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If it made the other woman happy to believe Jude would have a few months of love at the end of his life, Eve wasn’t going to take that away from her.

She was about to change the subject when there was a tap on the door.

Nancy frowned and shooed Eve to a far corner of the dressing room before she went to open it.

“Young man, you can’t be here!”

Eve couldn’t see the door from her position, but Jude was obviously the person who’d knocked.

“I’m not trying to sneak a peek,” he said in his dry, clever voice. “Can you give this to Eve?”

“Oh, how sweet! Of course I’ll give it to her.”

Eve blushed again at Nancy’s sentimental tone, and she was sure Jude would be just as self-conscious as she was about it.

He clearly had some sort of gift for Eve.

Then she remembered.

“Nancy, don’t let him leave,” she said, moving over to where she’d left her regular clothes. “I’ve got something for him too.”

She pulled out a slim box she’d tucked into her bag. She’d found it when she was searching for jewelry to wear with her dress at her favorite vintage store, and she’d spontaneously bought it for Jude. It was a nineteenth-century tie bar adorned with Celtic knots.

She liked its simplicity and its history.

In truth, she hadn’t been sure she was going to give it to him. He might not want or expect a gift from her. So she’d been holding on to it until she found a good opportunity to offer it.

This was it.

Nancy hurried over to take the box, smiling sappily.

“Oh, and here. He can wear this if he wants. No big deal either way.” Eve picked up a small boutonniere of two forget-me-nots the florist had made to match her bridal bouquet.

Relieved to have done that, Eve waited in the corner as Nancy brought the items over to Jude.

She heard him say, “Oh. Thank you.” He sounded faintly surprised but not skeptical or uncomfortable.

Then Nancy closed the door.

Jude’s gift to her was a necklace that matched her engagement ring. Beautiful and delicate with a sprinkling of small diamonds and a central pale sapphire.

Eve stared down at it for a long time, overwhelmed by how much she loved it. Then she took off the string of pearls she was wearing and put the new necklace on instead.

It was perfect. The main stone even matched her eyes.

Nancy was tearing up. “Oh honey.”

The fact that Jude had given her something so beautiful—and that he was going to die so soon—was enough to make Eve’s throat tighten and her eyes burn too, even though she wasn’t by nature an easy crier.

She swallowed hard and pushed it to the back of her mind. She couldn’t let such a thought linger right now. It would make her sad.

And she was about to get married.

The next fifteen minutes passed quickly. Before she knew it, she was waiting with her father in the narthex, holding a small bunch of forget-me-nots in a simple, natural bouquet, ready to walk down the central aisle of the sanctuary.

She was more jittery than ever. Almost trembling.

She really couldn’t believe this was happening.

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