Chapter Ten #3
I’m still staring at the ring when Father Sullivan’s voice fills the church. “You may kiss the bride.” Ronin’s hand comes to my waist, pulling me to him. I look up, surprised, and he kisses me.
It’s a soft press of his mouth to mine, over almost as soon as it begins, but it leaves me breathless.
When he draws back, he’s smiling down at me, and I almost forget we’re standing in front of a church full of people until Father Sullivan announces, “Mr. and Mrs. Ronin Byrne.” Applause breaks out around us.
The organ starts up again, this time playing the “Wedding March,” and the guests rise as Ronin threads his fingers through mine and leads me back down the aisle.
I’m smiling so hard my cheeks ache, and when I taste salt on my lips, I realize I’m still crying.
As we pass the front pew, I see Mam and Eileen wiping at their eyes, but it’s Ronin I keep looking at.
My husband, I think with every step we take. Ronin is my husband.
***
The lobby of the Hotel Bradford is crowded with our guests when we step inside.
They mill around us, talking and laughing.
Some head through the open ballroom doors while waiters in black jackets move between them with trays of champagne.
Ronin’s arm is firm around my waist. He’s barely let go of me since I reached him at the altar, and I don’t want him to now.
I spot Danny making his way toward us through the crowd.
He stops beside Ronin. “Need a word,” he says quietly.
Ronin bends close, his lips brushing my ear so I can hear him over the voices around us. “Danny and I need to talk for a minute. We’re going to head to the bar, but I won’t be long.”
He isn’t asking. I know that, but I still want to tell him no, to tell him that it’s our wedding day and I want him beside me for every part of it. Instead, I smile and nod the way I know he expects me to. “Take your time. If you’re not back when they’re ready to announce us, I’ll come find you.”
“Thanks, doll,” he murmurs, brushing a quick kiss against the corner of my mouth before walking away with Danny.
I watch them disappear down the hall leading to the bar before a shoulder nudges mine. I look over to find Maggie beside me with a soda in each hand. She tips her chin after them. “Work?”
Careful of anyone who might be watching, I keep the smile on my face as I take the soda she offers me. “Mm-hmm.”
Maggie gives me a knowing look, but she doesn’t press.
She only takes a sip of her drink and stays beside me as I wait for Ronin.
I hear the band begin to play in the ballroom and notice more guests drifting through the open doors.
Maggie’s telling me all about the nursing classes she’ll start in the fall when someone clears his throat behind me.
She falls quiet, and I turn to find the bandleader standing there.
“Mrs. Byrne, we’re ready for you and your husband. ”
“Oh.” I look around the lobby and realize it’s nearly empty now. Ronin still isn’t back. “He had to step out with his best man,” I say. “They’re just at the bar. I’ll go get him.”
He nods. “Of course. We’ll give you a few minutes.”
“I’ll see you inside,” I tell Maggie, then head for the bar.
As I walk, my mind goes to the honeymoon we leave for tomorrow.
Ronin still won’t tell me where he’s taking me.
Every time I ask, he only gives me a sly smile and says it’s somewhere I once told him I wanted to go.
But I can’t remember telling him about anywhere like that, and it’s been driving me mad trying to work it out.
I’m going over it again, searching my memory for any clue Ronin might have let slip, when a woman steps into my path so suddenly that I walk straight into her.
“Hey,” she snaps, her voice sharp with a thick Boston bite. “Watch where you’re going.”
“I’m sorry,” I say automatically, taking a quick step back.
She says nothing. Her dark eyes move over me, cool and assessing, and I stand there a second too long, trapped under the weight of her stare. Then I remember I still need to get to Ronin and move to the side to pass her. “Excuse me.”
But before I can, she steps in front of me, cutting me off. “Where are you going?” she asks.
The question catches me off guard. “I need to find my husband.”
Her red-painted lips curve into a smile, like I’ve given her exactly the answer she wanted. “Oh. Ronin?”
There’s a familiarity in the way she says his name that makes me hesitate. “Yes.”
“Don’t worry,” she says, as though she’s reassuring me. “He’s at the bar. I just saw him.”
“You did?” The words come out before I can stop them.
“Of course I did.” She tilts her head, considering me. “You know, I was actually hoping we’d have a chance to speak today.”
I don’t know this woman, or why she’s talking to me as if I should. I search her face, trying to remember if we’ve met, but I can’t place her. “I’m sorry, who—”
“Kathleen,” she says, holding out her hand. “But my friends call me Kitty.” When I don’t take it, she lowers it without missing a beat. “I figured there’s no reason we shouldn’t get along. Since we’re both going to be in his life.”
My brows draw together. “I don’t understand.”
Her smile widens, just a fraction. “What’s there not to understand? Ronin and I have been in love for years,” she says, her voice light, almost cheerful. “I’m sorry. He promised me he’d tell you before the wedding, but from the look on your face, I can tell he didn’t.”
The room tilts. I must not have heard her right. “My Ronin?” The words come out strangled.
“What did you think?” she asks. “That you were the only one? Honey, I had him in the backseat of that fancy Cadillac of his as recently as the night of his stag.”
She keeps talking, but my mind can’t seem to grasp her words.
In love.
The backseat of the Cadillac.
The night of his stag.
I hear them, but they float, disconnected, like I’m underwater and sound is reaching me too slowly. Ronin wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t. I shake my head. “You’re lying.”
She leans closer. “You’ll get used to it,” she says. “Most women do.”
My chest tightens. No. This can’t be happening. There has to be another explanation. “I need to find my husband,” I say.
She gives a quiet laugh. “Of course you do.”
Then she’s gone.
I stand there, my heart pounding against my ribs. I replay her words again and again, trying to make them harmless, trying to make them wrong. Music from the ballroom carries down the hall, cutting through my thoughts. The bandleader is waiting to announce us.
Ronin said he’d be at the bar. Our reception is about to start.
I start toward the bar, slower now, my breath coming too fast. My vision blurs, and when I lift a hand to my face, my fingers come away wet. When did I start crying? I swipe beneath my eyes, willing the tears to stop.