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I hopped inside, and he took off.
“How are we supposed to find her?”
“Drive around and search for a woman in a wedding dress.” She had no money and no phone, so she must be walking down the street, dirtying her gown on the street.
Theo drove fast, whipping around the roundabouts and turning back up different streets. Several minutes passed, and there was no sign of her. “You think she took the bus?”
“Fuck, I don’t know.”
We continued to drive, the search starting to turn hopeless.
But then Theo rounded the corner, and I spotted her, standing in the freezing cold outside a café, passersby on the street staring at her in her gown. “There. Pull over.”
Theo cut off a car to get to the curb. The cars honked back and forth, but I was too focused on Scarlett to care. I hopped out of the car, and Theo took off again because he couldn’t park the car there.
She didn’t even notice me, standing there with nowhere to go. Her apartment was clear across town, and it would take her hours to walk back in those heels.
“Scarlett.”
She turned at the sound of her name and nearly jumped out of her skin. “Jesus…”
I undid my jacket then wrapped it around her.
She must have been cold because she didn’t throw it on the ground or scream at me. “I can’t do it.” She wouldn’t look at me, tightening the coat around herself to lock the warmth against her body. “I just can’t.”
My hands went to her arms, getting close to her. “It’s okay.”
Her eyes lifted to mine, the surprise written across her features.
“Let’s go inside and get a coffee.”
“What?”
“Come on.” I took her hand and opened the door for her. The café was empty because it was the middle of the day, between lunch and dinner, when everyone was out or enjoying a nap. I took her to a table in the corner.
She sat down and tightened the coat around her, her face pale from the stress and the cold. I went to the counter, ordered a couple coffees and pastries, and then returned to the table when I had everything.
I set the latte in front of her along with the vanilla scone, all they had left.
She cupped the mug with both hands to feel the warmth then took a drink. Slowly, the unease started to slip away as she enjoyed her coffee. She picked at the scone, taking a few bites as she kept her eyes down.
I didn’t press her with questions or pressure her to return to the church. I just let her breathe.
She continued to pick at the scone, eventually eating all of it and leaving only a few crumbs behind. “I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
“How was it?”
“Loaded with sugar and fat…so it was fucking delicious.”
I grinned before I took a drink.
She turned to look out the window on the other side of the café, and reality seemed to come back to her because she released a heavy sigh. “This isn’t how I pictured this day.” Her voice dropped, full of solemnity. “I wanted to get married outside in the summer, not in a church during the wettest winter we’ve ever had. I wanted to marry a man I could trust with my life, who would never hurt me, not this…”
It was the most painful thing she’d ever said to me—and on my wedding day. “I would die for you, baby. In a heartbeat.”
Her eyes moved back to mine.
“And I promise I will never hurt you.”
Her eyes dropped.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes instantly obeyed me.
“I promise I will be faithful to you. I promise I will be honest with you. I promise I will protect you. I will be the best husband there ever was—if you give me a chance.” I spoke my vows to her in that café instead of in the church, but it felt better this way, just the two of us, both broken.
Her eyes dropped to her coffee.
“I promise you.”
“This is why I don’t want to do this…”
I waited, hoping she would say more.
“I don’t want to marry you, because…I don’t want to be in that position again…where you can hurt me. I refuse to let you hurt me again. I’ve turned off my heart and locked it in a cage, but I’m afraid you’re going to find the key and break in.”
“I will find the key, baby.”
She looked at me again.
“That’s why I want to marry you. So I can find that key and fix what I broke.”
She stared at me, eyes wet with emotion, her coffee turning cold in front of her. Her makeup had smeared when she’d taken off down the street and her hair was tangled from the cold wind, but she never looked more beautiful to me, in a wedding dress with my coat, sitting across from me in that café.
