Chapter 42
MAGGIE
Two days before the wedding, Daniel and I pulled up to the venue for a final walkthrough with a very confused-looking Henry. As soon as we climbed out of the car, he made a beeline for me, bending his head closer to mine as he shook my hand.
“Where is Ryan?”
“He was just helping me plan the wedding,” I explained quietly. “This is Daniel. The groom.”
Henry seemed strangely disappointed but shook with Daniel, who was unsurprisingly taking it all in stride. “It’s lovely to meet you, Henry. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this place for myself and I must say, it doesn’t disappoint. Your estate is beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
At least that seemed to have won Daniel some points with Henry, who made an effort to show him around the grounds while I trailed after them with no idea whether I wanted to scream, cry, or ask if the castle had a moat I could drown myself in.
Being here without Ryan did not feel right but Daniel was so kind that he nearly drove me to tears as well. He didn’t object to the graveyard near the clearing where I wanted the ceremony to be held and he didn’t flinch when Henry mentioned cold smoke to give the whole thing a more mysterious vibe.
While I still didn’t want to marry him, I was beyond grateful that he cared enough to make this easy on me.
Because of that, I stuck to his side for the tour and tried to keep the heartbreak off my face.
Henry eventually left us alone to wander through the ballroom by ourselves while he went to find some paperwork, and Daniel pushed his hands into his pockets and looked around.
“This is a beautiful venue, Maggie.”
“Do you really think that?”
He smiled. “Yeah, I do. It’s great.”
“Agreed,” I said quietly. “I was so surprised when Ryan found it. I honestly didn’t think something like this existed in the States, much less within driving distance from the city.”
The words came out before I could stop them and Daniel glanced at me with a strangely knowing smile on his lips. “Ryan found it, huh? I should’ve guessed that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be.” He shrugged. “If this was what you wanted, I’m happy he found it for you. Honestly. I love it, but I would’ve been fine anywhere. You’re the bride. Your wishes are the priority.”
“To a certain extent.”
He sighed, smiling again as he shook his head. “Fair enough. Your wishes are the priority until they clash with our mothers’. After that, the only place they go is out the window.”
I chuckled, wrapping my arms around myself as we drifted around the ballroom.
Large, round tables had been set up, starched white tablecloths already covering them in preparation for the reception.
“I still would have preferred to be outside. Even without the carnival, but at least it’s really pretty in here. ”
Daniel nodded, but he hadn’t looked away from me yet. “Have you spoken to Ryan recently?”
My stomach twisted itself into knots, but I nodded.
This was the most time Daniel and I had ever spent together, but a couple days from now, we would be married.
Whether we liked it or not, this was the start of our future together, and if we were laying a foundation, I didn’t want it built on dishonesty.
“I ran into him in the park in a few days ago,” I admitted. “After that, I went to his apartment to get my puppy back and we sort of had an argument.”
“You have a puppy?” Daniel frowned. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, I, uh, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about him,” I said quietly.
“Ryan and I met him when we went to make the arrangements for the carnival, but he wouldn’t let me take him home that day.
Instead, he promised to bring him to me once I sent out the invitations for the wedding, so when he received his, he went and got me the puppy. ”
“When he received his invitation, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t realize he was invited,” Daniel said mildly.
I glanced down at the floor, watching soft rays of sunshine spill across the polished wood. “I invited him, but I don’t expect him to come.”
“Is it because you don’t want him here?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s because I don’t think he wants to be anywhere near me or the wedding anymore.”
Daniel studied me for a moment before he leaned against one of the sideboards and folded his arms loosely over his chest, his gaze weirdly soft on mine. “What happened, Maggie?”
Once again, I considered lying. The last thing I would’ve wanted to hear about from him right now was another woman. Although, if I was being honest, I was sure there were many waiting in the wings to take my place.
I suddenly felt awful about not even knowing if any of them were special to him, but as I stared back into his eyes, so full of understanding, I realized that Daniel and I might not know each other very well yet, but that would change.
With time, we would get to know each other, and maybe one day, he’d trust me enough to tell me if our marriage had taken the same thing from him as it had from me. Either way, we were getting married and I didn’t want him to feel blindsided if any of this came up later.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said honestly. “The only thing that’s relevant is that it’s over between Ryan and me. It was over before it even really had a chance to begin.”
