39. Chapter 39
Cate
Present
Iwoke before the alarm, the pale gray light of morning filtering through a crack in the covered windows. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was or why my chest felt so tight.
Then I saw the photo.
Silverpine. John’s arm around me. My smile wide and unguarded.
I sat up abruptly, the cotton of his t-shirt slipping from my grasp and pooling in my lap. I stared at the photo, really stared at it this time, and felt something settle deep in my bones.
I couldn’t wear the dress.
The thought came fully formed, solid and undeniable.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, moving on instinct before doubt could creep in. I grabbed my purse from the hallway floor and dumped its contents onto the carpet until I found my phone.
Amy answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Amy,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I need your help.”
There was a pause. “Cate? Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I said, surprising myself with how true it felt. “I just need you to come get me.”
Another pause, then, “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
True to her word, Amy pushed through my front door minutes later. “Cate?” she called. “You here?”
“In the bedroom,” I answered, pulling my hair into a messy ponytail.
She stopped short when she stepped into the hall. “Did you… change your house?”
I followed her gaze. The blankets were gone from the windows. The blinds were open. Sunlight streamed in like it had every right to be there.
“I needed light,” I said simply.
She nodded, accepting it without argument. “You ready?”
I pulled on sneakers and grabbed my purse. “Yeah.”
The drive was quiet. Not awkward, just careful. Amy glanced at me more than once, like she was checking for cracks.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked.
“Something Borrowed,” I said.
She frowned. “Cate…”
“I know,” I cut in gently. “But I can’t wear that dress.”
She didn’t ask which one. She didn’t need to.
The bells over the shop door jingled as we stepped inside. The woman behind the counter looked up, pushing her glasses higher on her nose.
“Good morning.”
“I need something in a size zero,” I said. “That I can take home today.”
She blinked. “What’s the occasion?”
Amy glanced at her watch. “She’s getting married in… Oh, little more than four hours.”
The woman stared at me like I’d just told her the sky was falling.
“Yes,” I said calmly. “Can you help me or should I look elsewhere?”
She recovered quickly. “Right this way.”
She returned with three dresses. None of them were what I’d imagined my wedding dress would be. One had sleeves too dramatic to ignore. Another was a strange shade of cream that made me look tired.
The third was simple. Knee-length. White satin. Strapless. Uncomplicated.
I stared at myself in the mirror, my bare feet on the fitting room floor.
This one didn’t belong to another life.
This one belonged to now.
“I’ll take it,” I said.