Page 263 of A Taste of Vanilla

Wedding white.

Halston stares at it. “I forgot these were here,” she says.

Her voice is far away.

I don’t move.

She takes out a card, watching the rain soak it.

“What do you want to do with them?” I ask softly, watching as she turns the invitation over in her hands.

She laughs softly. “I don’t know.”

I wait.

She lowers the card. “I think I kept them because throwing them away felt dramatic at the time.” Her mouth twists. “Which is kind of hilarious now.”

I almost smile.

She flips through the stack. “I was going to write notes to everyone at the wedding. Can you imagine? I thought if I didn’t make a big deal of it, the wedding stuff would go away.” She sighs. “I mean, Marley and Oliver took care of a lot of it. So itdidsort of disappear for me, I guess.”

I step closer.

“I want to leave them,” she says suddenly. “With his other things.”

“His other things?”

Halston flips open the glove compartment, revealing fabric swatches and a tasting menu.

She throws the box of invitations into the front seat.

Next, she grabs her keys, removes a small H keychain from the ring, and tosses it onto the seat.

The tow driver clears his throat beside his truck.

Halston looks over. “I’m done.”

He nods, and she closes the door.

She rests her hand on the hood. “You were a terrible car,” she says.

The tow driver pretends not to hear.

“You lied about gas, which was insanely rude. You smelled like crayons in August, which wasweird,and the cup holder personally attacked me multiple times.” Her voice trembles. “But you got me through a lot.”

A crack of thunder shakes the ground.

Halston takes a step back as the driver hooks Penelope up to his truck.

I stand beside her as the rain pours around us, watching her car get loaded. When the tow truck pulls away with Penelope, Halston keeps watching.

Eventually, the road is empty.

“I thought I would feel stupid,” she says after a moment.

“Do you?”

“A little.” She exhales. “But mostly I feel lighter.”