“She has a really pretty house,” she said.
I stared at her.
“You’ve been there?”
“One time.”
My heart began hammering.
“With your dad?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What did you do there?”
“The lady showed us rooms.”
Rooms.
I forced myself to breathe normally.
“What kind of rooms?”
Sophie licked frosting from her thumb.
“Just house rooms.”
Then she smiled brightly.
“Daddy let me choose mine.”
I felt something cold spread through my chest.
“Your room?”
“Yeah. Mine’s upstairs.”
Before I could ask another question, one of the other children called her name.
Sophie ran away.
I remained crouched beside an empty table.
Across the lawn, Marcus was standing beneath the lights with one hand in his pocket, talking to my brother.
He looked happy.
Relaxed.
Handsome.
My husband.
My husband of less than three hours.
And suddenly I couldn’t stop wondering whether he had married me while preparing another life somewhere else.
My best friend Tessa found me a few minutes later.
“You look like you’ve seen a body.”
I looked at Marcus.
Then at Sophie.
“Not here.”
