t love me enough. That’s pretty obvious.”
“That’s not true,” he said. “I love you. More than anything.”
“I call bull on that,” I said.
“I’m going to tell him tomorrow.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it. Anyway, tomorrow’s his wedding day. Can’t think of worse timing.”
“I’ll do it.”
“I think you should go,” I said. “I need a little space.”
“Don’t do this. There’s no reason to do this.”
“Just go. Please. I don’t want to say anything I’ll regret later. I’m too angry right now to have you here.”
“Yeah, okay.” He rose to his feet, pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Luci.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m a big girl.”
I didn’t look at him as he crossed the room and went out the door. I waited until his footsteps faded before letting myself cry.
Just one more day. Get through the wedding. And then I’d go home and get on with things, just like my mother had.
The next morning, there was no sign of Grant at breakfast. Holly caught me on the way out the door, grabbing my hand.
“Hey, walk with me for a minute?” Holly asked.
It was cold but clear, snow sparkling under the sunshine, making it hard to believe the storm had been through at all.
I buttoned up my jacket and suggested we walk down to the pond. As we strolled along, arm in arm, neither of us talking, the staff hurried about, getting everything ready for an outdoor wedding.
“This is kind of nuts—having the wedding outside,” I said.
“But if they do it right, it’ll be spectacular.”
“If we don’t all freeze to death.”
“No, we came close enough to that with Grant and Knox,” Holly said. “Every time I think about them being out there, my blood runs cold.”
We reached the pond, its icy cover reflecting the blue sky.
“It’s pretty here,” Holly said. “I don’t want to leave.”
“I thought that for a while too, but I’m ready to go home now.”
She leaned against the fence, looking out at the pond. “What’s changed your mind?”
“I’m just ready to leave the snow globe.”
“You sure that’s all it is?” Holly asked.
“What makes you want to stay?”
