Chương 6 - Một Tuần Trước Lễ Cưới

About five months after I left, my attorney told me Evan wanted me to come to Philadelphia for one final walkthrough of the townhouse before we signed the settlement.

I agreed.

Not because I missed the place.

Because my father’s remaining books were still in the upstairs closet.

The front door code had been changed to my birthday.

I almost laughed when I saw it.

Evan opened the door before I could type anything.

He looked thinner.

The house looked different.

Tessa’s motorcycle helmet was gone from the mudroom.

Her game controller was gone from under the television.

The ugly orange hoodie she had left on our sofa for six months was gone.

Her mug was gone from the kitchen.

I had not realized how many pieces of her had been sitting inside my marriage until he removed them.

On the dining table was a stack of new wedding programs.

Two hundred and fifty.

My name was on every one.

Evan Mercer & Claire Bennett.

The paper was the same.

The ink was the same.

My father’s handwriting sat underneath.

Evan touched the top program.

“I found another printer who could match the original impression.”

I looked at the stack.

Five months earlier, I would have cried with relief.

Now they were just expensive paper.

He said, “I know they don’t matter anymore.”

“That’s the first correct thing you’ve said about them.”

He flinched.

We went upstairs.

My father’s letters were in archival sleeves.

The ink stains had been reduced.

On the desk beside them was the wooden monogram block.

It had been repaired.

A conservator had aligned the two pieces and reinforced the split from the back with a narrow brass spline.

The crack was still visible.

Evan picked it up carefully.

“This is as close as they could get.”

I held out my hand.

He gave it to me.

“I’ll take this.”

He nodded quickly.

“Of course.”

“The letters too.”

“Yes.”

“And the plate.”

“Yes.”

He watched me pack them.

Then he said, “I cut Tessa off.”

I kept wrapping books.

“She doesn’t have a key. She’s blocked. I told my parents not to invite her to anything involving me.”

I closed one box.

“Okay.”

“I thought you’d want to know.”

“Why?”

He looked at me like he didn’t understand the question.

I said, “You think I left so you would finally clean up the boundaries.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Before.”

He went quiet.

I carried the box downstairs.

He followed.

“I fixed it.”

I stopped near the front door.

“No.”

He looked desperate.

“I’m trying.”

“I know.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“That’s not my problem anymore.”

He looked like I had hit him.

“I was wrong.”

“Yes.”

“I let her get away with too much.”

“Yes.”

“I should have reprinted the programs.”

“Yes.”

“I should have thrown her out of the shop the first time you asked.”

“Yes.”

“I should never have touched that block.”

“No.”

That stopped him.

I said, “You should never have wanted to hurt me with it.”

His face collapsed.

That was the part he still wanted to skip.

The object could be repaired.

The intention could not.

I lifted the box.

The doorbell rang.

Evan frowned.

He opened the door.

Tessa stood outside.

For the first time since I had known her, she looked nervous around Evan.

She was holding one of the original misprinted programs.

Evan’s face went cold.

“What are you doing here?”

She looked past him and saw me.

“Oh.”

I almost laughed.

Of course she knew I was there.

Linda had called me twice that week asking whether Evan and I were really “going through with it.”

Tessa and Linda still talked.

That was enough.

Tessa stepped inside before Evan could stop her.

“I need to say something.”

“No,” Evan said.

“Yes.”

He reached for the door.

She held up the program.

“I changed the file on purpose.”

Everything stopped.

Evan stared at her.

“What?”

She looked at me.

“I didn’t export the wrong version.”

I set down the box.

Tessa’s fingers tightened around the paper.

“I changed your name.”

Evan’s face went white.

“Why?”

She laughed, but there was nothing funny in it.

“You seriously have to ask?”

“Tessa.”

“I wanted to know.”

“Know what?”

“If there was any line I could cross that would make you choose her over me.”

I felt almost nothing.

Maybe because I had known long before she said it.

Tessa looked at me.

“I knew the printer was running the final batch that night. I changed the cover file after Evan gave me access.”

Evan took a step toward her.

“You printed two hundred and forty-nine programs with your name on them to test me?”

“No.”

She shook her head.

“To prove you.”

He stared.

She said, “I knew exactly what you would do.”

His face changed.

“You thought I’d defend you.”

“I knew you would.”

He said nothing.

Tessa’s voice started shaking.

“You always did.”

She pointed at him with the program.

“I made fun of her. You told her I was joking.”

“She asked you not to come over. You gave me a key anyway.”

“She didn’t want me helping with the wedding. You gave me the stationery files.”