The Roses Wilted at Dusk Chapter 12
He stood there as if all support had left his body, swaying on the edge of collapse.
After a long time, he opened his palm.
The white rose brooch lay there.
“I took it back from Tamsin Calder. It’s yours. It should never appear on anyone else.”
I looked at the brooch, faintly pearled under the streetlight.
There was a tiny mark along one petal’s edge, left from:09
when I had polished the silver blank.
“Audra Ellison, I can call off the wedding.”
“Mr. Lockwood, the schedule has already been sent to the coordination team. Tomorrow at two, outdoor ceremony,
dusk time slot.”
“I don’t want that schedule.”
“But both families want it. The investors want it. Ms.
Calder wants it.”
“I don’t care.”
“A week ago, you didn’t care either,” I said. “The person you didn’t care about was me.”
His fingers closed around the brooch.
“If I care now, is it too late?”
I looked down at the turkey wrap bag in my hand.
Condensation from the convenience store cooler clung to the plastic, cold and damp.
“Mr. Lockwood, your wedding starts tomorrow.”
“Your bride is waiting for you at rehearsal. Your parents are waiting for you to appear. Your business partners are waiting for you to sign.”
“And I,” I looked up at him, “am no longer on your schedule.”
I walked around him toward my apartment.
He did not follow.
But after I had gone more than a dozen steps, I heard his voice behind me, very soft, as if he were speaking only to himself.
“You waited four years for me. I couldn’t even wait a week.”
I did not look back.
I went upstairs, opened the door, and placed the turkey wrap on the table.
I sat and ate two bites. It tasted like nothing.
My phone rang once. He had sent a message.
Only one sentence:
[I’ll keep the brooch. Whenever you want it, come to me for it.]
I read it and did not reply.
I placed the phone on the coffee table and continued eating the turkey wrap.
Outside the window, the sky had turned fully dark. Far out on the sea, a few fishing lights blinked in and out.
Tomorrow was the wedding.
A wedding that had absolutely nothing to do with me.
