Check Your Phone

Twelve minutes before my wedding to Adrian Voss, his older brother walked into my bridal room.

He didn't knock. Kade Voss had never knocked on a door in his life.

"Absolutely not," I snapped at his reflection. "Get out."

My maid of honor, Nora Quinn, froze with a bobby pin between her teeth. She looked from me to him like she'd bought front-row tickets.

Kade ignored her. His suit jacket hung open, and he wasn't wearing a tie. His dark hair stuck up like he'd yanked on it the whole drive over.

"I need two minutes," he muttered, shutting the door behind him. "Alone."

"You've had five years of minutes." I turned back to the mirror, cheeks burning. "You spent them scowling at me over your dad's dinner table."

"Lena," he tried again, quieter this time.

"No." I jabbed my mascara wand at his reflection. "You already wore black to my bridal shower. You don't get to wreck today too."

"Black is a normal color," he grumbled.

"It's a funeral color, Kade," I shot back.

Nora made a choking sound. She was trying very hard not to laugh.

Kade's mouth went flat. It was his favorite look. Referees got it every game, and I got it every holiday.

"This isn't about the shower," he growled. "Where's your phone?"

"In my bag," I answered, frowning at him. "Why?"

"Have you looked at it?" he pressed.

"I'm getting married in eleven minutes," I huffed. "I'm not checking my email."

He stepped closer. Nora backed up and bumped into the dress rack. A hanger clattered to the floor.

"Listen to me." He sounded urgent. Kade never sounded urgent, not even down two goals. "Before you walk out there, you need to—"

The door swung open again.

My stepmother, Celeste, drifted in wrapped in pale silk and expensive perfume. She stopped when she saw him. Her smile stayed perfect, but her eyes went cold.

"Kade." She spat his name like it had gone sour. "Your family is seated up front. You should be with them."

"I'm talking to Lena," he grunted.

"And now you're finished." Celeste held the door wide, smiling like a hostess. "Richard is looking for you. He seemed surprised you came at all."

Kade kept his eyes on me.

For one weird second, I thought he'd argue. Then he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Check your phone," he repeated quietly. "Please."

And then he was gone.

Celeste let the door click shut. "That man has no manners," she sighed.

"He was raised in a penalty box," I huffed.

"Well, he won't be your problem much longer." She tucked a curl behind my ear. Her nails grazed my cheek. "You look lovely, darling. Your mother would have cried."

Mom would have cried, sure. Then she'd have thrown out every one of these lilies.

June Hartwell had been gone four years. I still caught myself saving her the last croissant at the bakery.

Celeste glanced at her watch. "Ten minutes," she chimed. "Bianca's fixing her lipstick. I'll send her in to help."

She swept out. Nora spat the bobby pin into her palm.

"What was that about?" she whispered, eyes huge. "Since when does Kade want private talks?"

"Since never," I scoffed. "He probably hates my veil."

"Your veil is perfect," she insisted.

"Then he hates me. That's not news." I rolled my eyes. "At the engagement party, he stared at my ring like it insulted his mother."

Still, my gaze slid to the bag on the vanity.

Check your phone.

I hated that he'd gotten into my head. I grabbed it anyway.

There was one message from Adrian. It had come in at 9:47, forty minutes ago.

[I'm sorry, Lena. I can't do this. I won't be there. Please don't call me.]

I read it twice. The words refused to turn into anything that made sense.

"Lena?" Nora leaned over my shoulder, her voice going thin. "What's wrong? You've gone gray."

I didn't answer. I hit call.

It rang once and went to voicemail. Hey, it's Adrian. Leave a message.

I called again. It went straight to voicemail.

"He's joking," I mumbled. "It's some stupid prank."

"Adrian has never told a joke in his life," Nora pointed out gently.

My phone buzzed in my hand. It wasn't Adrian. It was an Instagram alert.

Bianca Hartwell posted a new story.

I tapped it before I could stop myself.

The photo showed a departure gate at Logan Airport. Adrian stood there in his good gray coat. My stepsister was tucked under his arm, laughing up at him. Her lipstick was the same red as the smear on his collar.

The caption read: Some things are just meant to be.

"I'm going to kill her," Nora hissed. "Then him. Slowly."

She grabbed my wrist, horrified. "Wait. Isn't Bianca in the next room?"

"Celeste told us she was fixing her lipstick." My voice came out weirdly calm. "Guess she fixed it on my fiancé."

