Chapter Eleven
Athena
Oh.
Oh.
The woman standing by the silver sedan had the most incredible energy I’d ever felt.
Like a lightning storm contained in human form, all crackling electricity and barely restrained power.
She was tall, maybe five-nine, with dark hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail and eyes that were the exact same shade of gray as Julien’s.
Sharp cheekbones, elegant posture, wearing black slacks and a burgundy blouse that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe.
She looked like Julien, if Julien were a woman and slightly less likely to have a stress-induced aneurysm.
Also, she looked furious.
But underneath the fury, and this was the interesting part, the part the universe wanted me to notice, there was love.
So much love. The kind of love that made you want to commit violence against anyone who hurt your sibling, even if that sibling was an idiot who’d gotten drunk-married in Las Vegas.
I liked her immediately.
“Vivian—” Julien started.
“Your what?” she said, staring at me.
I kept smiling and extended my hand. “Hi! I’m Athena.
It’s so wonderful to meet you. Julien told me absolutely nothing about you, but I can already tell you’re amazing.
Your aura is incredible. Very protective, very fierce.
Are you a Leo? You feel like a Leo. Or maybe a Scorpio?
Definitely a fire sign, though, or possibly water, but intense water, like—”
“Fritz said—” She stopped. Looked at Julien.
Looked at me. Looked at my still-extended hand.
“Fritz said you got married in Vegas. I told him he was full of shit. I told him there was no way, absolutely no possible way, that my brother, Julien Darcy, Mr. Color-Coded-Calendar, Mr. I-Plan-My-Meals-Three-Weeks-In-Advance, would get drunk and marry a stranger.”
“Well—” Julien started.
“I TOLD HIM,” Vivian continued, her voice rising, “that he was pranking me. That this was some elaborate joke. That you probably just met someone at the conference and he was exaggerating because that’s what Fritz does.”
“Oh, we did meet at the conference!” I said brightly. “Well, technically, I met him at the conference. The universe arranged it. I walked into his presentation and I just knew.”
“Because my brother,” Vivian said, her voice now at a pitch that was making other travelers turn and stare, “my brilliant neurosurgeon brother, would never—”
She stopped.
Looked at Julien’s left hand.
At the ring.
The wedding ring that wouldn’t come off.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God. Fritz was telling the truth.”
“Vivian—”
“FRITZ WAS TELLING THE TRUTH.”
And then this was the moment I knew I was going to love this woman. She started laughing.
Not polite laughter. Not restrained laughter.
Full, gasping, doubled-over, tears-streaming-down-her-face laughter.
She pointed at Julien.
He glared at her.
She laughed harder.
“You!” she gasped. “You got...” More laughter. “You got married!”
“Vivian, if you could please—”
“To a STRANGER!” She was wheezing now. “In LAS VEGAS!”
“I’m aware of what happened.”
“Mr. I-Have-A-Contingency-Plan-For-My-Contingency-Plans.”
I couldn’t help it. I started giggling too. Not at Julien. Well, maybe a little at Julien but mostly at the situation. At the absurdity of it. At the way the universe had taken this man who controlled everything and thrown him into complete chaos.
But then I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
And underneath the glare, underneath the rigid posture and the clenched jaw, I saw something else.
Exhaustion.
Real, bone-deep exhaustion.
The kind that came from fighting the universe for too long.
My giggling stopped.
Vivian was still laughing, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I’m sorry, I just...
the irony. The beautiful cosmic irony. You, of all people.
You probably had a color-coded itinerary for this trip, didn’t you?
A schedule? And now you’re married to”—she looked at me, taking in my flowy dress, my crystals, my duffel bag covered in spiritual patches—“someone who probably doesn’t even own a planner. ”
“I have a planner,” I said. “It’s just more of a... feelings journal. With some dates in it. Sometimes.”
Vivian laughed again. “Oh, this is perfect. This is... Julien, do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve married your exact opposite. Your complete antithesis. The yin to your yang. The chaos to your order. The—”
“I get it,” Julien said tightly.
“Do you, though?” Vivian was grinning now, clearly enjoying this. “Because I don’t think you do. I don’t think you understand how hilarious this is. You, Mr. I-Alphabetize-My-Spice-Rack, married to... what did you say your name was?”
“Athena.”
“Athena. Who probably believes in astrology and crystals and—”
“And tarot,” I added helpfully. “And energy healing. And the power of manifestation. And...”
“This is the best day of my life,” Vivian said. “This is... I’m going to tell this story at every family gathering for the rest of time. I’m going to tell your children about this. Your grandchildren.”
