Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Floral Wall
Savannah couldn't breathe.
The ocean still moved behind her, waves breaking against the shore with the same indifferent rhythm as before.
Somewhere nearby, a wedding coordinator called for the photographer.
A chair scraped across the sand.
Someone asked whether the ceremony would begin on time.
But Savannah heard none of it clearly.
She was staring at Brandon.
“The baby?”” she repeated.
Her voice sounded unfamiliar, almost too quiet to belong to her.
Brandon swallowed.
“Savannah, please.””
She looked at Kelsey.
Then at Brandon.
Then back at Kelsey.
“No,” Savannah whispered.
“No, you don't get to say please.””
Brandon took another step toward her.
She raised her hand.
He stopped.
“Don't come near me.””
His eyes were red now, and his breathing had become uneven.
“I can explain everything.””
“Then explain.””
He glanced toward the beach house.
Savannah noticed.
It was a small movement, barely a second long, but it told her that he was already thinking about who might see them.
Who might hear them.
Who might discover what he had done.
She felt a strange, cold calm settle over her.
“Look at me, Brandon.””
He did.
“Is Kelsey pregnant?””
Neither of them answered.
Savannah nodded slowly.
“That's a yes.””
“Savannah,” Kelsey said, “I never wanted you to find out like this.””
Savannah turned on her.
“You never wanted me to find out?””
Kelsey's mouth trembled.
“I know how it looks.””
“How it looks?”” Savannah repeated.
“You were kissing my fiancé behind the flowers I paid for, wearing the dress I helped you choose, on the day I'm supposed to marry him.””
She pointed toward the ceremony arch.
“And now you're telling me there's a baby?””
Kelsey lowered her eyes.
Savannah let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“Unbelievable.””
Brandon rubbed both hands over his face.
“I made a mistake.””
The words struck Savannah with almost physical force.
“A mistake?””
He looked at her desperately.
“Yes. I know I hurt you. I know this is awful, but I love you.””
For a moment, Savannah could only stare.
She remembered him standing in her kitchen three months earlier, holding her from behind while she prepared dinner.
He had rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered, “I can't wait until you're my wife.””
She remembered the handwritten notes he used to leave in her purse.
The flowers he sent when she had a difficult week.
The way he had promised her father that he would always protect her.
And now he was standing on a beach, wearing the suit he had chosen for their wedding, telling her that he loved her while the woman he had kissed carried his child.
“Don't use that word,” Savannah said.
Brandon frowned.
“What word?””
“Love.””
His expression crumpled.
“You don't get to tell me you love me right now.””
“I do love you.””
“Then why were you kissing her?””
He looked down.
“Because I wasn't thinking.””
Savannah shook her head.
“No. You were thinking enough to take her somewhere private.””
Kelsey made a small, wounded sound.
Savannah looked at her.
“How long?””
Kelsey pressed her lips together.
“How long have you been sleeping with him?””
“Savannah, it wasn't supposed to happen like this.””
“That isn't an answer.””
Kelsey glanced at Brandon.
Again, that silent exchange.
Again, Savannah felt the sickening sensation of being the only person in the conversation who didn't know the truth.
“How long?”” she demanded.
Brandon answered.
“Four months.””
Savannah stared at him.
Four months.
Four months of choosing wedding flowers.
Four months of discussing invitations, seating arrangements, and honeymoon plans.
Four months of listening to Brandon ask whether she preferred the oceanfront suite or the garden villa.
Four months of smiling at Kelsey across restaurant tables.
Four months of telling her best friend how lucky she was.
And during all that time, they had been hiding an affair.
“Four months,” Savannah repeated.
Brandon's eyes filled with tears.
“I was going to end it.””
“When?””
“Before today.””
“Before today?”” Her voice rose.
“You had four months!””
“I know.””
“You had four months to tell me the truth.””
“I know.””
“You could have canceled the wedding. You could have let me make my own decision. You could have given me one single day in which I wasn't standing here looking like a fool.””
Brandon flinched.
Savannah felt tears slipping down her cheeks, but she refused to wipe them away.
She wanted him to see what he had done.
“You let me wake up this morning believing I was going to marry the man I loved.””
“I am that man.””
“No, you're not.””
He reached toward her again, then seemed to remember her warning.
His hand fell to his side.
Kelsey stepped forward.
“Savannah, I swear I never wanted to hurt you.””
Savannah turned toward her slowly.
“Then why did you?””
Kelsey opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
“Was it worth it?”” Savannah asked.
“Was he worth losing everything we had?””
Kelsey's tears fell faster.
“I didn't plan to fall in love with him.””
Savannah recoiled.
Fall in love.
The phrase sounded absurd.
“You're in love with him?””
Kelsey looked at Brandon.
He didn't look back at her.
That silence answered a question Savannah hadn't known she needed to ask.
Kelsey was emotionally involved.
Brandon was trying to save his wedding.
And Savannah was the obstacle standing between them and whatever future they had imagined.
She pressed a hand against her stomach, suddenly nauseated.
“Is the baby his?””
Kelsey nodded.
Savannah closed her eyes.
For one brief second, she imagined herself back in the bridal suite, fastening her earrings and laughing with the makeup artist.
She imagined checking her phone and finding a message from Brandon that said he couldn't wait to see her.
She imagined walking down the aisle toward a man who had already made a different promise to another woman.
Then she opened her eyes.
“How far along are you?””
“About twelve weeks,” Kelsey whispered.
Twelve weeks.
Savannah did the calculation automatically.
The affair had begun before the wedding invitations had even been mailed.
The baby had been conceived while she and Brandon were finalizing the guest list.
While she was choosing a wedding date.
While Kelsey was helping her compare photographers.
Savannah's stomach twisted.
