Chapter 2
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I could hear the church bells behind us.
I could hear Noah crying.
I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
But Ethan said nothing.
Sarah’s eyes drifted shut again.
Noah screamed.
“Mom!”
That finally broke the spell.
I rushed toward the passenger door.
“Call an ambulance!”
Someone behind me shouted that they already had.
Ethan reached for the door handle, but I shoved his hand away.
“Don’t touch her.”
He stared at me.
“Claire—”
“You lied to me.”
“This isn’t the time.”
I laughed once.
It sounded nothing like me.
“You’re right. This is the time to save the woman you told me was dead.”
Noah squeezed between us.
“Mom, wake up.”
Sarah barely moved.
Her skin was hot when I touched her forehead.
She looked exhausted.
Not just sick.
Exhausted in a way that made me wonder how long she had been fighting alone.
An older woman from the church brought water, but one of the guests who was a nurse stopped us from giving Sarah any.
“Let the paramedics handle it.”
Noah clung to Sarah’s arm.
Then Margaret appeared beside us.
Her face was tight with anger.
Not fear.
Anger.
“This spectacle has gone far enough.”
I turned toward her.
“Spectacle?”
“She clearly planned this.”
Noah looked up at Margaret.
“My mom almost fell down three times this morning.”
Margaret ignored him.
“She knew exactly where the wedding was.”
Sarah’s eyes opened again.
“You made sure I knew.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Only for half a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Sarah noticed too.
“You sent the invitation.”
Ethan snapped his head toward his mother.
“What?”
Margaret folded her arms.
“She’s confused.”
Sarah gave a weak laugh.
“You always say that when someone tells the truth.”
The ambulance siren grew louder.
I looked at Ethan.
“What invitation?”
“I don’t know.”
Sarah’s gaze found mine.
“Ask him about Franklin.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
That was all I needed.
“What happened in Franklin?”
“Claire, please.”
“What happened?”
Noah suddenly spoke.
“That’s where Dad meets me.”
Everything inside me went cold.
I looked down at him.
“What did you say?”
Noah wiped his face with his sleeve.
“Dad meets me at the park there.”
Ethan whispered, “Noah.”
The boy looked at him with complete confusion.
“You said I could tell people after the wedding.”
The guests behind us erupted into whispers.
I slowly faced the man I had almost married.
“You’ve been seeing him?”
Ethan didn’t answer quickly enough.
“How long?”
“Claire—”
“How long?”
His shoulders dropped.
“Almost a year.”
I stared at him.
Almost a year.
For almost a year, Ethan had kissed me good morning.
Planned our wedding.
Chosen flowers with me.
Tasted cakes with me.
Held my hand while we talked about having children.
And during that same year, he had been secretly driving to another town to meet the son he told me was dead.
I slapped him.
The sound cracked through the church parking lot.
Nobody spoke.
Ethan didn’t touch his face.
He just looked at me.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserve a lot more than that.”
The ambulance pulled up.
Paramedics rushed toward Sarah.
Noah refused to move until one of them promised he could ride with her.
“I’m her son.”
“We know, buddy.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“You can stay close.”
Ethan stepped toward the ambulance.
“I’m his father.”
Noah turned.
The hope on his face was heartbreaking.
“Are you coming?”
Ethan opened his mouth.
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Absolutely not.”
I stared at her.
She lowered her voice.
“There are two hundred people standing outside your wedding. Think before you make this worse.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Ethan looked at her.
“My son is terrified.”
“And your future is standing behind you.”
“No,” I said.
Margaret looked at me.
“My future is getting into that ambulance.”
I lifted the front of my wedding dress and climbed inside.
Ethan stared.
“Claire?”
I looked directly at him.
“If Sarah can talk, I’m going to hear the truth.”
Noah climbed in beside me.
Then Ethan followed.
Margaret tried to stop him.
He pulled his arm free.
For the first time that day, he looked angry at his mother.
“Stay here.”
Her mouth fell open.
The doors closed.
Ten minutes earlier, I had been a bride.
Now I was sitting across from my groom’s secret child while paramedics worked on a woman who was supposed to have been dead for eight years.
Noah held Sarah’s hand.
I studied his face.
Once I knew, I couldn’t stop seeing it.
Ethan’s eyes.
Ethan’s chin.
Even the way Noah pressed his lips together when he was scared looked exactly like Ethan.
There was no question.
Still, I asked.
“Noah?”
He looked at me.
“How often do you see your dad?”
He glanced at Ethan.
Ethan shook his head slightly.
I saw it.
So did Noah.
The boy looked confused.
“Why are you telling me not to say?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Noah—”
“Don’t,” I snapped.
Ethan went silent.
Noah looked back at me.
“Sometimes every week. Sometimes he doesn’t come.”
“Does your mother know?”
Noah hesitated.
“Not at first.”
Sarah’s eyes opened.
“I know now.”
Her voice was stronger.
Not much.
But stronger.
Ethan leaned forward.
“Sarah, what happened?”
She looked at him.
“You stopped helping.”
His face tightened.
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“I sent money.”
“No.”