“We’re getting an annulment,” Julien said.
“Sure you are.” Vivian was still grinning. “Just like you were going to ‘loosen up’ in Vegas. Just like you were going to ‘have fun’ and ‘not overthink everything.’ How’d that work out for you?”
And that was when I saw it.
The way Julien’s shoulders tensed.
The way his jaw clenched even tighter.
The way something in his eyes, something small and hurt, flickered and then disappeared behind his usual mask of control.
Vivian was still talking. “I mean, seriously, what were you thinking? Did you think at all? Or did you just—”
“He was thinking,” I whispered.
They both stopped.
Turned to look at me.
“He was thinking,” I repeated, “that maybe, just for one night, he could let go. That maybe he could stop being perfect and controlled and responsible for everything and everyone. That maybe he could just... be.”
Vivian’s smile faded slightly.
Julien was staring at me like I’d grown a second head.
“And yeah,” I continued, “maybe it didn’t go exactly as planned.
Maybe the universe had other ideas. But he was trying.
He was trying to do something spontaneous and fun and outside his comfort zone, and that’s actually really brave.
Most people never even try. They just stay in their safe little boxes forever. ”
“Athena,” Julien started.
“No, I’m not done.” I looked at Vivian. “I know you’re his sister, and you love him, and you’re probably worried about him.
I get that. I have sisters too, and I’d be protective too if one of them came home married to a stranger.
But he’s not an idiot. He’s brilliant. He’s a neurosurgeon who saves people’s lives.
He’s careful and thoughtful, and yes, maybe a little too controlled sometimes, but that’s because he cares.
He cares so much about doing things right that he’s terrified of doing them wrong. ”
The words were tumbling out now, faster than I could organize them, but they felt true. They felt right.
“And maybe I’m chaos,” I said. “Maybe I’m the opposite of everything he usually is.
Maybe the universe put us together because we’re supposed to balance each other out, or maybe it’s just because the universe has a weird sense of humor.
I don’t know yet. But what I do know is that he’s a good person.
A really good person. And he doesn’t deserve to be laughed at for trying something new, even if it went completely sideways. ”
Silence.
Vivian was staring at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read.
Julien was staring at me as if I’d just performed brain surgery on him without anesthesia.
“I—” Vivian cleared her throat. “I wasn’t trying to...”
“I know,” I said, softer now. “I know you weren’t. You were just teasing. Sisters do that. But he’s had a really hard couple of days, and I think maybe he needs support more than teasing right now.”
More silence.
Then Vivian did something I didn’t expect.
She smiled.
Not a teasing smile. Not a mocking smile.
A genuine, warm, approving smile.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay, I like you.”
“Really?”
“Really.” She looked at Julien. “I still think you’re an idiot for getting drunk-married in Vegas. But”—she looked back at me—“maybe not a complete idiot.”
“That’s very generous of you,” Julien said dryly.
“I know. I’m a saint.” Vivian grabbed her keys from her pocket. “Now get in the car before I change my mind about liking your wife.”
Your wife.
The words hung in the air between us.
Julien looked at me.
I looked at him.
And for just a second, just one brief, fleeting second, something passed between us. Something that wasn’t about cosmic destiny or universal plans or any of the spiritual things I usually believed in.
Something simpler.
Something like... gratitude.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For what?”
“For—” He paused. “For defending me. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Of course I did,” I said. “You’re my husband.”
He winced.
“Too soon?”
“Way too soon.”
“Noted.” I smiled. “But it’s still true.”
“Get in the car,” Vivian called. “Both of you. Before I commit a felony in front of witnesses.”
We got in the car.
Julien in the front passenger seat.
Me in the back, surrounded by my duffel bag and carry-on and all the chaotic energy I’d brought into his perfectly ordered life.
As Vivian pulled out of the airport, I caught Julien’s eye in the rearview mirror.
He was still looking at me with that same confused, slightly awed expression.
Like he was trying to figure out a puzzle he hadn’t known existed.
And I thought, Maybe the universe didn’t just send me to him because he needs chaos.
Maybe it sent me because he needs someone who will see past the control and the schedules and the color-coded calendars.
Someone who will see him.
The real him.
The one who was scared and exhausted and trying so hard to hold everything together.
The one who deserved to be defended.
Even from his own sister.
Especially from his own sister.
“So,” Vivian said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “Athena. Tell me everything. And I mean everything. Starting with how you managed to get my brother drunk enough to marry you.”
I grinned.
This was going to be fun.