It wasn’t fair to Coralie to get married when I had this many unresolved issues.
“What do I do?” I asked, my voice hoarse from emotions.
Mom smiled up at me. “In my experience, the best policy is always honesty. Tell Coralie. She’ll understand.”
“She will?”
Mom paused. “It might take time. But eventually, she’ll realize that not marrying you was the right move.” Mom smiled. “Be brave, Asher.”
* * *
I’d talkedmyself out of having this conversation five times before I found myself standing in front of Coralie in my bedroom four hours later. She was moving around the room, filling the air with anxious energy. Something was bothering her, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I wanted to help her feel at ease, but I didn’t know how.
I moved to sit on the armchair in the corner of my room next to my bookshelf. “Coralie?” I finally asked when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to start the conversation. “Is everything okay?”
She stopped pacing and turned to look at me. Her eyes were wild as she held my gaze. “I don’t want to get married,” she blurted out before she slapped her hand over her mouth and started at me with wide eyes.
I blinked a few times. It felt like time had slowed as I processed what she’d said. “You don’t?” I finally asked.
She kept her hand in place and shook her head. “I don’t,” she whispered as she slowly lowered her hand. “I don’t want to marry you, Asher. I thought…I thought I could. I wanted to. But this isn’t my life.” She raised her hands and motioned to my room. “This isn’t my town. I heard the hesitancy in your voice when I told you about New York. You don’t want to move there.”
I stood and crossed the space between us. With each word she spoke, I felt lighter and lighter. “I don’t,” I said when I was standing in front of her. “I don’t want to move to New York.”
“And I don’t want to move here.”
“I want to eat meat.”
She paused as she stared up at me. “And I will despise you forever if you do.”
“I want kids. Loads of them.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I do not.”
I chuckled as I studied her. She raised her eyebrows for a moment before she smiled and laughed.
“What were we thinking?” She waved her hand between us. “Why did we ever think this would work?”
“We were trying to make everyone else happy, but we forgot about ourselves.”
A heaviness settled around us at the unspoken reality of what had gotten us into this mess. Mr. Parks was the reason we’d entertained this marriage. He was the reason we’d wanted to rush this. He was still sick, even if we were seeing brighter days. And we both knew, eventually, he would no longer be here with us.
“Daddy wants me to be happy. He wouldn’t want us to get married unless we were certain.” She stared up at me. “And I’m certain that I do not want to marry you.”
I nodded. “Same.”
We both smiled at each other. For the first time in weeks, I felt…relaxed. Coralie giggled before she moved to sit on the edge of my bed. I joined her, my shoulder brushing hers as I did.
“So, what do we do?” she asked, glancing over at me.
I took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. I met her gaze and shrugged. “I guess we start with the truth.”
22
ELLA
I knew as soonas I woke up that this was going to be the longest day of my life.
Asher was getting married today.
