They Said Man on the Ship Was My Destiny—I Said No Chapter 08
“Are you okay?” Julian held the car door open for me.
I shook my head. I’d used up all my tears yesterday.
I wasn’t going to waste another feeling on someone who didn’t matter. “Let’s go see my grandfather.”
My grandfather had been waiting long enough. All I’d ever done was give him reasons to worry.
I could see him through the glass before we even entered — small, still, swallowed up by the bed. But the second Julian and I walked in together, his eyes came alive.
Julian guided me into the chair beside the bed, then reached over and took my grandfather’s hand. His lips moved.
I could read the word on his lips. Good.
He meant Julian. He approved of him.
He’d love anyone I loved — that was just who he was. I swallowed hard against the burning in my throat and told him everything about today.
Julian leaned close to my grandfather’s ear. “I promise — I’m going to take care of her.”
My grandfather smiled — a real one, full and warm. My mom and dad arrived soon after, pulling chairs up to the other side of the bed.
“Clara’s having her wedding reception tonight. A summer regatta wedding — she’s going to have a beautiful life, Dad. The best one.”
After the visit, my parents headed home ahead of us.
They had a whole town to pull together for the reception. Julian took my hand and walked me into town.
When he opened the ring box, my breath caught. “How did you — this is my design. How do you have this?”
“I’ve been watching you for a while — you were always sketching ring designs. I figured you’d want to wear your own work on your wedding day. So I had it made before I came home.”
A mountain and a river. Resting against each other.
Julian slid the ring onto my finger, and I slid his on in return. For the first time today, it actually felt real.
He smiled and took my hand. We walked home. The courtyard was already transformed — garlands of red roses wrapped around the porch posts, and a crimson runner stretched from my front door all the way to his.
Our houses were practically next door. Julian’s mother and mine were already at the entrance, greeting women from all over town.
Caterers were already setting up tables, and the smell of roasting meat filled the air. Relatives streamed down the road carrying gifts stacked in their arms.
Wrapped wedding gifts were already piled high by the entrance. Julian traced a line across my palm with his thumb.
“All those years apart — and here we are anyway. Right back where we started. There’s something I never said before I left for Grand Harbor. I can finally say it now.”
He held my gaze. “Clara, I’ve always been in love with you. Stay with me — for good.”
I smiled back. “Me too. And thank you — for showing up today.”
A wait cut through the celebration. Audrey.
She’d stripped off the red dress. Her hair was loose, her clothes wrinkled, and she was dragging a suitcase behind her.
The second she saw me, she dropped to her knees, tears streaming. “Clara, please — I’m begging you. Don’t do this to me. Go back and marry Preston — please. His family’s throwing me out. I have nowhere else to go — I’ll have nothing if I leave. Have some mercy. Please — don’t make this harder than it has to be, okay?”
People stopped right there in the street.
The whispers started immediately. Audrey caught the crowd watching — and behind the tears, something satisfied flickered across her face. She cried louder.
“My parents are dead. I don’t have a home. I wasn’t born lucky like you — a mayor’s daughter with a man who adores her. What am I supposed to do? How is someone like me supposed to survive? I’m on my knees, Clara. Please — just go back and talk to Preston. Sort this out. There was never anything between us. You’ve got it all wrong — he was only trying to help me.”
The neighborhood women had had enough. They stepped forward, one after another.
“Don’t play innocent. You ran off with a rich guy on your own wedding day! Your poor parents died in a car wreck trying to stop you!”
“And now you’re here ruining Preston’s life too.”
“Weren’t you running around with Buford last year? Why didn’t you board his boat this time instead of clinging to Clara’s man?”
“Clara, don’t give her the time of day!”
“Get inside and put on your wedding dress.”
Preston’s family came running, hauling Audrey to her feet, apologizing over and over. Preston trailed behind them, hollow-eyed.
Every word the women had said was still ringing in his ears. Audrey was still sobbing, still pleading.
Something in him snapped. “Shut up!” His voice tore across the street. “One more word, and I’ll throw you in the river myself.”
Audrey went silent, shrinking back. Preston’s gaze locked on Julian’s hand, then mine — the matching rings. His eyes burned.
He said nothing. He turned and walked away with his family. I didn’t watch him go.
I took Julian’s hand and went inside