Listen to Your Heart(29)

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“May I sit?”

I nod and slide over to make room. He’s careful not to touch me as he settles himself on the bench. I’m grateful. And disappointed.

“Thank you for the daisies, Caleb.”

“Did you like them?”

“I loved them. I bet the florist did, too. Pansy can probably retire now.”

He chuckles. “She was pretty excited when she handed me the receipt.”

“I can imagine.”

He sighs softly and reaches for my hand.

“Don’t,” I whisper. “I won’t be able to think straight if you touch me.”

“I can’t think straight if I don’t.”

I finally allow myself to look at him . . . to really look at him. What I see breaks what’s left of my heart. Dark circles rim his bloodshot eyes. He looks pale and tired and miserable. I wonder how I look to him.

“I met Juliana’s mother. She’s very sweet.”

“She is. I love her almost as much as I love my own mom.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

He takes a deep breath and reaches for my hand. This time, I let him take it. I’m asking him to share something very private and painful. The least I can do is let him hold my hand.

“We were on vacation in Colorado when Luisa complained of a severe headache. She’s never been one to complain about her health, so we knew she had to be in a lot of pain. We rushed home. Her doctor ran a bunch of tests. The diagnosis wasn’t good, so they got a second opinion, and then a third. All the doctors said the exact same thing.”

“Cancer?”

He nods. “Brain tumor. She’d live a year, maybe. Her personal doctor gave her six to eight months. The cancer hasn’t spread, but it’s inoperable. Chemo has helped slow the progression a little, but all it’s doing is buying her some time.”

“Enough time to watch her daughter walk down the aisle.”

“Yes.”

A tear trickles down my cheek.

“Luisa took the news like a champ. People die, she said. That’s life. Her one and only regret was that she wouldn’t see her daughter get married. In the grand scheme of things, it seemed so inconsequential, but to her, it was the most important thing in the world.”

Luisa’s words echo in my brain. They don’t realize the little things are actually the most important things of all.

“Jules is my best friend. Has been since college,” Caleb says softly. “Her family’s become my family, treating me like a son for the past six years. Luisa always pushed the two of us to be more than friends, but that’s all we’ll ever be. With that in mind, I asked Jules what she thought about giving her mom the wedding she’d always dreamed of. Neither of us were dating. It seemed like a very easy wish to grant. At first, Juliana was totally against the idea, but as her mom’s health deteriorated, we wanted to do something—anything to ease her suffering. Anything to make her smile.”

“So you got engaged.”

“I’ll never forget the look in Luisa’s eyes when we told her we were getting married. Jules didn’t think we could pull it off. We’d protested for years, and now we’re engaged? But Luisa didn’t question it. Maybe she didn’t want to. So, I made a promise to my best friend. We’d plan the wedding of her mother’s dreams, and then we’d get an annulment just as soon as . . .”

Caleb’s aching voice breaks, and he bows his head. He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. I know exactly what he’s going to say.

They’ll get an annulment . . . just as soon as she dies.

We’ve planned a lot of weddings. Many of our couples are still together. Others didn’t make it to their first anniversary. Lynsey likes to joke that some didn’t even make it past the honeymoon. But this is the first time we’ve planned a wedding where the bride and groom are planning to get an annulment just as soon as her mother’s dead and buried.

It’s wrong, what they’re doing. But it’s also admirable. Obviously there’s a lot of love there, and wouldn’t you want to ease your loved one’s suffering if you could?

I know I would.

“I think it’s amazing what you’re doing, Caleb. Giving this wonderful woman something to look forward to when everything else looks bleak. I totally get it.”

“You do?”

“Everything makes sense now. I’ve never met a bride who didn’t give a shit about her wedding dress. We’ve never planned a wedding where we were given zero direction but an unlimited budget. Now I know why.”

“You have to believe me, Skye. If I’d known you were coming into my life, I never would have agreed to this.”

“I do believe that.”

Caleb smiles then, his blue eyes twinkling with hope.

“So . . . what does this mean?” he asks, squeezing my hand. “For us?”

I’m not sure what he expects me to say. I’d never ask him to break his promise to Juliana. Is that what he wants? Does he want me to offer an ultimatum? I refuse. I won’t be the reason he breaks his engagement, even if the whole thing’s a farce.

That’s his choice to make, and I certainly won’t beg him to choose me.