“You look so beautiful.” My best friend Zach runs a finger lightly down my arm, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake.

“Why, thank you, Zachary Ryan Hyde.” I bestow a bright smile on him.

“Mark is a very lucky guy.” He picks something off of the strap of my dress, flicking it away. I look at myself in the mirror. I’m wearing the dress that Mark’s mother, Kris, picked for me. It’s a sleeveless fitted bodice to the bottom of my waist, where it flares out into a full Cinderella skirt to cover my “generous hips”, as she put it.

I know I’m not overweight, but since I’m a size ten instead of a four like her and Mark’s sister, she likes to make jabs at me about my weight. She’s compensating for the fact that I have a doctorate and am the youngest vice-president my company has ever had, and her son—my intended—is the manager of a pizza store. He makes decent money, and I love him for who he is, not what he can give me.

I turn from side to side, inspecting myself in the mirror. My hair is up in a high bun on top of my head with my veil hooked into it with a comb. I look at the time and my stomach winds tight, joining all the other knots as the time gets nearer for me to marry Mark.

Zach’s reflection reaches me through the mirror. He looks handsome in his navy suit, white shirt and matching navy tie. The only two things I insisted on were Zach being my man of honor and what he’s wearing. I gave Mark’s mother my color scheme with Zach in mind, and she still tried to get him into a powder-blue tux. I think she wanted to make sure he didn’t look better than her son on our day.

I think about Mark, and a small smile graces my face. He’s everything I could want in a man. Charming, sweet, and he treats me so well. My only issue is his mother. She’s not a fan of mine, and calls him constantly. When she calls, he goes running, no matter what we’re doing or the time of day. Once, he left in the middle of a very important business dinner of mine. The smile turns to a grimace as that thought crosses my mind.

My thoughts are interrupted by Kris walking into the room. She marches over to me, her face stern. “We need to get started. It’s almost time.” She shoves at my dress, trying to reshape me. “I picked this dress so it would give you a waist. It’s not working.” She turns and twists the dress on me for another minute until she’s satisfied. She steps back a little, scanning her handiwork. “That’s better.”

I try to twist the dress back without her noticing as the knots in my stomach tighten. “My parents will be here in fifteen minutes. We can start then.” I look at the clock on the wall and then back at her. “The wedding isn’t supposed to start for another thirty minutes.” I lean back as she reaches for my veil. “It will fall out if you touch it.”

Her hand falls to her side as she lifts her chin. “Why couldn’t they come yesterday like regular parents? You would think they would be here earlier with their only daughter getting married.”

I close my eyes slowly, then open them and fix her with a stare. “My parents couldn’t get away until today because my brother didn’t get out of the hospital until yesterday due to his car accident. I would appreciate it if you would discontinue your bad talk about my parents. You don’t know them.”

“I’m just saying.” Her chin lowers just a little.

“There’s nothing to say. I understand why they couldn’t be here until today, and that’s all that matters. I spoke with them when they got in the cab, and they’ll be here shortly and then we can start the wedding. How is Mark doing?”

Her hand moves to her hair, smoothing the already tightly pulled-back strands. “He’s doing fine.” She averts her eyes.

“Shouldn’t you be with him?” I prompt.

“Someone needs to act as the mother of the bride, since yours isn’t here yet.”

“I’m here. I’m the mother and father of the bride until they get here.” Zach steps to my side. I straighten more, pressing my shoulder against his arm.

“As well as man of honor,” she snipes.

“I’m a man of many talents.” He smiles down at me, loosening some of the knots in my stomach.

She sighs. “I’ll get back to Mark. Let me know when your parents arrive.” She almost stomps out of the room.

I let out a slow breath as Zach helps me twist my dress back into place.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks me. “That woman and her insecurities will make your life a living hell.”

“Mark and I are looking for a house close to downtown. It’s far enough away that she will need to call before she comes. She won’t come, because she looks down on the area. I won’t visit her often, therefore I won’t see her as much.”

“I’ll still be over all the time. Mark told me I’m welcome anytime.” Another thing I love about Mark. He embraces my friendship with Zach whole-heartedly. Most guys I’ve dated couldn’t stand him and our relationship. He’s been my best friend since the day I transferred to our kindergarten class.

Nodding my head, I smile. “Most definitely!”

He gives me a quick hug.

There’s a knock on the door. “Come in.”

Mark’s best friend, Ryan, hesitantly walks through the door. “Hey, Rigby. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. What’s going on?”

He hands me an envelope. “I’m sorry.” He hurries out the door, closing it behind him. I open the envelope and pull out the handwritten letter.

---

Rigs,

I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you.

Mark

---

“What?” Zach breathes behind me.

Something starts to unwind in me as I leave the room, heading toward the groom’s room where Mark was getting ready. Zach beats me to the room, bursting through the door, and no one is there. There are two tuxes hanging on the rack. I rush over to the window, and Mark’s gone.

I’m patting my dress, and Zach puts his phone in front of my face with Mark’s number already pressed into it. I put the phone to my ear and it goes straight to voicemail. That motherfucker.

My mom’s voice floats through the halls. “Where is she?”

