“Do you, Billie Joelle Bliss, take Adam Sebastian Knight to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.” Adam slid the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly, like Cinderella’s glass slipper. That’s what it felt like, a fairytale.
“Do you, Adam Sebastian Knight, take Billie Joelle Bliss to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.” His eyes stared into mine as I slid the ring on his finger.
Priscilla announced, “By the power vested in me by the County of Marin, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”
Adam reached up and cupped my face. His palms were warm against my cheeks, his thumbs brushing my jawline. His lips were softer than I expected, gentle at first, then more insistent. The pressure of his mouth on mine was steady, grounding, like an anchor.
He kissed me, and it was anything but polite. He kissed me until I forgot we were in a government building, until I forgot about every embarrassing thing I’d ever done and every reason I’d convinced myself this was a bad idea. He kissed me until my knees went soft and the room spun, and by the time he pulled away, I was dizzy and breathless and completely undone.
He smiled, wiped a stray tear from my cheek, and asked, “You okay?”
I nodded, too stunned to speak.
And just like that, I was Mrs. Adam Knight.
29
ADAM
“I like Charli a lot,”I joked as we sat outside Golden Gate Rehab and Sports Medicine Clinic, “but I’m gonna be honest with you, when I pictured getting married, I didn’t think I’d be spending two hours getting sweaty with another woman immediately following the ceremony.”
“Wait, why aren’t you doing your rehab through the VA?” Billie turned her head towards me.
“My friend Maddox recommended this place, he said it’s the best. I looked into it and it is. I figured it would be better to pay out of pocket for the best with something like my back, and Charli is the best.”
“Yeah, I know, she’s also a former super model.”
“You know her?” Charlotte James, who owned the rehab clinic, had been a model before becoming a doctor and starting her practice.
“Ofher.” Billie emphasized the ‘of’ so much it almost sounded like a threat.
I grinned, wiggling my ring finger. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m a married man.”
“Oh shit.” She snapped her head down and made a show of removing her wedding ring, her lips fighting a smile. “How did I forget? Where did you get these, anyway?”
“That’s my mom’s ring, and mine is my dad’s, he had a ton of rings left around.” The moment I said it, I regretted it, because Billie immediately froze, studying my mom’s ring like it might reveal a hidden map.
“This was your mom’s ring?” She stared at it as if it would give her some clue as to why my mom just left one day.
There was a long pause that I didn’t want to fill, but knew I had to.
I looked straight ahead at the graffiti on the wall and the windblown plastic bag caught in the tree branches. “It’s not going to tell you why she left.” I tapped my leg with my knuckle. “Believe me. If it could, I would know by now.”
The ring and a Dear John note that read,I love you, goodbye, were on the kitchen table the day my mom went to the store and never came back. It wasn’t even addressed to anyone. The ring was on the paper, so one could assume she was talking about my dad. Or maybe the ring was for my dad and she was saying goodbye and that she loved me. I didn’t know. It was one question that had tormented me for years until finally I realized it didn’t matter, because she was gone either way.
Still, I always loved the ring. Maybe because I did love my mom. Which was why it hurt so much that she left. The ring was all I had of her, and the only person I’d ever imagined wearing it was Billie.
Billie glanced at me, and I could tell she wanted to ask more, but she didn’t. That was the difference between her and everyone else in my life.
“Sorry.” Billie tried to hand the ring back.
“No.” I pushed the ring back into her hand. “It’s yours.”
She shook her head, her hair catching the sunlight in a way that made her look almost angelic. “It’s not…” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
