Chương 3
Ethan went still.
Claire placed the ring on Daniel’s desk because she could not think of anywhere more appropriate.
A printer hummed in the adjoining room.
Nobody spoke until it stopped.
Then Ethan said, “Can we have five minutes alone?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve spent eleven months having conversations with you alone.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does to me.”
His face hardened.
There he was.
Not the frightened man at the registration desk. The Ethan Claire knew from arguments that began as questions and ended with her apologizing for the way she had asked them.
“You’re not even going to let me explain.”
Rachel shifted against the wall.
Claire said, “Go ahead.”
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“You said not alone.”
“You can explain here.”
“This is insane.”
Margaret nodded. “Finally.”
Ethan pointed at his mother without looking at her. “Please don’t.”
That silenced her.
He turned back to Claire.
“The relationship has been bad for months.”
Claire waited.
“You know that.”
“I knew we were stressed.”
“We were more than stressed.”
“You proposed nine months ago.”
“People can realize things afterward.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Claire nodded once.
“So you scheduled it for after I paid the catering?”
His mouth tightened.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
“I thought maybe the wedding would help.”
Rachel gave a short, involuntary laugh.
Ethan glared at her.
She covered her mouth. “Sorry. That was—sorry.”
Claire’s stomach hurt.
“Help what?”
“Us.”
“The message says you were leaving me afterward.”
“I was angry.”
“You wrote ‘I just need to get through Saturday.’”
“I was talking to my mother.”
“That is apparently where you tell the truth.”
Margaret stood.
“I will not sit here while you turn private frustration into some calculated conspiracy.”
Claire looked at her.
“You told him to wait until the gifts were deposited.”
Margaret did not answer.
Rachel’s face changed.
Claire had known her sister was furious. This was different.
“Did you really say that?”
Margaret lifted her chin. “Wedding gifts are commonly given to the couple.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“It was a practical observation.”
Rachel pushed away from the wall.
“You planned to let my sister spend a hundred thousand dollars on a wedding, collect gifts, and then have your son dump her?”
“It was not a hundred thousand.”
Claire said, “One hundred eighty-six.”
Everyone looked at her.
Even Daniel.
Claire wished she had lied.
The number sat in the room like something with a smell.
Rachel whispered, “Claire.”
“Projected total.”
“You spent one hundred and eighty-six thousand dollars?”
“Not all of it yet.”
Rachel stared.
Claire looked at the carpet.
The pattern was navy blue with small gold diamonds. She had noticed the same carpet during the tasting in February and thought it made the hotel feel older than it was.
Ethan said quietly, “You knew the budget.”
“I knew what I was paying.”
“That’s what I mean.”
“No. It isn’t.”
Margaret crossed her arms. “Nobody forced you.”
There it was.
The sentence Claire had been expecting since the restroom.
It landed almost gently.
Nobody forced you.
Claire nodded.
“That part is true.”
Rachel turned. “Claire—”
“No. It is.”
She looked at Margaret.
“You asked. I said yes.”
Margaret seemed uncertain what to do with that.
Claire continued, “You asked for the better florist. I said yes. Ethan wanted the band. I said yes. You added thirty-two people after the first invitation count. I said yes. You wanted the champagne wall because Susan Halpern’s daughter had one. I said yes.”
Margaret’s lips parted.
Claire had remembered the name correctly.
That irritated her more than it should have.
“I kept saying yes,” Claire said. “That was my mistake.”
Ethan stood with his arms hanging at his sides.
“It wasn’t all for my family.”
“No.”
“You wanted things too.”
“Yes.”
“We chose the photographer together.”
“We did.”
“You picked the menu.”
“I picked the fish.”
“You wanted the room.”
Claire looked at him.
“I wanted to marry you.”
That finally hurt him.
She saw it before he looked away.
Daniel removed his glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his tie. It was such an ordinary, uncomfortable thing to do that Claire suddenly wanted to sit down.
Rachel gave her chair instead.
Claire took it.
Daniel put his glasses back on.
“I can begin calls now,” he said. “But if the goal is minimizing further financial exposure, we should prioritize food, beverage, rentals, entertainment, and transportation.”
“Do it.”
Ethan flinched.
Margaret said, “Claire, be reasonable.”
Claire leaned back.
“I am being extremely reasonable.”
“That is not what this is.”
“What would reasonable look like?”
“You go home, calm down, and speak to Ethan privately.”
“Then what?”
“You decide tomorrow when you are not emotional.”
Rachel muttered, “She’s barely blinking.”
Margaret ignored her.
Claire thought of the restroom stall. Of adding numbers while someone complained about antibiotics. Of washing her hands afterward for too long because she could not remember whether she had already used soap.
“I’m emotional,” she said.
Margaret gave a victorious little nod.
Claire continued.
“I’m just not confused.”
Daniel asked for permission to notify the banquet captain that the event was suspended.
Claire gave it.
He stepped out.
The moment the door closed, Margaret’s voice changed.
It became quieter.
More dangerous.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Claire looked at her.
Margaret’s face had lost its public polish. Her lipstick had feathered slightly at the corner of her mouth. One pearl earring sat lower than the other.
“For once,” Margaret said, “stop thinking only about yourself.”
Rachel actually laughed this time.
Claire raised a hand before her sister could speak.
Margaret continued. “There are relatives flying in from California. Ethan’s partners are attending. My friends have booked rooms. People have rearranged their lives.”
“And I paid for most of their rooms.”
“That is beside the point.”
“It’s not beside mine.”
“You can’t humiliate him like this.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
May you like
He did not defend her.
He did not defend his mother either.
