“Who is he marrying?”

He didn’t answer quickly enough.

“Who?”

“Her name is Megan.”

“How long has he known Megan?”

Eric looked away.

That told me too.

“Before the accident?”

He nodded.

I pressed both palms against the table.

“How long?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“Try.”

“Several months.”

I picked up my phone.

There were photographs of Jason in it that I still couldn’t bring myself to delete.

Jason making pancakes.

Jason asleep on the couch.

Jason holding the paint samples for the apartment we had planned to move into after the wedding.

Jason and me standing outside our wedding venue five months earlier, holding the contract and smiling.

I had spent three months trying to learn how to live without a man who had apparently spent those same three months preparing to marry somebody else.

Eric stepped closer.

“Rachel, I’m sorry.”

I looked at him.

“You hugged me at the cemetery.”

His face tightened.

“I know.”

“Your mother held my hand.”

“I know.”

“You watched me put a flower on an empty casket.”

He looked down.

I slipped my phone back into my purse.

“Where’s Megan?”

Eric immediately straightened.

“Don’t.”

“Does she know?”

“Rachel.”

“Does she know I exist?”

“Yes.”

That stopped me.

“What did he tell her?”

Eric shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Does she know I buried him?”

Silence.

That was all I needed.

I opened the door.

Eric caught up with me near the stairs.

“Please don’t do something you’ll regret.”

I turned.

“I spent three months regretting things I said to a dead man. I think I’m done taking advice from this family.”

I went downstairs.

At the end of the hallway, two bridesmaids were standing outside a private suite.

One of them was holding a bouquet I had designed that morning.

My bouquet.

White garden roses, ranunculus, eucalyptus.

I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

I had made flowers for the woman marrying my supposedly dead fiancé.

One bridesmaid smiled politely.

“Can we help you?”

“I need to speak with Megan.”

“She’s getting ready.”

“Tell her it’s about Jason.”

The bridesmaids exchanged a look.

Then the door opened.

A woman in a simple ivory dress appeared.

Megan.

She was probably around my age. Blonde hair pinned loosely at the back, pearl earrings, no veil yet.

She looked nervous but happy.

At least until she saw my face.

“I’m Megan.”

“Rachel Bennett.”

Nothing.

I waited.

“Do you know who I am?”

Her expression changed slightly.

“Yes.”

I hadn’t expected that.

“What did Jason tell you?”

One bridesmaid stepped closer.

“Maybe this isn’t the time.”

Megan raised her hand.

“It’s okay.”

Then she looked at me.

“Jason said you might have trouble with today.”

I stared at her.

“He told you I knew about this wedding?”

Megan frowned.

“He said you two had been separated for almost a year.”

My hand went into my purse.

I pulled up the photograph from five months earlier.

Jason had his arm around my waist.

I was holding our signed venue contract.

The date was visible.

I handed her the phone.

Megan stared at it.

Her face slowly changed.

“What is this?”

“Our wedding venue.”

She looked at the date again.

“Five months ago?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes lifted to mine.

I kept my voice level.

“Three months ago, I attended Jason’s funeral.”

The bridesmaid beside her whispered something I couldn’t hear.

Megan didn’t move.

“What funeral?”

“His.”

She stared at me.

Then she shook her head.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Jason told me there was confusion after the accident, but he said you knew he survived.”

For the first time since I’d seen him standing in that gray suit, my anger shifted.

Not away from Jason.

Toward something clearer.

Megan wasn’t standing in front of me like a woman who had stolen somebody’s fiancé.

She looked like somebody had just removed the floor beneath her.

“I didn’t know.”

Her lips parted.

“Rachel—”

“I buried him.”

Behind me, a man’s voice cut through the hallway.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Jason.

Megan looked past me.

He was standing beside Linda and Eric.

Still wearing the gray suit.

Still wearing the navy tie.

But now nobody was fixing it.

The Question Jason Couldn’t Avoid

Jason walked toward us quickly.

“Megan, don’t listen to this without letting me explain.”

Megan held up my phone.

“What is this?”

He stopped.

“Megan—”

“Why were you booking a wedding with her five months ago if you’d been separated for almost a year?”

Jason looked at me.

“Rachel, give us a minute.”

I didn’t move.

Megan laughed quietly.

“No. She’s staying.”

Linda stepped forward.

“Sweetheart, everyone is emotional right now.”

Megan looked at her.

“Did you know?”

Linda’s mouth tightened.

“Know what?”

“That Rachel thought Jason was dead.”

Linda said nothing.

Megan stared at her.

Then she looked at Eric.

“Did you?”

Eric looked down.

“Yes.”

Megan took one step backward.

Jason reached toward her.

She moved away before he touched her.

“Was there actually a funeral?”

Jason’s face changed.

“Megan—”

“Answer me.”

He glanced around the hallway.

Two bridesmaids had gone silent. Megan’s father had appeared near the ballroom entrance.

Jason lowered his voice.

“Yes.”

Megan stared at him.

“You had a funeral.”

“It wasn’t my decision at first.”

“But you were alive.”

“There was a mistake after the accident.”

“Were you alive when they held the funeral?”

Jason hesitated.

“Yes.”

Megan covered her mouth.

Her father walked closer.

“Megan?”

She held out a hand without looking at him.

“Dad, wait.”

Then she looked at Jason again.

“Did Rachel know?”

Jason didn’t answer.

Megan’s voice sharpened.

“Did Rachel know you were alive?”

“Not exactly.”

I almost couldn’t believe the phrase.

Megan stared at him.

“There isn’t a ‘not exactly’ here.”

Jason exhaled hard.

“No.”

Megan’s father moved beside his daughter.

Jason started talking faster.

“I was in a bad place. The accident happened, everything got confused, and by the time I woke up, people already thought I was gone. Rachel and I were already having problems.”

I looked at him.

“We were choosing appetizers for our rehearsal dinner two days before your accident.”

He ignored me.

“I didn’t know how to end it.”

Megan blinked.

“So you let her think you died?”

“It wasn’t supposed to become this huge thing.”

Nobody spoke.

Even Jason seemed to hear how ridiculous that sounded once the words were out.

Megan handed my phone back to me.