“What does he say?” I can hardly trust my voice.
The church is so silent and still, I can almost hear my own heart beating.
“It says, And I’ll be standing outside the church. Warn her. ”
He’s here.
I don’t even realize I’m running until one of the sidesmen backs out of my way, looking alarmed. The heavy church door is closed, and it takes about five tugs before I manage to wrench it open. I burst out and stand on the step, panting hard, looking up and down the pavement, searching for his face …
There he is. On the other side of the road. He’s standing in the doorway of a Starbucks, in jeans and a dark-blue shirt. As he meets my gaze, his eyes crinkle, but he doesn’t smile. He keeps looking at my hands. His eyes have a huge question burning in them.
Doesn’t he know? Can’t he tell the answer?
“Is that him?” breathes Annalise beside me. “Dreamy. Can I have Magnus?”
“Annalise, give me my phone,” I say, without taking my eyes off Sam.
“Here you go.” A moment later the iPhone is in my hand, lit up and ready to go, and I’m sending him a text.
Hi.
He texts something back, and a moment later it arrives.
Nice outfit.
Involuntarily, I glance down at my wedding dress.
This old thing.
There’s a long silence—and then I see Sam typing a new message. His head is bowed and he doesn’t look up, even when he’s finished, even when the text arrives in my phone.
So are you married?
I carefully line up my phone and take a picture of my bare left finger.
Sam Mobile.
Send.
A crowd of wedding guests is jostling behind me to see, but I don’t move my head an inch. My eyes are glued on Sam, so that I see the reaction on his face as the text arrives. I see his brow relax; I see his face expand into the most brilliant, joyous smile. And finally he looks up at me.
I could go to bed in that smile.
Now he’s texting again.
Want a cup of coffee?
“Poppy.” A voice in my ear interrupts me, and I turn to see Wanda peering anxiously at me from under her hat, which looks like a massive dead moth. “Poppy, I’m sorry. I acted dishonorably and selfishly.”
“What do you mean?” I say, momentarily confused.
“The second ring. I told Magnus … At least, I suggested that he might—” Wanda breaks off, wincing.
“I know. You told Magnus to pretend he’d chosen the ring for me especially, didn’t you?” I touch her arm. “Wanda, I appreciate it. But you’d better have this one back too.” I pull the twisty gold ring off my right hand and give it to her.
“I would have loved you to join our family,” she says wistfully. “But that shouldn’t have clouded my judgment. It was wrong of me.” Her gaze drifts across the road to Sam. “He’s the one, isn’t he?”
I nod, and her face softens like a crumpled rose petal being released.
“Go on, then. Go.”
And without waiting a beat longer, I walk down the steps, across the road, dodging the cars, ignoring the hooting horns, tearing off my veil, until I’m a foot away from Sam. For a moment we just stand there, facing each other, breathing hard.
“So you’ve been sending a few texts,” I say at last.
“A couple.” Sam nods.
“Interesting.” I nod back. “Did Lucinda help out?”
“She turned out to be pretty keen to derail the wedding,” Sam says, looking amused.
“But I don’t understand. How did you even find her?”
“She has a pretty fancy website.” Sam smiles wryly. “I called her mobile and she was only too eager to help. In fact, she sent the text for me. Didn’t you know that you have some state-of-the-art automatic mechanism to contact all the guests?”
Lucinda’s text-alert system. It finally came in useful.
I shift my bouquet to the other hand. I never realized how heavy flowers were.
“That’s a pretty fancy outfit for Starbucks.” Sam is eyeing me up and down.
“I always wear a wedding dress for coffee dates. I think it adds a nice touch, don’t you?”
I glance back at the church and can’t help giggling. The entire congregation seems to have spilled out of the church and is standing on the pavement like an audience.
“What are they waiting to see?” Sam follows my gaze, and I shrug.
“Who knows? You could always do a dance. Or tell a joke. Or … kiss the bride?”
“Not the bride.” He wraps his arms around me and gradually pulls me close. Our noses are practically touching. I can see right into his eyes. I can feel the warmth of his skin. “You.”