Page 11 of Ashes of Us
We sat there for a long time. Maya holding me while I cried. The coffee getting cold on the nightstand. My phone sitting between us, wedding planning app still open on the screen.
Finally, I pulled away and wiped my eyes.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
I picked up my phone and looked at the app. At the color-coded calendar and the checklists and the vendor contacts. There was a year of planning in there, a whole future contained in pixels and spreadsheets.
I closed the app.
"I'm doing it," I said. "I'm canceling the wedding."
Maya's face broke into something between relief and pride. "Hell yes you are."
"I don't know how yet. I don't know what to say or who to call first or how to tell people. But I'm doing it."
"We'll figure it out," Maya said. "Together. One step at a time."
I nodded and set the phone aside. Picked up my cold coffee and took a sip.
"Better to cancel now than divorce later," Maya added. “Also, we should change the password on his Netflix.”
Somehow, I still managed to offer her a weak smile.
My phone buzzed again. One quick look was enough to confirm my suspicions: another email from a vendor checking in, confirming details, excited to be part of our special day.
I turned the phone face-down and took a deep breath.
"One step at a time," I repeated.
Maya squeezed my hand. "One step at a time."
CHAPTER 6: LIAM
Iwoke up on the couch with a crick in my neck and the worst headache of my life.
For a second, I didn't remember why I was there, why I hadn't slept in our bed, why the apartment felt too quiet and too empty. Then it all came rushing back in a sick wave that made my stomach clench.
Piper's face in the doorway, the cupcakes hitting the floor. God, the way she'd looked at me… like she didn't know me anymore, like I was a stranger who'd wandered into her life wearing someone else's skin.
How long?
Since March.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. My phone was on the coffee table where I'd left it hours ago, screen dark. I'd passed out around three in the morning after calling her God knows how many times and texting her until my thumbs went numb, begging her to just talk to me, to let me explain.
She hadn't answered any of my messages.
I grabbed the phone now and tried again, my heart pounding stupidly as I hit her name and listened to it ring.
"The number you are trying to reach?—"
I hung up before the message finished. Tried texting instead, thumbs moving faster than my brain.
Piper, please. Just let me explain.
The message turned green immediately. Undelivered.