Daniel exhaled a heavy breath through his nose and turned his head to stare out of the wide windows at the lush green lawns beyond. “For what it’s worth, I like him.”
My eyebrows shot up, surprise making my extremities suddenly feel numb. “What?”
He turned back to me and smiled. “I like him. Why do you sound so shocked about that?”
“Uh, maybe because I am?” I said, my nose wrinkling. “I don’t think you’re supposed to like him.”
Daniel barked out a laugh. “Why not?”
“Could it be because you and I are getting married and I’m standing here talking to you about how it’s over with somebody else?”
Daniel shrugged. “Whatever happened between you two happened. We weren’t engaged anymore, remember? We’re not even really engaged now.”
“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “It’s all just so freaking weird.”
“It really, really is.” He ran both hands through his hair and looked out across the ballroom, slowly raking his gaze across the tables in various states of preparation. “Look, Maggie, let’s just be honest here, okay?”
“I thought that was what we were doing.”
“Exactly.” He shot me a small, almost apologetic smile. “You and I have accepted our fate. I respect you and I feel like you respect me too. I don’t think you’d be telling me all of this if you didn’t.”
“Yeah?”
“At the same time, we’re not even close to being in love.
At least not with each other.” He waved a hand toward the tables.
“We’re doing this because we have to. That’s it.
Ryan got the short end of the stick in life.
If he hadn’t, who knows? I’m actually a big fan of the guy.
I get why you feel the way you do about him and I know you’d rather have been in this position with him.
I can’t do anything about that, but I’m here for you, okay? ”
“Thank you.” Tears pressed at the backs of my eyes as I nodded, realizing that Daniel was, in almost every conceivable way, Ryan’s polar opposite.
Where Ryan’s presence effortlessly filled an entire room, Daniel seemed perfectly content occupying only as much space as was strictly necessary.
Maybe it was because he didn’t want to be in this room to begin with, but he genuinely seemed to have accepted this was where he had to be.
It was almost like he didn’t care enough to exude any more presence than he absolutely had to simply by being here.
Ryan, on the other hand, wore his emotions like armor. He also had a sarcastic comment for everything as opposed to Daniel’s occasional dry observations. He was just so calm and easy-going compared to Ryan’s expressive nature that I honestly didn’t even know what to do with him.
It was impossible to tell what actually bothered him and what didn’t. That’s going to take some getting used to for sure.
“My parents are giving us an estate in the Hamptons as a wedding gift,” he said as he rose from the sideboard. “Maybe we can go there after the wedding and just decompress a bit. How does that sound?”
Internally, I sighed, remembering how Ryan and I had joked about it when I’d told him how much I hated the Hamptons, but I bit my tongue and offered Daniel a smile instead. He was trying to be nice. The least I could do was not be a bitch about it.
“That’s a very generous gift,” I said carefully. “I would love some time to decompress after. Thank you.”
He smiled and waved for me to go ahead of him when we left the ballroom in search of Henry. There was nothing romantic about any of this, but a partnership with someone like Daniel wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
In essence, that was what this was. A duty, a business arrangement with matching stationery and his and hers vanities, and as much as all I’d ever wanted was love, I could work with this. It would be easy to do that with Daniel.
As we stepped outside, however, both of us immediately noticed a commotion down the drive and it severed the quieter, earnest moment we’d been having inside. I frowned and lifted a hand to my forehead to shield my eyes from the sun as I tried to make out what was going on.
Henry was waving his arms at a line of trailers that had rolled onto the property, clearly arguing with the drivers. Daniel squinted down the drive beside me, murmuring under his breath. “What on earth?”
“I don’t—” As soon as the door of the lead truck opened and the driver stepped out, my heart gave a hard, confused thump. “No, it can’t be.” I watched a familiar man stride toward Henry, and suddenly, I knew exactly what this was. “Oh my God. It’s the carnival, Daniel.”
He frowned. “I thought your father canceled that.”
“Well, he did, but…” I trailed off, a broken laugh sliding out of me when I realized that Ryan had come through for me one last time.
Even after everything, he’d pulled another rabbit out of his hat to give me the one thing I’d so desperately wanted. My stupid, feral wedding topped off with a carnival reception.
I blinked hard, so happy and so utterly heartbroken at the same time that it felt like I was about to shatter completely. What else have you done, Ryan? And how is it that you’ve ruined me so completely for everyone else and you’re not even here to see it?
God, he really should’ve been here to see it.