Chapter 6 - Seven Days Before the Wedding
Lucas postponed nothing.
That decision would haunt him.
When Ian told him about Margaret's crash, Lucas confronted Charles.
Charles was offended.
"Are you seriously suggesting my company arranged a car accident?"
"The rental was billed to you."
"We have forty-two employees."
"Who rented it?"
"I don't know."
"Find out."
Charles opened his office records.
The reservation had been made using credentials belonging to an employee named Paul Mercer.
Paul had resigned two weeks earlier.
Charles blamed him.
Police found no immediate proof connecting Charles to the driver.
Rebecca called the entire situation ridiculous.
Lucas wanted to believe her.
Wedding guests were already flying in.
Deposits had been paid.
Relatives were arriving.
He told himself there would be time after the wedding to investigate financial paperwork.
Ian disagreed.
"Lucas, you're treating the wedding like a train that's moving too fast to stop."
Lucas stared at him.
"That's exactly what it feels like."
"Trains have brakes."
Lucas almost laughed.
Almost.
"What are you telling me?"
"I'm telling you marriage should be something you move toward willingly, not something you fail to escape."
Lucas went home carrying those words.
Sophie was sitting on the staircase.
She had become quieter every day.
Lucas sat beside her.
"Can I ask you something?"
She nodded.
"Do you want me to marry Rebecca?"
Sophie stared at her knees.
"I want you to be happy."
"That wasn't my question."
She looked up.
Lucas realized those were the exact words he had once said to her.
Sophie whispered.
"No."
The answer hurt more than he expected.
"Why?"
"She doesn't like me."
"Rebecca says she loves you."
"She says things when you're there."
Lucas waited.
"What happens when I'm not there?"
Sophie rubbed her thumb against her palm.
"She says Mommy is gone and I need to stop acting like she might come back."
Lucas's jaw tightened.
"What else?"
Sophie began crying.
"She said after the wedding you'll have a new family."
Lucas pulled her close.
"Listen to me. There is no new family without you."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Sophie clung to him.
Lucas almost ended the engagement that night.
Then Rebecca entered.
She saw them.
"What happened?"
Lucas stood.
"We need to talk."
Rebecca's eyes moved toward Sophie.
"In private."
Lucas shook his head.
"No. This concerns her."
Rebecca immediately understood.
She sat opposite Sophie.
"What did I do?"
Sophie said nothing.
Lucas answered.
"Did you tell her she needed to stop talking about Anna?"
Rebecca exhaled.
"I told her living in grief isn't healthy."
"She's seven."
"And I'm trying to help."
"Did you tell her I'd have a new family?"
"No."
Sophie looked up.
"You did."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"Sophie, I said someday your father and I might have another baby, and our family would grow."
"You said he'd have children who don't cause problems."
Lucas stared.
Rebecca's eyes flashed.
"I never said that."
Sophie stood.
"You did."
Rebecca stood too.
"Lucas, this is exactly what Margaret has been doing. She is feeding Sophie ideas to destroy this wedding."
"Stop blaming Margaret."
"Then who do I blame?"
"No one. Maybe listen."
Rebecca's voice cracked.
"I have been listening for two years."
She removed her engagement ring.
Sophie stared.
Rebecca placed it on the table.
"If you believe I'm some monster abusing your daughter, then don't marry me."
Lucas looked at the ring.
Rebecca cried.
It was not entirely an act.
Part of her genuinely loved Lucas.
That made everything worse.
"I gave you everything I have," she whispered.
Lucas hated conflict.
He hated seeing people cry.
He hated the possibility that grief had made him suspicious of someone trying to love him.
So he picked up the ring.
Rebecca looked at him.
He placed it back in her hand.
"We're not ending anything tonight."
Upstairs, Sophie heard.
She went to her room and closed the door.
That evening she took Anna's letter from the coat.
For the first time, she considered opening it herself.
Instead she noticed something tucked behind the envelope.
A photograph.
Anna stood beside Margaret and another woman.
The woman was younger than Rebecca but unmistakably her.
On the back, Anna had written:
Rebecca Whitmore, accounting internship, summer 2017. Charles's daughter. I should have known.
Sophie stared.
May you like
Rebecca had told Lucas she barely knew Anna.
That was another lie.
