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BITTERSWEETNESS

We said good-byes to what re party and climbed into the limousine that would take us back to the Portman

At dusk, ere supposed to take a specially equipped and sunlight-protected plane to Paris for a week ofon the Seine

Except I knew that couldn’t be "We aren’t going to Paris," I said, and settled my head on his shoulder

"No," he said "And I should request all wedding guests leave Chicago as soon as possible There’s no point in dragging them further into this"

I felt suddenly, unbearably tired E and socializing, physically exhausted by the battle we hadn’t wanted to find ourselves in And as o, e couldn’t leave the city in the ion, I couldn’t shake the heavy grief that settled into my bones

I’d only wanted a honeymoon That wasn’t so much to ask, was it?

Ethan put an arm around me, drew me closer I shut my eyes and let myself be cal about this not being our probleh no fault of yours Not much we could have done about that And it’s better ere there than not It wasn’t our plan, but if we hadn’t stepped in, things would have been a lot worse"

Ethan smirked, drewyou, rather than the other way around Because my beautiful wife deserves peace and comfort"

"‘Wife’ sounds weird I wonder when I’ll get used to it"

"You’ve an eternity," Ethan said, "as I’o"

• • •

It was nearly dawn, and the Port on the marble floor A woman stood behind the reservation counter, brow furrowed at so in front of her Aarea, and a lone and exhausted-looking fa CARTER FAMILY VACATION T-shirts The parents’ gazes lifted to watch us, eyes widening as they took in our torn clothes, scraped bodies

"Sit down," Ethan quietly said "I’ll check in"

I nodded, walked toward the stone fountain against the far wall

"Big fight over the bridal bouquet," I said to the parents, with the only hint of a sh to soothe their fears

Water trickled from a lion’s head mounted to the wall in a quatrefoil base I sat down on the edge, watched koi dart across the water towardfor breakfast