Chapter 7 - The Wedding That Was Canceled
The original wedding date was canceled.
Not postponed.
Canceled.
Deposits were lost.
Invitations were never mailed.
St. Matthews was informed there would be no Sutton wedding in May.
Vivian was devastated.
Tessa was relieved.
Caleb moved into a rented studio apartment and began therapy.
He sold the Brooklyn apartment.
He transferred all wedding decisions back to neutral ground.
And then he did something Tessa hadn’t expected.
He stopped trying to convince her to marry him.
For four months, he simply showed up.
When she asked for space, he gave it.
When she wanted answers, he answered.
When she disagreed, he listened without immediately explaining why he had meant well.
Slowly, something changed.
Tessa began seeing Caleb rather than Vivian’s son.
One Sunday afternoon, she invited him for coffee.
When he arrived, she placed the old engagement ring on the table.
Caleb stared at it.
“I’m not putting it back on,” she said.
“I understand.”
“I want you to take it.”
He nodded.
Then she smiled faintly.
“And someday, if you ask me again, don’t use that one.”
He looked up.
“Why?”
“Because that ring belongs to the relationship we had.”
Her eyes filled.
“If we ever get engaged again, I want it to belong to the relationship we built.”
Caleb began to cry.
It was not a proposal.
It was something more important.
A possibility.
May you like
But across town, Vivian Sutton had just received another letter.
And this one came from Rebecca.