We leave the room, and I turn down the hall toward her voice. “I’m here, Mom.”

“Oh, sweetie, look at you! You’re beautiful! Where’s Mark? You shouldn’t see him before the wedding.” She gives me a light hug, followed by my father.

“There’s not going to be a wedding.”

“What? Don’t joke with me like that, Rigby.” She moves a stray strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. I hand her the letter, and she reads it, then hands it to my dad. “He didn’t give you a reason. Where is he?”

“I don’t know, Mom. Now I have to figure out how to tell the guests waiting in the church.” I blink, waiting for this to hit me. Mark left me at the altar, and soon everyone will know.

“Are you okay? I’ll find him for you and bring him back here to talk to you,” my dad says.

I shake my head. “I’m not going to beg anyone to marry me. I’ll go out there and announce it and be done with it. I may even go on our honeymoon.” I sigh deeply, dreading having to announce this.

“I can go up there for you,” Dad offers.

I shake my head. “This is something I have to do myself.” My fingers go to my temple, rubbing lightly.

“I’ll go up there with you,” Zach says from behind me.

“Thanks, Zach.” Mom gives him a hug, and Dad shakes his hand, clapping his shoulder.

“Let’s get this done,” I sigh, strolling toward the church doors.

“We’ll be here when you finish.” Mom gives my arm a squeeze, and Dad chucks my chin.

Zach opens the doors for me and takes my hand, leading me to the front of the church. I position myself where Mark and I were supposed to take our vows, and look around. The questioning glances of the guests make my nerves vibrate just a little. The lower number of people on my side of the church is another reminder of what Kris did to make sure their family showed ours up. Neither his parents nor his sister are there. They must have known about it and left with him. Whatever. I clear my throat.

“Hi.” I take a deep breath. “Unfortunately, there won’t be a wedding here today.” I look around at all the people looking at me with pity in their eyes. A quiet buzz starts throughout the church. “But there will still be dinner and dancing. Come out and party with me. It’s a free meal and drinks. You’ll also be able to pick up your wedding gifts there.” I smile, trying to let them know that I’m okay.

The knots and nerves in my stomach disappear as Zach takes my hand and leads me to the back of the church, where my parents and brother, Rafe, are standing. My brother gives me a hug, whispering in my ear, “I’m sorry this happened to you, Rigs. He’s a fool for leaving you.”

I pull back and study him. “You look good. How do you feel?”

“A little shaky at times, but the doctor said that it will go away soon. This is about you. Are you really going to go ahead and have the reception?”

I nod. “Yep. Everything’s already been paid in full. There’s no sense in wasting it. I’m going to change my clothes, eat, and dance the night away.”

“But how are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. I’ll examine it later, but tonight, I party!”

Zach’s arm settles around my shoulder. “Let’s change clothes and go. I’m hungry.”

I sigh and lead our group out to the SUV. The ride to the venue is completed with idle chitchat. We arrive and file up to the room I rented for tonight. We change clothes and make our way down to the venue.

Almost everyone who was at the church comes to the reception. We eat, drink, and dance the night away. I cut the wedding cake and toast to my singlehood. As I spend the evening telling everyone I’m okay, I realize I really am. I’m relieved that he slunk away from our wedding like the snake he’s become in my mind. I’m quite sure we wouldn’t have lasted.

When the night is over, my parents and brother go to my house in the limo I booked go leave the wedding reception Zach comes upstairs to the room with me.

He strips down to his underwear and I put on my pajamas. Then we sit in the living room and munch on the leftovers we brought upstairs with us while watching a movie.

“How do you really feel?” Zach asks me.

I look at him. “I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but I’m actually relieved.”

His phone dings, and he looks down at it. “I forgot to tell my parents about what happened. Mom’s asking me about the wedding.” He taps a message into his phone before turning it off. “Relieved?”

“Yeah. I’m a little surprised myself. Maybe his mother drove me to that point.”

“Or maybe you didn’t love him in the first place. You just loved that he accepted you for who you are. You loved the idea of him.”

I shrug. “I think I’m a little numb right now. We can talk about it later.”

He pours me a glass of champagne and another for himself. “What are you going to do about the honeymoon?”

“I’m leaving for my honeymoon tomorrow. I need a little rest and relaxation. Come with me?”

“Okay.”

“You can take off from work that quickly?” I ask.

“I have just as much vacation time as you do. I’ll let my boss know tomorrow morning before we leave.”

I get online and pull up the airline tickets. They aren’t there. I put in the confirmation code again, and I see that he’s used both of the tickets. He changed my ticket to Ryan’s name and they left about an hour ago.

“He used our tickets, so we’re not flying to Vegas now. Where do you want to go?”

“That asshole. He called off the wedding—at least he could have left the tickets for you. Let’s go to Atlantic City. It’s not far away, and we’ve never gone.”

I nod and book two tickets to Atlantic City for tomorrow afternoon after cancelling the hotel reservations for Vegas and transferring them to a hotel in Atlantic City.

We decide to turn in and go to bed. The couch is too small for Zach, so we share. Zach wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him. I doze off with my head on his chest.