“Yes, I did.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Noah’s medicine. Rent. Groceries. Everything stopped six weeks ago.”
Ethan looked genuinely confused.
“I sent it to Mom like always.”
My head turned sharply.
“Your mother?”
He swallowed.
“She handled the account.”
Sarah gave a weak laugh.
“That woman has been handling our lives for eight years.”
The paramedic glanced between us.
“This conversation needs to stop until we get her stabilized.”
I nodded.
Ethan leaned back.
His hands were shaking.
I had seen those hands steady while he placed a ring on my finger during rehearsal.
Now they looked useless.
Noah rested his head against Sarah’s arm.
“Mom said we were going to ask Dad for help.”
Sarah opened her eyes.
“I didn’t want to come.”
“Then why did you?”
She looked at Noah.
“He found the invitation.”
Ethan stared.
“What invitation?”
Sarah reached weakly toward the bag beside her.
The paramedic stopped her.
“Later.”
She looked at me instead.
“It came three days ago.”
“With my name on it?”
“Yes.”
“Who sent it?”
“I thought Ethan did.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Then there’s only one other person who knew my address.”
Margaret.
The ambulance turned sharply.
My wedding veil slid from my hair.
It landed on the floor.
I looked at it.
Noah picked it up.
“Were you marrying my dad?”
I couldn’t speak for a moment.
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
He stared at the veil in his hands.
Then he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
My chest broke open.
I reached across and took his hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“My mom said we might ruin your day.”
I looked at Ethan.
His eyes dropped.
“Your mother was trying to save your mom.”
Noah nodded.
“I told her Dad would help us.”
That sentence hurt more than anything Ethan had said.
Because the child still believed in him.
At the hospital, Sarah was rushed through double doors.
A nurse told us to wait.
I walked into the restroom and looked at myself in the mirror.
White dress.
Flowers still pinned in my hair.
Mascara streaked down my cheeks.
A bride who had never become a wife.
I pulled the ring from my finger.
For a second, I wanted to throw it.
Instead, I closed my fist around it.
When I came back, Ethan was sitting beside Noah.
Noah was asking him questions.
“Why didn’t you come last Saturday?”
“I had things to do.”
“The wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell Claire about me?”
Ethan looked up.
Our eyes met.
Noah waited.
Finally, Ethan said, “Because I was scared.”
Noah frowned.
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Mom?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Ethan looked toward the floor.
“My own choices.”
Noah clearly didn’t understand.
Neither did I.
A doctor finally approached us.
“Family of Sarah Miller?”
Ethan stood immediately.
“So that is still her name,” I said.
The doctor looked between us.
“Are you her husband?”
Silence.
Noah answered.
“He is.”
I stopped breathing.
Ethan’s face changed.
“Technically—”
I stared at him.
“What did he just say?”
Sarah’s doctor looked uncomfortable.
“I need to know who can make medical decisions if necessary.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“Sarah and I were married eight years ago.”
My legs almost gave out.
“You said she was your girlfriend.”
“We separated.”
“You said she died.”
“I know.”
“And now you’re telling me she’s your wife?”
“I believed the divorce was finalized.”
“Believed?”
He looked sick.
“My mother handled the paperwork.”
Of course she did.
I laughed again.
I was beginning to hate that sound.
The doctor spoke carefully.
“Mr. Miller, I need a clear answer.”
Ethan swallowed.
“I don’t know if we’re legally divorced.”
I stared at him.
“So while you were standing at the altar with me, you didn’t even know if you were free to marry me?”
“Claire—”
“No.”
I opened my hand.
The ring was sitting in my palm.
I pressed it into his hand.
“You don’t get to say my name like that anymore.”
His fingers closed around the ring.
Noah watched us silently.
Then the doctor said something that changed the room again.
“Sarah is stable for now, but she’s severely dehydrated, has a serious infection, and appears to have gone without adequate treatment longer than she should have.”
Noah looked frightened.
“Is she going to die?”
The doctor crouched slightly.
“We’re helping her.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The doctor paused.
“We believe she got here in time.”
Noah began to cry.
Ethan pulled him close.
This time, Noah let him.
I should have hated seeing it.
Instead, I hated Ethan for almost throwing away a child who still loved him.
An hour later, Sarah asked to see me.
Not Ethan.
Me.
I walked into her room still wearing my wedding dress.
She looked smaller beneath the hospital blanket.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Please stop apologizing.”
“I didn’t come to destroy your wedding.”
“You didn’t.”
She looked at me.
“He did.”
I sat beside her.
“Tell me everything.”
Sarah stared toward the doorway.
Then she looked back at me.
“Ethan knows more than he’s admitting.”
“I figured that out.”
“No.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You haven’t heard the worst part.”
My stomach tightened.
“What’s worse than this?”
Sarah took a slow breath.
“Six months ago, Ethan came to my house with divorce papers.”
I said nothing.
“He knew we were still married.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you sign?”
“Because he wanted me to sign something else too.”
“What?”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“He wanted me to agree that Noah would never publicly call him his father.”
I felt sick.
“He said it was temporary.”
“Until when?”
May you like
She looked at my wedding dress.
“Until he married you.”
