Chapter 4

Claire picked up a finished card and looked it over. The treatment was artful enough that a stranger glancing at it would read it as any couple in a tender moment.

Anyone who knew Andrew, though, would place that hand and that one-of-a-kind ring in a second.

"Print 200 of them." Claire kept her eyes on the proof. "And use the heaviest gold-foil envelopes you have. I want them to feel like an occasion."

"Have you double-checked all the addresses?"

Her assistant passed over the mailing list, three full pages packed line to line. Claire took it and read down every name.

It started with Andrew's parents, his sister, his brother-in-law, and their son.

Her own family came next, her parents and Ryan and her uncle's and aunt's households.

After that came every executive at Andrew's company, every major client, and every firm they partnered with.

The friends they shared were on there too, along with old classmates and half the neighborhood.

Emily's parents had a line of their own, Richard Summers at the district school board and Linda Summers at the Women's League, with the addresses run all the way down to their office numbers.

Emily's relatives, her coworkers, and her friends filled most of the second page.

The list even reached her college advisor, her ex-boyfriend, and the best friend she had now.

"Nobody gets missed." Claire tapped two names on the page. "These two especially. Richard and Linda Summers. I want those in their own hands by three this afternoon, nobody else's."

Her assistant nodded. "I've already put a courier on both. Signature required, in person."

Claire checked the time. It was half past ten in the morning, which left eight and a half hours before the doors opened.

She paid the rush fee and walked out of the studio. Her phone rang before she got the car door shut.

She paid the rush fee and left the ad agency. As soon as she got into her car, her phone rang.

Margaret Lane's name sat on the screen.

Claire pulled in a breath, answered, and let her voice come apart the second she opened her mouth. "Mom..."

"Claire!" Margaret's voice was shaking. "I just opened the invitation. What is this? That hand in the picture, is that Drew's hand? Don't scare me like this, honey!"

Claire bit down on her lip and pushed a little more break into her voice. "Mom, I wanted to be wrong. I looked at it over and over hoping I was seeing it wrong..."

"But that ring." She let the pause stretch and let the catch in her throat show. "You came with us to pick it out.

"You said platinum stood for something pure and a diamond stood for something that lasts. You said you hoped the two of us would hold together the way that ring closes..."

The line went quiet.

Claire could hear Margaret breathing hard on the other end.

"The date engraved inside it is June 12, 2019. Our wedding day." The tears came for real then, not for Andrew but for how happy she had been on that day.Andrew Lane

"There's a scratch on the side too, from when I caught it on a cabinet during the move last year. You told me a few dings were what a marriage looked like..."

"Stop." Margaret cut her off, her voice gone rough. "Claire, are you sure? Couldn't it be some kind of..."

"It was taken in our guest room." Claire kept her voice small. "Mom, you slept in that room when you stayed with us last month. You know the mushroom lamp on the nightstand, don't you?"

Something ceramic shattered on the other end of the line. Margaret had knocked her cup clean off the table.

"That worthless little bastard!" Margaret was crying now. "Claire, I am so sorry. I swear I raised him better than this..."

"None of this is on you, Mom." Claire wiped her face and let her voice level out. "Are you still coming tonight?"

"Mom, it's not your fault," Claire said, wiping away her tears, her voice steady again. "Are you coming to the dinner tonight?"

"I'll be there." Margaret didn't hesitate for a second. "I am standing right next to you, Claire. And that son of a bitch had better hope I don't break both his legs in front of everybody."

"Thank you, Mom." Claire's voice dropped. "I'll... see you tonight."

She hung up, and the grief went out of her face like a light switching off.