Ten Minutes Before I Do

My heart jumped, but I caught myself and gave the screen a cold laugh.

I was minutes from walking down the aisle. Who had time for a prank this cheap?

I typed, "That edit is terrible. Who is this?"

The reply came back instantly. "I'm you."

"You don't believe me? Check the inside left pocket of Harrison's suit, right over his heart. There's a plain silver band in there. Celeste gave it to him."

"Celeste's bridesmaid dress had a broken zipper. Harrison sewed it himself in the changing room."

"And there's a fresh needle mark in the web of his right hand."

Click.

The dressing-room door opened.

Harrison Blake walked in wearing a custom white suit.

He was handsome in a polished way, gold-rimmed glasses, an expression built to look gentle and devoted.

"Nat, are you ready?"

He smiled as he crossed to me, eyes full of warmth.

I didn't say anything. I stood up and put both arms around him.

Harrison went still for a second, then laughed softly and hugged me back.

"You're about to be Mrs. Blake and you're still this clingy."

I pressed my cheek to the left side of his chest.

Through the thin fabric I felt something hard and circular.

Inside the pocket. Unmistakably a ring.

And there was perfume on his collar, faint enough to miss if I hadn't been looking for it.

Celeste's favorite.

I shoved him back and grabbed his right hand.

There it was, a bright red puncture in the web between his thumb and forefinger.

Fresh. Hours old at most.

Every drop of blood in me went cold.

Harrison's eyes flickered and he pulled his hand away.

"What's wrong, Nat? Why are you staring?"

I looked straight into his eyes.

"What happened to your hand?"

He smiled without a flicker of change.

"My boutonniere pin came loose. I stuck myself fixing it."

The lie came out clean. No hesitation, no color in his face.

The man I'd loved for three years suddenly looked like a stranger.

My phone buzzed again on the table.

Another message from ten years ahead.

"Do you believe me now? Did he say it was the boutonniere pin?"

"Natalie, the whole thing is a fraud. All of it."

"That night he ran three blocks through the rain to bring you soup? It wasn't for you. Celeste had a stomachache."

"He rented out the whole amusement park to propose because Celeste was there that day with another man, and he wanted her to see it."

My fingers shook as I read.

Every sweet memory turned around and pointed at me like a blade.

Harrison in the rain, soaked to the skin, the soup tucked under his coat.

Then an hour on the balcony with the door shut, talking to someone.

The proposal, his eyes fixed on the distant Ferris wheel, dark and somewhere else. He'd even put the ring on the wrong finger.

I'd thought he was nervous.

He'd been watching another woman.

I pulled in a slow breath and forced down the nausea.

"Harrison, take whatever's in your inside pocket out."

His expression finally changed. His hand went to his chest before he could stop it.

"Nat, don't start. Everyone's waiting out there."

I stepped in and reached for the pocket myself.

"I said take it out."

He caught my wrist. His grip was shocking.

Whatever tenderness had been in his eyes was gone. Only impatience left.

"Natalie, it's our wedding day. Are you really doing this now?"