Page 19 of A Touch of Fate

“Not in Minneapolis, no. But I could ask around…”

“I’ll handle it,” Samuel said firmly. “Don’t worry.”

Danilo’s phone buzzed, and he got up. “Excuse me for a moment.” His eyes cut to me, asking if it was okay.I’ll be fine, I told him with my expression, and he left.

When he was out of the room, I became acutely aware that talking to Samuel was up to me. I gave him a nervous smile. I couldn’t read his expression as he regarded me. “Only two more months,” I said for lack of anything else to say, and flushed. Our last conversation had felt strained, and Samuel’s words back then had only confirmed my suspicion that he wasn’t too happy about our bond.

“Not much time,” he said neutrally. “Especially considering that Sofia and Danilo marry two weeks before us. That’s plenty of planning between our two families.”

“Our moms can handle it.”

“They do,” he said, then his eyes cut to my heels again. “I’ve never seen you with heels before.”

My cheeks blasted with heat. I nervously tucked a strand behind my ear. “Yeah. This is actually my first pair. I like how they look.”

Samuel looked back up to my face and smiled slightly. “I do too.”

I blinked, not sure if he’d complimented me or if he simply meant he liked the heels, but not how they looked on me. God, I was overthinking this again.

“I’m glad,” I whispered. We looked at each other, and Samuel’s eyes seemed to trace my face. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

“Sofia has been practicing walking in heels for weeks now. She still complains they are torture devices.”

I shrugged. “I won’t have to worry about that.”

His expression became tight.

“One less worry, right?” I gave him a grin to show him he didn’t need to walk on eggshells around me.

“Indeed,” he said, and for a moment, his lips pulled into a real smile. But then Danilo returned, so Samuel’s expression returned to being tightly controlled.

He glanced at his watch. “I should go now. I’m sure you have plenty to do as well.” He got up and grabbed his jacket from the armrest but didn’t put it back on. Instead, he threw it over his shoulder.

Danilo and I walked him to the front door. Samuel gave my brother a nod, then turned to me. “I’ll see you at your brother and Sofia’s wedding.”

I smiled. “See you then.”

He left, and I stared down at the engagement ring that Samuel had sent me in a package a few weeks after ourengagement announcement. I wished he’d given it to me and even slipped it on, but I consoled myself with the fact that Danilo could be an emotional brick too. Samuel probably didn’t even realize that it had hurt my feelings to be sent the ring like that.

Danilo touched my shoulder. I glanced up at his worried face. “Samuel will be good to you.”

“I’m not worried.” At least not about Samuel treating me badly. What worried me was that he would be cold or emotionally detached. That he’d never want to be with me in a physical sense. That he’d cheat on me. That he’d see me as a burden and not his wife.

I couldn’t share any of those concerns with Danilo. He would only try to talk to Samuel and probably do more damage.

I had to figure this out on my own.

I approached Danilo, who was immersed in his work as usual. “I want to walk down the aisle.”

The idea first crossed my mind shortly after Samuel’s visit and had festered ever since.

Danilo looked up from the papers, confused at first and then concerned.

“Emma—” He began as if he was trying to explain to a little kid that her legs didn’t work.

I narrowed my eyes. “I know my body and what it’s capable of. I don’t want to walk down the entire length, just the last few steps from the first row of pews to Samuel. I want to meet him at eye level.” He would still be a head taller, but I had always imagined walking down the aisle, and while that wasn’t possible, I wanted to do what my body was capable of.

I’d spent endless hours in physical therapy, strapped into a harness that kept me upright as my feet barely dragged over the treadmill. I’d cried tears of frustration over my body’s inability to heal completely and tears of gratitude for how far it had come from my almost entirely immobile state after the car accident. But I knew with absolute certainty that my body couldn’t do more than what it was capable of now. I’d made peace with it and didn’t hope for a miracle to carry me down the aisle to Samuel.

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