“Did you know?”” she asked Brandon.
He looked confused.
“Know what?””
“That she was pregnant.””
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“When?””
“Six weeks ago.””
Six weeks.
He had known for six weeks.
He had watched Savannah try on her wedding dress.
He had stood beside her while she cried over the final alterations.
He had kissed her forehead the night before the wedding and told her everything was going to be perfect.
And he had known.
“You knew,” Savannah whispered.
Brandon's face tightened.
“I didn't know how to tell you.””
“You could have started with the truth.””
“I was scared.””
“So you let me plan a wedding?””
“I thought I could fix it.””
“How?””
He had no answer.
Savannah looked at the engagement ring on her finger.
The diamond suddenly seemed grotesquely bright.
“Were you going to marry me anyway?””
Brandon's eyes widened.
“I love you. I wanted to marry you.””
“Even with her pregnant?””
He looked away.
Savannah understood then that the answer wasn't simple.
He had wanted the wedding.
He had wanted the house they planned to buy.
He had wanted the comfortable future they had discussed.
He had wanted Savannah's loyalty and Kelsey's affection.
He had wanted to keep every part of his life intact while allowing the consequences to fall on the women around him.
“You wanted both of us,” she said.
“No.””
“Then tell me what you wanted.””
“I wanted to make things right.””
“By marrying me before I found out?””
Brandon's silence became unbearable.
A breeze lifted the loose strands of Savannah's hair.
She looked toward the ceremony chairs.
The aisle was ready.
The guests were arriving.
Her father would soon be waiting near the entrance, expecting to walk his daughter toward a future she had believed was secure.
She imagined him seeing her face.
She imagined having to explain why the wedding wasn't happening.
The thought made her knees weak.
Brandon noticed and moved forward instinctively.
“Savannah—”
“Stop.””
He stopped.
She drew a shaky breath.
“Did you ever intend to tell me about the baby?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
He stared at the sand.
“After the ceremony.””
Savannah felt something inside her finally break.
After the ceremony.
He had intended to stand before their families, exchange vows, kiss her in front of everyone, and become her husband.
Then he would have told her that her best friend was carrying his child.
“Were you going to tell me tonight?”” she asked.
He didn't answer.
“Tomorrow?””
Still nothing.
“Or were you hoping I would be so happy about being your wife that you could keep lying?””
“That's not fair.””
The words escaped him before he could stop them.
Savannah stared.
“Not fair?””
He immediately shook his head.
“I didn't mean—”
“No. Tell me what isn't fair, Brandon.””
He looked desperate now.
“Everything is happening at once. I made a terrible decision, but I never stopped loving you.””
Savannah slowly removed the engagement ring.
Brandon watched her fingers.
“Please don't do this.””
She held the ring in her palm.
“You already did it.””
“I can make this right.””
“No, you can't.””
She closed her fingers around the diamond.
For a moment, she considered throwing it into the water.
Instead, she slipped it into the small pocket hidden inside her wedding dress.
She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of watching her destroy something valuable in a moment of pain.
She wanted to remember this clearly.
Every word.
Every excuse.
Every time he had looked away.
Then she turned toward Kelsey.
“Did you come here today planning to tell me?””
Kelsey hesitated.
“I wanted to.””
“But you didn't.””
“I was afraid.””
Savannah laughed bitterly.
“You were afraid?””
Kelsey nodded, crying.
“I didn't know what to do.””
“You could have told me before I put on this dress.””
“I know.””
“You could have told me before I asked you to stand beside me.””
“I know.””
“You could have told me before I spent the last four months telling you how lucky I was to have you in my life.””
Kelsey covered her mouth.
Savannah stepped closer.
“I trusted you with everything.””
“I know.””
“No, Kelsey. You don't.””
She looked at the woman who had once promised to be there when Savannah got married, had children, and grew old.
“You were supposed to be my family.””
Kelsey began to sob.
Savannah felt no satisfaction.
Only an enormous, hollow sadness.
Then a voice called from the ceremony area.
“Savannah? Sweetheart?””
Her father's voice.
Savannah turned toward it.
He was standing near the white arch, dressed in his navy suit, holding the small velvet box that contained the handkerchief he planned to give her before walking her down the aisle.
He smiled when he first saw her.
Then the smile disappeared.
He noticed her tears.
The empty space beside her.
The bouquet lying abandoned in the sand.
“What's happened?”” he called.
Savannah tried to answer.
Her throat closed.
Behind her, Brandon whispered, “Please don't tell them yet.””
She turned back toward him.
Even now.
Even after everything.
He was still thinking about the guests.
The photographs.
The embarrassment.
Savannah looked at him as though she had never seen him before.
“You don't get to decide what happens next.””
Her father started walking toward her.
Brandon stood motionless.
And Kelsey, still crying, suddenly reached for Savannah's arm.
“There is something else you need to know,” she whispered.
Savannah pulled away.
“What could possibly be worse?””
Kelsey looked toward Brandon.
He shook his head violently.
“Don't,” he warned.
But Kelsey had already begun to speak.
“The baby wasn't the only reason he wanted to tell you before the ceremony.””
Savannah's blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?””
Brandon stepped forward.
“Kelsey, stop.””
She stared at him through her tears.
“You promised me.””
Savannah looked between them.
“What did he promise you?””
Neither answered.
Then Kelsey reached into the small handbag resting beside the floral wall and pulled out her phone.
“There are messages,” she whispered.
“And Savannah, if you read them, you'll understand why he was so desperate to marry you today.””
Brandon lunged toward the phone.
Kelsey stepped back.
Savannah watched the screen light up.
May you like
At the top of the conversation was Brandon's name.
And beneath it, a message sent just three nights earlier.
