By Saturday morning, my bed was buried in rejected dresses. Three of them I’d tossed aside because of what Max once said about my stomach. Two because of my arms. One because I could practically hear him asking whether I owned a mirror.
Lily wandered into my room in her pajamas and sat on the only clear corner of the bed.
“Mom, you’ve tried on everything.”
“I know, baby.”
“Which one do you like?”
The question stopped me. Not which one looks best. Not which one would Dad approve of. Which one did I like?
I pulled out the one buried at the very bottom of the pile. A deep emerald wrap dress I’d bought two years ago and never worn, because by the time I got it home, I’d already started imagining Max’s face when he saw it.
I put it on.
Lily grinned. “That one.”
So that was the one.
Edward picked me up at four. He was wearing a charcoal suit that fit him like he’d been born in it, and when I opened the door, he actually paused for a second.
“You look great, Veronica.”
“You have to say that. You’re my fake boyfriend.”
“I’m not saying it as your fake boyfriend.”
I didn’t know what to do with that, so I pretended I hadn’t heard it and went to buckle June into her car seat. The girls were riding with us because Max had decided it would be “too chaotic” for them to come early with him.
When I loaded the diaper bag into the back, I noticed a large cardboard box sitting on the seat behind Edward. Plain brown cardboard. The flaps were taped shut.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Donation stuff,” he said, without looking at it.
I didn’t ask again. I had enough to worry about.
Part Five: “Did You Pay Him?”
The wedding was enormous.
Max had always liked things big and expensive and visible, and Claire apparently felt the same. The venue was an old estate outside the city, all marble floors and tall windows, with enough crystal chandeliers to light a small airport. There were flowers on every surface. White roses, white hydrangeas, white orchids. White tablecloths. Waiters drifting through the crowd with trays of champagne.
The girls were thrilled. Lily ran off with the other bridesmaids almost immediately. June, who had been in the building less than ten minutes, somehow already had frosting on her chin, even though the cake hadn’t been cut yet. To this day, I don’t know where she found it.
I stood near the edge of the cocktail hour with my hand tucked into the crook of Edward’s arm, trying to remember how to breathe normally.
Then Max saw us.
His eyes landed on me first. Then they slid to Edward. Then back to me.
For one lovely, glorious second, Max didn’t know what to say.
Claire stood beside him in a fitted white gown that hugged every inch of her. She looked beautiful. She really did. And I hated that noticing it still hurt.
Max crossed the room toward us with a champagne glass in his hand and that easy, confident walk I’d once found charming.
“Well,” he said. “So this is your plus-one?”
“Max, this is Edward.”
Edward extended his hand. “Congratulations.”
Max didn’t take it right away. He looked Edward up and down, slowly, the way he used to look at me in the mirror.
Then he laughed.
Not a polite chuckle. Not an awkward little laugh. A real, loud laugh that rolled across the room. Several people nearby turned their heads to look.
I felt Edward’s sleeve bunch beneath my fingers and realized I was gripping it.
“Max,” I said, my voice tight, “why are you laughing?”
“Him?” Max gestured at Edward with his glass, glancing around as if he expected the whole room to be in on the joke. “Him is your boyfriend?”
Claire touched his arm. “Max.”
But he kept going.
“Come on, Ronnie. I’ll never believe that. No one would date you. Especially not someone like him.”
My face went hot. I could feel it spreading down my neck.
Then Max gave me that grin. The teasing, crooked one he’d always used when he wanted an insult to land like a joke so I couldn’t complain without looking oversensitive.
“What, did you pay him to come with you?”
For half a second, I wasn’t standing in a ballroom anymore. I was back in our bedroom, watching him fold that blue shirt into a suitcase. When was the last time you even looked at yourself in the mirror?
I wanted to disappear. I wanted the marble floor to open up and swallow me whole.
But Edward didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t puff up his chest or step toward Max.
He smiled.
“Actually, Max,” he said pleasantly, “I brought you a wedding gift.”
Max looked caught off guard. “For me?”
