Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Fuck you was on the tip of my tongue, but since nothing I said seemed to be sinking in, I kept my mouth shut. Clearly, I was going to have to get more dramatic if I wanted to make my point.
And if I know how to do anything, it’s put on a show.
I adopted a serene expression, as if I’d given in. “Okay, Neil. You can have it your way.”
Neil nodded. “That’s more like it. I’ll see you at the altar.”
I watched him walk away and almost felt sorry for him.
He had no idea what was coming.
Twenty minutes later, I still wore the angelic smile as I glided up the aisle on my own, the pews on either side packed with Vanderhoof family and friends. Neil looked a bit put out that I hadn’t wiped off the red lipstick, but he could hardly throw a fit about it now. The first half of the ceremony passed in a blur, the voice of the minister muffled and far away, my pulse quick and loud inside my head.
Then came the vows.
Neil and I faced each other. He looked sweaty and annoyed. I felt surprisingly cool and composed.
“Cornelius,” said the minister, “do you take Veronica to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” said Neil.
What a crock of shit, I thought.
“And Veronica, do you take Cornelius to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?”
I pretended to think it over, then shook my head. “Nah.”
The minister’s expression was confused, as if I’d spoken a foreign language. “I’m sorry?”
“I don’t take him.”
“Veronica.” Neil spoke through his teeth, his eyes warning me to stick to the script. “Say the words.”
“No way. You’re not the boss of me.”
His eyes hardened. “Stop this ridiculousness right now. You’re acting like a silly little girl.”
“I’ve been acting like a silly little girl for a year. Now I’m acting like a grown woman capable of making her own decisions. And I’m not going to marry you.”
The minister looked completely baffled. The guests had started to get anxious, and I could hear tense murmurs echo throughout the sanctuary. Possibly a snicker or two.
“Goodbye, Neil.” I started to walk back down the aisle and he grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around to face him again.
“You can’t leave me,” he said, his neck stretched forward like a goose. “I chose you. I pursued you. I rescued you from that tacky, low-class life and offered you a place in real society. I won’t be dumped by a—a—two-bit, uneducated, red-lipped showgirl!”
The crowd gasped.
“Showgirl!” Shrinking back, I gathered up my dress in my hands, revealing my sneakers. “I am a motherfucking Radio City Rockette, you two-timing, overgrown frat boy, and I’ve got more class in my pinkie toe than you’ll ever have!”
And I let loose with a ball-change, grande battement that caught him squarely beneath the Vanderhoof chin.
“Ow!” Neil grabbed his jaw. “Veronica, what the hell are you doing?”
“I’m making a fuss!” I shouted joyfully. Then I threw the bouquet on the floor, pitched my engagement ring at his chest, hiked up the bottom of my dress, and took off running.
I was broke, I was stranded, and I was probably homeless.
But I was free.
TWO
austin
ONE DAY EARLIER
They say blood is thicker than water, and I’ve always believed it to be true.
Right up until this morning.
“A dig?” I stared at my sister, who’d just announced she could no longer nanny for me this summer. “Are you serious?”
“It’s a very important dig!” Mabel protested, her eyes wide and serious behind her glasses.
“What exactly are you abandoning me to dig for?” I stacked the kids’ cereal bowls and grabbed their juice cups with one hand.
“We never know—that’s what makes it exciting!” Mabel followed me from the kitchen table to the sink. “They’ve found all kinds of things at this site. Bones, stoneware, coins, other artifacts. This dig could really help us understand early life in the colonies!”
I frowned as I rinsed everything and loaded the dishwasher. “I don’t think you understand my current life as a single father with seven-year-old twins.”
“I do, Austin,” Mabel insisted. “And I’m sorry to leave you high and dry. But it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am not throwing away my—shot!” She struck a dramatic pose, trigger finger pointing at the ceiling.
“Please. No more Hamilton. That will be the one good thing about having you gone—I won’t have to listen to that soundtrack every day.” I glared at her over one shoulder. “But couldn’t you have told me about this sooner?”