Chapter 2

I lay there, the pressure from his hands gone but the phantom feeling still on my skin. The ice in my chest spread through my veins.

"She's at the Serenity Peak Wellness Center. Near Stowe, Vermont."

My voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.

Andrew didn't say thank you. He didn't apologize. He just scrambled out of the bed, throwing on his clothes with frantic, clumsy movements. He was gone in less than a minute.

The silence he left behind was absolute.

I picked up my phone. I scrolled to a name I hadn't called in months. Ryan Hughes.

He answered on the second ring, his voice warm and laced with its usual gentle mockery.

"Well, well. If it isn't Jenny Clarkson. Finally calling me on a Saturday night. Let me guess. Did St. Andrew cancel another dinner for a charity gala? Or did he decide to fast for a week to repent for enjoying his soup too much?"

I couldn't even summon the energy to laugh.

"Ryan," I said, my voice a hollow echo in the room. "I need your help."

The humor vanished from his voice instantly. "Jenny? What's wrong? What did he do?"

"He's not a martyr, Ryan. He's just an asshole."

"I'll do anything," he said, his voice firm, serious. "Just tell me what you need."

A moment later, my phone buzzed. It was a picture from him. An old selfie from our college days at Harvard, both of us making stupid faces at the camera in the library. A relic from a life where I used to laugh.

My phone rang again an hour later. It was Andrew.

"Jennifer, I..." he started, the apology already sounding forced. Then his tone shifted, the defensiveness creeping in. "You can't be this unforgiving. You know the debt I owe her father. You know the guilt I carry."

"The wedding is off, Andrew," I said, the words feeling strangely easy.

He scoffed, a short, ugly sound. "Don't be ridiculous. I've only ever been with you and her. That's more than you can say for most men in our circle. You should be grateful."

I hung up.

Grateful.

I stared at the wedding invitation sitting on my nightstand. The date was set. The venue was booked. The guests were invited.

I decided right then. I wasn't changing the wedding date.

I was just changing the groom.