Page 144 of What Goes Around

I didn’t resent it.

Payton looked radiant. Genuinely happy.

She and Thomas had met the same way they had in my last life. A shared class. A group project that turned into late study sessions. Coffee that became dinner. Friendship that turned into love.

“When I look at you,” Thomas said, “I see my future…”

As he spoke, I studied his face. He looked certain. In love. Not confused. Not haunted by doubts that didn’t belong to him.

My mind slipped back to the moment a week earlier when I had asked him, almost casually, if he had been hearing from me. I had been leaning against the counter while Payton was out of the room, trying to sound offhand.

“Have you been getting any strange messages?” I asked.

He frowned. “Yeah. Why?”

“Can I see them?”

He pulled out his phone and showed me the messages.

I let out a quiet, annoyed breath.

“That is not me. Someone is pretending to be me. You are not the only one. I do not know what their goal is, but you are not the target. I am.”

He stared at me, processing. “Someone is pretending to be you?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The police are already involved,” I said, the lie coming easily. “Block the number. Do not respond. And if anything else comes in, tell me right away.”

He exhaled slowly. “The messages did feel off. We have barely talked, and you suddenly reaching out did not make sense.”

In my past life, Thomas and I had been friends. We had gone to UVU together, spent time in the same circles. In this life, we had only crossed paths in groups a handful of times.

The present snapped back into place.

“By the power vested in me,” the priest said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Thomas Hale and Payton Hale. You may kiss the bride.”

Applause filled the church. Payton laughed through tears as Thomas kissed her.

I felt something loosen in my chest.

This time, there was no interruption. This was how it was supposed to go.

As they turned toward the guests, my gaze drifted to the groomsmen. Nick stood among them, watching the couple with an easy smile, genuine happiness softening his face.

Then his eyes met mine.

He smiled.

I smiled back.

Afterward, the crowd spilled into the aisle in a warm rush of movement. There were hugs and laughter and the kind of tears that came from happiness. Payton wrapped her arms around me tightly.

“I can’t believe this is real,” she cried. “Everything went perfectly.”

“It really did,” I told her.

The reception was held in Payton’s parents’ backyard, transformed into something that looked lifted straight from a magazine spread. White tents stretched across the lawn, their fabric glowing softly in the late afternoon light. Strings of warm bulbs crisscrossed above the dance floor, already coming alive as the sun dipped lower.

Music drifted through the air. Laughter. The easy clink of glasses. People moved without hurry, relaxed, celebratory.