Chapter 3

Celine explained that it was a divorce celebration for Mike. "It wasn't easy for him to get out of that marriage. Everyone just wants to help him feel better. It's not what you think."

She wiped the footprint off the white shirt with a wet wipe, her tone patient.

"And he paid for the suite upgrade himself. I was worried the front desk might not treat him well, so I used my VIP account to book it for him and added the note while I was at it."

I asked, "You remember that Mike likes white roses. Do you remember what flowers I don't want at our wedding?"

Her fingers stilled. "Don't you hate flowers?"

I didn't say anything more.

Last year, Celine gave me a bouquet of lilies with a strong scent for my birthday. I was allergic to them and coughed all night.

She stayed by my bedside, brought me water, and said she'd remember that from then on.

Turns out, she only remembered who needed taking care of.

And it wasn't me.

…

The next day, my company officially transferred me to Norwell. I was to report there at the end of the month.

I didn't tell anyone right away.

I had paid the deposit for the wedding venue, and I still had all the wedding plans in my hands.

I went through the cancellation deadlines one by one, then called the real estate agent to schedule an appraisal for my new home with Celine.

That afternoon, Celine's mother, Marika Shelton, called me. "Henry, I heard you're postponing the wedding again."

"Yeah," I replied.

"Celine says you're upset about her going on the trip, so you're only trying to scare her," Marika said. "I know you care about her, but you're an adult. Don't make such a big deal out of nothing.

"A woman needs her own friends and space before she gets married, too."

She laughed as she tried to reason with me. "Just try to be a little more understanding, okay? Once you're married, you still have to be considerate of her in front of her friends."

"Celine said I'm trying to scare her?" I asked.

"Doesn't she know you by now?" Marika said. "Every time you say you want to break up, aren't you just waiting for her to talk you out of it?"

I held the phone and said nothing.

In the past seven years, I had only asked to break up twice.

The first time was after she guaranteed a loan for a friend and ended up owing 20 thousand dollars.

I sold the gold bracelet Mom had left me and covered the shortfall.

Celine wrote me an IOU and promised to pay me back twice over after we got married. She even held me and swore she would never put her friends before us again.

The second time was at our engagement dinner. She left to pick up a drunk Mike and left me alone with both our families.

She stood downstairs all night. I ultimately gave in.

Apparently, to her, neither time was about me being truly disappointed. I was just using it to get her to comfort me.

That evening, everyone going on the trip came over for dinner to go over the plans before they departed.

I had just set the food on the table when Zoe Newman laughed. "Henry, can you pack Celine's medicine bag too? She's allergic to pollen.

"Don't let her have another reaction at the beach."

Yelena chimed in. "Remember to pack her chargers and some motion sickness patches too. You may be a little controlling, but you really do pay more attention to the details than we do."

I looked around the table at the people who didn't want me on the trip.

They didn't want me to come along, yet not one of them turned down anything I prepared for them.

Mike handed me a list. "Everyone's details are here. Keep an eye out when the return tickets go on sale, too. You're faster at getting them."

"I don't have time," I replied.

His smile stiffened. "It'll only take a few minutes."

Celine served me a bowl of soup. "Henry's been busy lately. I'll get the tickets."

Zoe immediately waved her off. "You'll never get them. Last time, Henry stayed up until midnight to buy them."

"We'll deal with it when the time comes," Celine replied. Then she pushed the soup toward me and softly said, "Eat first. Don't make it awkward for everyone."

I didn't touch the soup.

After dinner, they played a truth game in the living room.

Someone asked Celine, "Seriously, will you still come out with us after you get married?"

"Of course," Celine replied.

"What if Henry doesn't let you?"

Celine glanced at me. "I'll just say I'm working late. Haven't I gotten away with that before?"

Everyone laughed.

I stood at the study door, holding a piece of paper I had picked up beside the shredder.

It was in Celine's handwriting.

"Mike is in a bad mood. If Henry asks, say it's a trip for everyone.

"Drinking, staying up late, and booking the suite. Just tell them Henry is too strict. Don't let him know."

Another line of text was at the bottom of the page, torn in half.

"If the wedding is postponed, it's a chance…"

The rest was missing.