Page 44 of Ripple Effect

28

Present Day

Elizabeth

“How did Cal make up for that?” Dr. Powell asks me.

I frown thoughtfully. “It wasn’t so much making up for a broken date or a missed birthday. I even said that to him the next day. I felt like he wasn’t putting me, us, above his business. And I said if that was the case, maybe we shouldn’t get married if he was having second thoughts.”

Dr. Powell gapes at me. “How has this never come up before?”

“Was it pertinent?” I ask back. God, it feels good to be the one asking a question versus answering them. “Cal understood what I would and wouldn’t tolerate. I was fine with his intensity toward his job; after all, he was determined to make something of the nothing he had growing up. In fact, wasn’t that what I had essentially done with my own business?”

“True,” Dr. Powell concedes. “And you were happy?”

I nod. “By the time our wedding came around, yes. I believe we were both deliriously so. We were human, Dr. Powell. We fought about things like sorting laundry, and electric bills, and savings—everyday things.”

“But you never knew?”

Closing my eyes, I wait for the pain, but I’m surprised when it doesn’t come. Maybe five years is long enough for the time to ease this particular wound. “You mean I never knew that my husband was lying to me with every word out of his mouth? That he had a whole life outside of the one with me? No, I never did.”

“How did you find out?” His voice doesn’t change, for which I am grateful.

“Oh, it would be years. Six from the day we got married, to be exact.”

“Six years?” Now, the incredulousness.

And as much as I’ve forgiven Cal for the deceit, I can’t quite help the bitterness that enters my voice at how naive I was. “Astonishing, isn’t it? In the early days, I used to wonder if everyone thought I was just stupid.”

“I doubt they thought that, Libby.”

Thoughtfully, I nod. “True. Each of them was trained to lie. But the truth of what happened comes later. Cal and I did get married. It was a fairy-tale wedding. And I have to say, I’ve never felt Nonna’s presence at any other time more strongly until I was on theSea Force.”

29

Elizabeth

Wedding Day – Eleven Years Ago from Present Day

Ilove my dress, but it’s my veil that has me motionless as it’s attached to my head and then pulled forward over my updo, covering my perfectly applied makeup.

“Libby, you’re breathtaking,” my mom whispers.

“Simply stunning, sweetheart,” Aunt Lukie swears.

“If Cal doesn’t cry the minute he gets a load of you, then he really is a robot,” Iris declares. This makes my lips twitch into a smirk as I’ve heard more than once from my best friend and maid-of-honor what a pain in the ass my future husband is to work for.

With Nonna’s veil finally on, I’m ready to walk down the aisle. “Can we do a final check?” I ask.

“Something old,” Mom says.

My fingers trail over the fragile lace edging of Nonna’s veil. “Check.”

“Something new,” Aunt Lukie says next.

My fingers touch the yellow diamond earrings that were delivered to my suite earlier that perfectly match my engagement ring. “Cal took care of that.”

“With a note that almost ruined your makeup,” Iris gripes. I glance around me, but from the pedestal I’m standing on, I can’t reach anything that won’t damage either her aubergine bridesmaid dress or my wedding gown. I settle for sticking my tongue out at her.