Page 102 of Love and Other Champagne Problems

The ceremony itself would’ve looked similar, surely. Aaron in a tailored tux, standing at the end of the aisle with that signature smile on his face. His parents would be in the aisle before him, mine on the other side, all beaming as their children married—and their businesses, at the same time. The wedding of the century paired with the business partnership of the century. The sun would be shining down on them, the heavens blessing the moment they’d all been preparing so hard for.

At my wedding, I’d be at the top of the aisle, holding the arm of a man I called my father in name only, surrounded by the same sea of faceless people I never looked at. I’d never given much thought before to if I’d want to wear a wedding dress or not, but I’d be in one; I’d only be able to wear a suit over my mother’s dead body.

It felt wrong to imagine a wedding with Aaron, having kissed another man not even an hour ago, but as I did, I realized with an almost blinding certainty that I would never do it. Could never do it. Even if I were to take Sumner out of the equation entirely, I couldn’t put my entire future into someone else’s hands. Going to college for a major I didn’t want to pursue was nothing. Ablip on the map. Butthis—letting my parents push me into marrying a man I did not want to—was life-altering. Even if divorce was an option down the road, there were too many other variables that could trap me, hold me down.

At this moment, I could still get out relatively unscathed. Disowned and thrown away, but free. The noose had not yet tightened around my throat.

Words in my head felt familiar, as if they’d whispered to me before.You cannot do this, it said.This is something you cannot do.

Everyone’s expressions were so light when I looked around. Ms. Jennings was laughing at something Mr. Holland was saying, laying her arm happily on his. Yvette was grinning at a few ladies who went to the club. People I didn’t know were smiling, chattering, everyone having a beautiful time at a beautiful wedding of a beautiful woman. People Nancy knew, people Nancy helped fund, and there wasn’t a trace of sadness surrounding them. Not a single one.

This is something you cannot do.

Just as I had the thought, I lifted my gaze to the ballroom’s entrance, finding Sumner standing there. He looked like a beacon, standing there, the golden warmth from the room reflecting on him in a way that almost made him look unreal. His eyes trailed across the room, clearly looking for someone, before finding relief when he spotted me.

Then his gaze slid from my face to where Aaron held my hand on the table.

I drew in a sharp breath, ready to jump up from thetable, but before I could, Aaron moved first. “Excuse me,” he said suddenly, his chair skidding across the floor as he rose. “I’ll—I’ll be right back.”

His gaze was fixed on Sumner, making it perfectly clear who he was gunning for. I tried to stand up, to go after him, but my mother’s hand moved from my leg to my arm, holding it down underneath the table. She gave me a look full of warning, as much as she dared, giving her head a minute shake.

In my head, I contemplated what would happen if I shrugged her off. If I ripped my arm from her grip, went against her wishes, and ran after him. What did it matter, angering her now? When my mind had been made up? Maybe it was a good idea to send myself off with one last act of adult rebellion, one last hurrah.

I was about to do just that, to pull free from my mother for the last time with flourish, when Vivienne Astor asked, in a clear voice, “Was that Sumner Pennington?”

I froze. It almost felt as if time itself froze, and I would’ve thought it had if Vivienne’s eyelashes hadn’t swept down in a blink. Sumner’s name on her lips made no sense. She shouldn’t have known him. They didn’t meet the last time she’d been here. She couldn’t have known him.

“It looked like him, didn’t it?” Malcolm agreed, also turned toward the doors. “I thought Aaron said he wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“Well, good. I know Hannah was worried, him disappearing for a month and missing Michael’s wedding.”

Michael. The name tugged my memory back to a fewdays prior, and in almost frantic movement, my head whipped toward the dancefloor. The bride and groom were still locked in their embrace, and I finally, finally focused on them for the first time. Annalise’s white wedding gown belled out with pools and pools of tulle, her frame standing out daintily in the midst of it. The cut was low on her chest, her pale skin a backdrop for the thick and impressive diamond necklace around her throat. Her blonde curls were pinned up into a beautiful bridal style; she was a woman belonging on a magazine.

The man in her arms was handsome with his hair styled and shaped, clean-shaven and jaw chiseled.

Familiar.

Sumner Pennington!that same man had exclaimed only a few days prior.It’s been too long!

That was why the Michael Huntsly name had sounded familiar, because I’d heard it before. It was Annalise’s fiancé.

The thoughts tipped over like a champagne flute, all the golden sparkles streaming onto the ground, ruined.

Sumner knows Michael. Aaron knows Michael. Vivienne knows Sumner…

I could still remember the day I’d asked Sumner.Do you have a lot of friends back home?

A few. Only two, maybe, that I was close-close with.One got engaged, started wedding planning.

“How…” The word had come out barely a sound, and I swallowed hard to start over. “How do know Sumner?”

Vivienne blinked at me in surprise. “Youknow Sumner?”

“He’s my secretary.”And so,so much more.

Vivienne’s mouth dropped open as some sort of realization hit her, one that shined in the wideness of her eyes. I thought my heart would be racing in anticipation of her response, but it only seemed to be beating normally, not even skipping a beat.

Good guy,Sumner had said about his other friend.A little awkward, drinks a bit much sometimes, but I think he’s finally ready to settle down.

---