Chapter 1 - THE WEDDING DINNER WITHOUT A WEDDING
The first thing I did after ending my wedding was eat a dinner I had already paid for.
Not because I was hungry.
Because my father looked at one hundred and twenty-seven guests standing awkwardly beneath strings of vineyard lights and said, “Nobody wastes brisket in this family.”
That made me laugh.
Then I cried so hard my mascara stained his shirt.
The reception went on.
Strangely.
Beautifully.
My cousins moved the wedding cake away from the sweetheart table. My college roommate replaced the first-dance playlist with every angry woman anthem she could find. Judge Bell stayed for dinner.
Everett did not.
Neither did Camille.
His mother left after telling my mother she was “deeply disappointed in how Madison handled things.”
My mother responded by asking a server to bring Joanne’s untouched steak to our table.
I loved her for that.
At nine-thirty, Kelsey found me standing alone near the vineyard fence.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good. I’d be concerned if you were.”
I stared toward the dark hills.
“I really loved him.”
“I know.”
“That’s the stupid part.”
“No.”
She moved beside me.
“The stupid part would’ve been marrying him because the invitations were expensive.”
I laughed weakly.
Then my phone vibrated.
Everett.
Sixteen missed calls.
Thirty-two texts.
The newest one:
WE NEED TO FIX THIS BEFORE EVERYONE MAKES IT WORSE.
I stared at the words.
Not I hurt you.
Not I’m sorry.
Everyone.
His audience.
His embarrassment.
His problem.
I blocked him.
Kelsey raised her glass.
“To personal growth.”
I touched mine to hers.
Then my father approached.
He looked worried.
“Maddie?”
“What?”
“There’s a man asking for you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Everett?”
“No.”
Dad pointed toward the winery office.
A tall man in a dark suit stood there holding a leather folder.
I recognized him.
Barely.
Caleb Reed.
The attorney who had handled the loan papers for the house Everett and I had planned to buy.
He looked like someone who hated delivering bad news.
“Madison,” he said when I approached. “I’m sorry about tonight.”
“Thank you.”
“I wouldn’t bother you now unless it was urgent.”
Of course.
Because apparently public heartbreak needed paperwork.
“What happened?”
He opened the folder.
“The forty-five-thousand-dollar collateral Everett pledged for Camille’s studio?”
“Yes.”
“It wasn’t forty-five thousand.”
My stomach dropped.
Caleb turned the page toward me.
The number printed beside my name was much larger.
$185,000.
I stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
Caleb’s expression hardened.
“Madison, the house fund wasn’t the only thing pledged.”
“What else?”
He hesitated.
“Your grandmother’s ranch.”
I stopped breathing.
“That property isn’t Everett’s.”
“I know.”
“Then how—”
Caleb placed another document in front of me.
At the bottom was my signature.
Perfect.
May you like
Except I had never signed it.
And suddenly the wedding was no longer the worst thing Everett had done.
