Chapter 18 - The Man Who Finally Chose Something to Lose
Victor and Harper did not have a large wedding.
Victor wanted twelve people.
Harper wanted forty.
Her mother wanted one hundred twenty.
Arthur suggested twenty-seven.
Nobody understood why.
They eventually settled on sixty.
The ceremony took place on the riverfront at Gallow Commons.
No reporters.
No corporate sponsors.
No security visible enough to annoy Harper.
Arthur remained nearby anyway.
He always would.
Minutes before the ceremony, Victor stood alone inside one of the restored warehouse offices.
Arthur entered.
“Nervous?”
“No.”
Arthur looked at Victor's hands.
Victor stopped adjusting his cuff.
“A little.”
Arthur smiled.
“I've seen you negotiate with armed men without blinking.”
“They weren't marrying Harper.”
“Fair.”
Victor looked toward the window.
Guests gathered outside.
“Do you think people really change?”
Arthur considered.
“Some do.”
“My father?”
“Eventually.”
Victor nodded.
“Vane?”
“No.”
“Mercer?”
“Definitely not.”
Richard Hale had accepted a long prison sentence.
Daniel Mercer had been convicted on multiple federal charges.
Malcolm Vane would likely spend the rest of his life incarcerated.
Samuel Beckett remained in Montana.
Arthur visited twice a year.
Nothing was perfect.
But nothing needed to be.
Arthur adjusted Victor's collar.
“Your father would be proud.”
Victor looked at him.
“You think?”
“I think he'd pretend not to be.”
Victor smiled.
“That sounds accurate.”
Outside, music began.
Harper appeared at the end of the walkway.
Victor stopped breathing.
She wore a simple ivory dress.
Her hair loosely pinned.
No dramatic entrance.
No spectacle.
Just Harper.
She saw Victor.
Smiled.
And mouthed:
Human facial expression.
Victor laughed.
Everyone turned.
Arthur shook his head.
Harper reached him.
“You're laughing at the altar?”
“You started it.”
“Good.”
The ceremony was short.
When Victor was asked to repeat his vows, he ignored the prepared card.
Harper immediately looked suspicious.
“Victor.”
He took both her hands.
“For most of my life, I believed safety meant needing nobody.”
Her expression softened.
“I thought silence kept me alive.”
Arthur looked down.
Harper's mother wiped her eyes.
Victor continued.
“Then you stepped into the wrong elevator.”
Harper whispered, “Best mistake I ever made.”
“You talked too much.”
“Rude.”
“You spilled coffee.”
“Accurate.”
“You insulted me.”
“You deserved it.”
Guests laughed.
Victor smiled.
“And somehow, for the first time, silence stopped feeling safe.”
Harper's eyes filled.
“It felt empty.”
Victor squeezed her hands.
“I spent years making certain nobody could find anything I loved enough to take from me.”
He paused.
“Then I realized a life with nothing to lose is also a life with nothing worth keeping.”
Harper was crying now.
“So yes,” Victor said softly. “You are where my enemies could aim.”
Arthur's eyebrows rose.
Harper laughed through tears.
“Romantic.”
Victor smiled.
“But you're also where I learned to aim my own life.”
That silenced everyone.
Harper whispered, “Okay. That one was good.”
“I practiced.”
“I knew it.”
They kissed.
For the first time in decades, the ground where Route Seventeen once operated witnessed something that had nothing to do with fear, leverage, money, or power.
Only choice.
That night, after everyone left, Victor and Harper walked toward the restored freight building.
Harper still wore her wedding dress.
Victor had removed his tie.
She carried two takeaway coffee cups.
Victor stared.
“At our wedding?”
“You looked thirsty.”
He took one.
Sipped.
Grimaced.
Harper laughed.
“Burned?”
“Yes.”
“Six dollars.”
“That feels illegal.”
Harper stopped.
Victor looked at her.
She smiled slowly.
“You remember.”
“Everything.”
She took his hand.
“Tomorrow?”
Victor's expression softened.
“Definitely.”
Neither of them noticed Arthur standing in the distance.
He watched them briefly.
Then turned away.
His phone vibrated.
A message.
From Samuel.
She saved him.
Arthur looked back toward Victor and Harper.
Then typed:
They saved each other.
He put the phone away.
For once, there were no enemies left to chase.
No secrets left underground.
No old route waiting to reopen.
May you like
Only tomorrow.
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