Sarah stepped forward. “Please tell me he’s lying.”
Adrian looked at his mother.
Then at Julian.
No one came to his aid.
“Sarah, I can explain.”
She slapped him.
The sound echoed down the hallway. Guests began filing into the ceremony room.
Adrian touched his cheek.
“Sarah.”
“You told me she knew everything.”
I froze.
Adrian stared at her.
Sarah began to cry.
“You said Meredith knew you wanted to leave. You said the funeral was a legal mess your family couldn’t avoid.”
I stared at him.
He had lied to her, too.
Different lie. Same cowardice.
“She didn’t know anything,” I said.
Sarah covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Meredith.”
“Me too.”
Adrian took a step toward me.
“Meredith, please, listen.”
“No.”
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
That almost made me laugh.
“You let me bury you.”
His face twisted.
“I just didn’t know how to end things.”
“So you died?”
He had nothing to say.
I took off my florist’s ID badge and looked at him.
“You were right about one thing.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“Something went wrong today.”
Then I walked away.
I didn’t destroy the flowers or give a speech, because neither mattered.
Sarah walked out the front door with her father.
The guests began to whisper.
Julian disappeared into the ceremony room to explain whatever he could.
Colleen sat against the hallway wall and wept.
Adrian stood alone, wearing the suit he had bought for our wedding.
For months, I had believed that losing him was the worst thing that had ever happened to me.
As I left that place, I finally understood something. I hadn’t lost the man I was supposed to marry.
I had already discovered who he really was before marrying him.
There was a difference.
And for the first time since the funeral, I didn’t feel like a grieving fiancée.
I felt like Meredith again.
