"Sure."
After work, I was on my way to the bridal salon.
The phone rang. Same number again, the one belonging to the "me" from five years ahead.
The second the call connected, the roar on the other end nearly split my eardrum.
"Odette Simmons! Are you deaf? I told you not to go try on that gown. Can you not understand plain words, or are you just so worthless you have to throw yourself into the fire?"
Then, all at once, the voice broke into a shrill, sobbing wail.
"Even knowing the future is a nightmare, you're still going to marry Clay Gilbert, aren't you?"
"So the me from five years ago loved him that much."
I looked at the endless line of stalled traffic ahead, my voice terrifyingly calm.
"Done? Don't call again. You're getting on my nerves."
Half an hour later, the bridal salon.
Clay's car was parked out front, but he wasn't in the main hall.
I found him at the far end of the fitting-room corridor.
I didn't push the door. I only stood at that narrow crack and watched, cold-eyed.
Maud Henson was wearing the custom gown that should have been mine, and the shape it drew on her really was lovely.
Clay's brows were drawn tight, his voice low but edged with anger.
"Who told you to put this one on? Take it off, don't let Odette see. Pick anything else you want, but not hers, never hers."
"Then what am I to you?"
Maud wouldn't be refused. She snapped up onto her toes and kissed him full on the mouth.
Clay clearly panicked for an instant.
"We can't. If Odette sees us here, I can't even imagine the fallout."
His mouth said no, but his hands clamped hard around Maud's waist.
The two of them slid out of control inside that kiss, breathing rough, drinking in this stolen moment of tenderness.
Only when Maud went soft against him and reached up to straighten his rumpled clothes did she say, all wounded and pouting,
"Clay, I want to marry you out in the open too."
Clay's face went cold in a heartbeat, and he pushed her back to arm's length.
"Not a chance!"
"We agreed. You can only be my secret lover, out of sight. If you can't keep your place, then we end here."
"The only woman I'll ever marry is Odette Simmons."
Maud's tears fell one fat drop after another, yet she instantly put on a meek, ingratiating smile.
"I understand. Take me to a hotel tonight, all right? Even as your nameless lover, I'm willing."
Watching them, my heart skipped one hard beat.
No more, no less. Exactly enough to cancel out that one messy skip from the first time Clay ever made my heart move.
I raised my hand and knocked on the fitting-room door, not soft, not hard.
"Clay, are you in there?"
A scramble of frantic noises came from inside.
"Sweetheart! Give me a second, I'm changing!" Clay's words came out in a rush.
The door opened.
Clay threw an arm around my shoulders and steered me away, no room for argument.
The force in it was enormous, as if terrified I might catch even a glimpse into the fitting room.
"Sweetheart, come on, I bought a stunning set of jewelry. You'll put it on and outshine any goddess in heaven."
His smile was tender and urgent all at once.
Clay went on,
"Paired with a white wedding gown, I can't even imagine how beautiful my sweetheart will be."
I went along with him, not arguing.
"Oh? Take me to see just how beautiful."
Seeing my attention pulled away, Clay let out a barely perceptible breath of relief and walked me off faster, arm still around me.
Yes.
The jewelry really was beautiful, glittering like starlight, and no woman can turn down beautiful things.
A pity, then, that I no longer even wanted Clay himself, which left these outside trinkets without the slightest meaning.
Just then, Maud, now changed back into her regular clothes, came walking over.
