One year after I saw Adrian alive, I worked another wedding.
Same season.
Different venue.
Different flowers.
I arrived early.
I checked the bouquets.
Pinned the boutonnieres.
Fixed a crooked arrangement near the aisle.
Ordinary work.
Beautiful work.
At one point, I saw a woman who looked like Colleen from behind.
My heart jumped.
Then she turned.
Stranger.
I kept walking.
That was when I understood how much had changed.
A year earlier, one familiar face had pulled the floor out from under me.
Now my body could be startled without my entire life collapsing.
Adrian was no longer legally dead.
He was no longer my fiancé.
He was no longer a mystery.
He was a man who had made terrible choices after surviving a crash.
Colleen was a mother who had chosen loyalty over truth.
Tessa had rebuilt her own life.
Julian and I exchanged holiday messages.
Eric’s family had their son’s name back.
And I had mine.
Meredith.
Not widow.
Not abandoned bride.
Not the woman from the fake funeral.
Just Meredith.
At the end of the evening, the bride handed me one flower from her bouquet.
“Take it.”
I laughed.
“I’m the florist.”
“I know.”
She pressed it into my hand.
“For making everything beautiful.”
I looked at the flower.
A white rose.
For months, white roses had belonged to funerals.
Then to Adrian’s second wedding.
Now it was just a rose again.
That felt like enough.
FIN
I kept the white rose overnight in a glass by my sink.
The next morning, one petal had fallen.
I left it there until evening.
Nothing terrible happened.
I no longer keep Adrian’s obituary bookmarked.
I deleted it months ago.
The truth did not need a shortcut on my phone anymore.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I let other people carry parts of the legal process for me.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I learned that unanswered questions can exist without controlling the whole day.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I stopped measuring healing by whether I cried.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
Some days I was angry.
Some days I was bored by the case.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
The ordinary days became more important than the dramatic ones.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I kept working because work gave the hours a shape.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I let other people carry parts of the legal process for me.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I learned that unanswered questions can exist without controlling the whole day.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I stopped measuring healing by whether I cried.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
Some days I was angry.
Some days I was bored by the case.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
The ordinary days became more important than the dramatic ones.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I kept working because work gave the hours a shape.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I let other people carry parts of the legal process for me.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I learned that unanswered questions can exist without controlling the whole day.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I stopped measuring healing by whether I cried.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
Some days I was angry.
Some days I was bored by the case.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
The ordinary days became more important than the dramatic ones.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I kept working because work gave the hours a shape.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I let other people carry parts of the legal process for me.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I learned that unanswered questions can exist without controlling the whole day.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I stopped measuring healing by whether I cried.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
Some days I was angry.
Some days I was bored by the case.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
The ordinary days became more important than the dramatic ones.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I kept working because work gave the hours a shape.
At home, I pressed the fallen rose petal inside a notebook.
Not as a memorial to Adrian.
As proof that a symbol can change meaning.
I let other people carry parts of the legal process for me.
THE END
Fin
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Colleen sees me outside the groom’s room and realizes the funeral lie is about to collapse #11
Part 16 of 16