The second photo loaded. Adrian was kissing her. She held two boarding passes up to the camera.

My hands were shaking. I set the phone face down on the vanity before I dropped it.

Nora reached for me. I stepped back so fast my veil snagged on the mirror.

"Don't," I croaked. "If you hug me, I'll cry and ruin my mascara."

My eyes burned anyway. Adrian had kissed me goodbye at the rehearsal dinner last night. He'd sworn he couldn't wait to marry me. Apparently he could wait just fine at an airport gate with my stepsister.

"Okay," I whispered to nobody. "Okay."

###

The church had gone loud by the time I walked out.

Two hundred phones had buzzed at once. Every head turned when I stepped up to the altar alone.

Somebody near the back gasped. "Oh my God, it's true."

I stood up there in my big white dress and wanted to disappear. My face got so hot I could've toasted bread on it.

My father, Thomas, sat in the front pew beside Celeste. He was staring at his shoes. He'd gotten very good at that since he married her.

I waited for him to stand up. He was my dad, and that was his one job today.

Across the aisle sat Richard Voss. Adrian's father stood and buttoned his jacket like he was leaving a meeting.

"My son has made his choice," he announced coolly. "I suggest everyone go home."

That was it. No apology. He didn't even glance my way.

On his way down the aisle, he passed Kade standing by the back doors. Richard didn't slow down.

"Don't just stand there," he snapped at his son. "Make yourself useful for once. Go get the car."

Kade stayed right where he was. He didn't even look at his father.

Celeste rose next and pressed a hand to her chest. "Lena, sweetheart," she announced to the whole church. "What on earth did you do to him?"

A few people actually nodded. Like I'd chased Adrian onto a plane with my bad personality.

"I didn't do anything," I choked out. "He left me."

Nobody heard me. They were already reaching for their coats.

The flower girl burst into tears because nobody would let her throw her petals. Her mother carried her out kicking.

In ten minutes, my family was gone. Dad squeezed my shoulder on his way past. He didn't say a word, but at least he squeezed it.

Celeste paused at the door. "Three months isn't much time, darling," she sighed like she was sorry for me. "Maybe this is a sign."

Then she left too.

Nora tried to stay. I made her go home after she offered to fly after Adrian with a baseball bat.

###

I don't know how long I sat on the altar steps.

The organist packed up and left. Then I dragged my wedding cake out of the reception hall by myself.

I'd baked it. Four tiers of lemon sponge with raspberry filling, my mother's recipe. I'd stayed up until two a.m. piping sugar roses.

Now I was eating it with my fingers.

The side door creaked open. Heavy footsteps came down the aisle.

"Go away," I warned without looking up.

The footsteps didn't stop. Kade sat down two steps below me. He was so big his knees almost hit his chin.

He looked at the cake, then at me.

"Is that the wedding cake?" he asked, one eyebrow creeping up.

"It's my cake," I snapped, licking raspberry off my thumb. "I baked it. I'm allowed to eat it."

He held out his hand.

I stared at his hand, then at him. "Are you serious right now?"

He didn't lower it. So I broke off a chunk of the bottom tier and dropped it in his palm.

He ate it in one bite. "It's good," he mumbled around it.

"I know it's good." My voice cracked on the last word, which was humiliating. "It's the best thing at this whole stupid wedding."

He didn't say anything. He just sat there chewing and not looking at me. Weirdly, it was the nicest thing anyone had done all day.

"You tried to tell me," I mumbled.

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"You could've yelled it across the room," I accused weakly.

"Your stepmother threw me out," he reminded me.

"You're the size of a refrigerator," I sniffed. "You could've thrown her out."

His mouth twitched, which for Kade was practically a grin.

I wiped frosting onto the lace. The dress had cost nine grand. I didn't care anymore.

"Do you know what Adrian just cost me?" I asked, my voice small.

"Your mom's shares," Kade answered without missing a beat.

I turned and stared at him. "How do you know about that?"

"Adrian talks when he drinks," he grumbled.

Of course he did. Adrian talked about everything except the things that mattered.

"Three months," I groaned. "My birthday is in three months. If I'm not married by then, Celeste keeps them for five more years."

"So get married anyway," he suggested, like it was simple.

I laughed. It sounded awful, like a goose stepping on a fork.

"To who, Kade?" I cried. "The organist? He's seventy, and he already went home."

Kade stood up. He brushed cake crumbs off his suit. Then he looked down at me with the same flat face he gave referees.

"To me."