Chapter 1
My husband and I had been happily married for seven years, yet a mysterious old beggar on the roadside told me we were already divorced.
Just ten minutes earlier, Alexander had texted to say he missed me.
I had returned to Briar Bay a day early after finishing my business trip ahead of schedule. According to my original itinerary, I wasn't supposed to land until tomorrow afternoon.
Alexander had no idea I'd changed my flight.
Before the plane landed, he sent me two messages.
Make sure you eat a proper dinner tonight. Don't get buried in work and try to survive on coffee again.
Miss you, babe.
I didn't tell him I was already back.
After ten days away, I wanted to go straight home and surprise him.
The long flight had left me lightheaded.
I got out of my rideshare downtown and went into my usual bakery for coffee. I planned to order another car home afterward.
An old woman sat beneath the blue awning.
She wore a worn gray coat, and the wind tossed her white hair around her face. A paper cup rested beside her feet with only a few coins inside.
Several pigeons had gathered around her. She broke apart the last piece of bread in her hand and scattered every crumb in front of them.
I went back into the bakery and bought her a turkey sandwich and a hot coffee. Then I tucked twenty dollars beneath her paper cup.
The old woman accepted the food and smiled at me.
"How has life been since the divorce?"
I assumed she had mistaken me for someone else.
"I'm not divorced."
I raised my left hand, showing her the wedding ring on my finger.
"My husband and I have been married for seven years."
The old woman studied my ring for a moment before murmuring thoughtfully.
"So you don't know yet."
My smile faded.
"Don't know what?"
She didn't answer. She merely lowered her head and began unwrapping the sandwich.
I had no intention of arguing about my marriage with a stranger. I picked up the handle of my suitcase and turned to leave.
Her light voice stopped me.
"Go home and take a look first."
I turned back.
The old woman lifted her coffee and continued as casually as if she were giving me directions.
"After that, go to the place where the two of you promised to hold your wedding."
This time, the smile vanished completely from my face.
Alexander and I had never held a formal wedding.
When we first married, we invested all our savings in Vale's first store. Sometime later, we drove past Rosemere Estate, and I spent a little too long looking at it through the window.
Alexander had taken my hand and promised that once the company was stable, he would give me the wedding we had missed.
It would be held there.
That promise belonged to the two of us.
There was no date. No invitation. No third person who could possibly know.
"Do you know Alexander?"
The old woman took a bite of her sandwich without reacting.
"Who told you about Rosemere?"
She still didn't answer.
A short honk sounded from the curb. My new ride had arrived, and the driver stepped out to open the trunk for me.
My phone vibrated at the same moment.
Alexander wanted to know what I'd had for dinner.
His message was no different from any of the countless little reminders he had sent me over the past seven years.
I should have gone home, hidden my suitcase, and waited to see his face when he discovered I had returned early.
But the old woman knew about the wedding that had never happened.
I handed my suitcase to the driver and was about to get into the car when her cheerful voice came from behind me.
"Good luck, Miss Hart."
I looked back.
The old woman smiled and waved.
"Your true match will be here soon."
Hart was my maiden name.
My married name was Evelyn Vale.