Chapter 2

The next morning, I was eating breakfast while scrolling through flights.

Nathan appeared behind me out of nowhere, puzzled. "Why are you looking at plane tickets? The honeymoon has to wait until Ada gets time off, doesn't it? She doesn't have any days this month, so it'll have to be next month. Don't get the dates mixed up."

My fingers stilled, gripping the phone a little tighter.

"Nathan, I'm not going to marry you—"

Before I could finish, Nathan's custom ringtone went off. It was recorded in Ada's voice.

Under "the nineteenth reason I won't forgive Nathan," after I found out about that ringtone, I'd once asked him to change it.

But he said, "Ada's a marriage-refuser, she's no threat to you. And I'm still in her probation period right now, I have to keep my word, or what happens if she won't agree to let me marry you?"

Only after the call ended did Nathan remember to ask me, "Harper, what were you saying just now?"

"I said—" I was about to repeat it.

Nathan cut me off. "Mm, okay, whatever you decide is fine."

He brushed me off while changing his shoes. "Ada's wiring is acting up, I'm going over to take a look. She's a marriage-refuser, and a woman living alone. Who knows what could happen to her."

Nathan had already boxed off every road for me. There was no way to get the refusal out.

Under "the fifty-second reason I won't forgive Nathan": when we went to the amusement park, because I was too timid, they rode the extreme thrill attractions and I was always the one left behind.

When the outing was over and I brought up how I felt about it,

Nathan said, his whole face full of reluctance, "Harper, be reasonable. Ada's a marriage-refuser, there's no way she'd have feelings for me."

"And I only forced myself to go along for her sake, because she's your best friend. Otherwise, a girl riding all those rides on her own—what if some creep took advantage of her?"

"Marriage-refuser" was like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Nearly every time, Nathan left me with nothing to say.

The sound of the door closing pulled me back.

I looked at my breakfast, gone cold, and my heart went cold right through.

Just as I'd settled on going to Norway to clear my head, an unknown number called.

I was about to reject it, but my finger slipped and hit answer.

On the other end, a man's rich voice came through. "Is this Harper Dudley?"

"Yes." I was confused. "Who is this?"

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Thaddeus Dudley. I'm your adoptive brother, the one you haven't seen in twenty years. Our adoptive mother entrusted me to find you when you turned thirty and hand over the trust fund she left for you."

The man wasted almost no words, asking directly, "I'm currently settled in Norway. When are you free?"

Norway. It was one of the destinations Nathan and I had promised to visit on our honeymoon after we married.

And it was the first stop on this trip of mine.

I answered without hesitation. "The ten a.m. flight the day after tomorrow."

Once he had my definite answer, the man gave a soft "Mm," and said, "See you the day after tomorrow. I'll come pick you up."

The call ended, and I got up to pack my things.

A handmade clay figurine, a ring made from soda can tabs that he'd never gotten around to trading in for a real one, a three-thousand-word love letter he'd printed out, and so on.

Only in that moment did I realize how cheap the things Nathan had given me were.

So cheap they cost him not a shred of thought, and they could keep me happy for a whole day.

After I'd sorted everything into three big boxes, my eyes fell on the wall covered in photos.

Every photo had three people in it. The only two-person shot had my boyfriend and my best friend as its subjects.

All because a rainbow happened to appear that day, and Ada dragged Nathan off to take a picture, with the promise that once they were done they'd take one of me.

But when I got ready to join for a shot, the rainbow was gone, and my heart sank right along with it.

I gave a self-mocking laugh.

I got up, took down all those group photos, and threw them into the fire basin to burn.

If I was going to leave, I might as well leave cleanly.

Not until I'd wiped away the last trace of myself from the house did Nathan finally come home.

But he didn't come back alone.

Ada was right behind him, and he carried two suitcases in through the door.

"Harper, the wiring at Ada's rental is acting up and needs a full day to fix. She's staying at our place tonight. I already said yes for you."

"You two are best friends anyway—you'll have plenty to talk about all night."

With that, Nathan carried the suitcases into the guest bedroom and made the bed and folded the covers with practiced ease, as if he'd done it more than a thousand times.

Yet in front of me, he'd never once done a chore like that.