Chapter 1

Halfway through his vows, Hudson Farley tightened his grip on my hand. I thought he was nervous until I looked up and saw that his eyes were wet.

He was looking past me.

“Jean.”

I turned. Jean Swanson stood at the back of the chapel in a white wedding gown, one hand braced against the end of a pew. On her ring finger was a soda-can tab, bent into a band just like the one Hudson had slipped onto mine.

Until then, I’d thought he’d made mine just for me.

Jean had walked out on him eight years ago. I hadn’t even known she was back in town. Now they looked at each other with tears in their eyes, and for a few seconds neither seemed to remember the rest of us were there.

“Wedding nerves,” the priest said quickly. He gave me a strained smile. “Miss Sullivan, shall we give him another try?”

Half the Farley family’s captains were in the pews. At a sit-down, they’d have known better than to stare. Here, they leaned into the aisle to see what Hudson would do.

I waited for him to say my name.

Jean turned and hurried out. Hudson let go of my hand before she reached the doors. By the time the priest said his name, he was already halfway down the aisle.

Everyone started talking at once. I pulled the ring off and set it on the priest’s open book.

“The wedding’s off.”

Eight years earlier, Hudson had gone after a man from a rival crew to protect Jean. He served three years for it. By the time he got out, he’d lost his place in the Farley family, and Jean was long gone.

I was the one waiting outside the gates when he got out. I stood beside him while he got the Farleys to take his calls again, while he earned back a seat at their table and put together a crew of his own. He swore he’d never betray me. I’d believed him right up until he let go of my hand.

Eight years after he’d gone to prison for Jean, all she had to do was walk through a door.

Fine. He could have her.

……

Hudson had clipped a stand on his way out. Flowers and ribbons lay scattered across the aisle. I’d spent six months planning every arrangement. My bouquet lay among them, the stems crushed where he’d stepped on it.

The priest came around the altar with a tissue. When he saw I wasn’t crying, he lowered his hand.

“Miss Sullivan, are you sure you don’t want to wait for him?”

“I’m sure.”

Once the guests had drifted outside, the priest picked up the ring I’d left on his book and held it out to me.

When Hudson proposed, he’d said he hadn’t had time to buy a diamond. He’d bent a soda-can tab into a ring and slipped it onto my finger. I’d worn it ever since.

I’d heard Jean talk about a ring Hudson gave her in college. She used to say it meant he’d marry her one day. She’d never said what it was made of. Seeing it on her hand that day, I realized he’d given us the same promise.

“Keep it,” I told the priest.

I went back to the bridal room, took off my veil, and started wiping away my makeup. My phone buzzed on the vanity. I read the message and answered it before I heard Hudson’s voice through the open window.

“Jean, why did you leave? If you’d stayed, we could’ve…”

I went to the window. He was holding her hand. He looked up, saw me watching, and left the sentence unfinished.

Nelson Lane had gone to college with both of them. Now he worked for Hudson.

“Everybody thought you two would get married,” Nelson said. “Then you went away and she left town. Well, she’s here now. The priest’s still inside. What are you waiting for?”

I stepped out into the courtyard with my veil draped over my arm. Hudson looked away. He still hadn’t let go of Jean’s hand.

“Tabitha stood by me all these years,” he said. “I can’t just…”

Jean’s shoulders began to shake.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should’ve come back sooner. Please don’t push him into anything because of me.”

Hudson’s face softened. I knew that look. He’d chased her out of the chapel in front of his own family, and now that Nelson was offering him another wedding, he still hadn’t said no.

I walked over and set my veil on her head. She went still while I tucked the comb into her hair and smoothed the tulle over her shoulders.

“It suits you.” I turned to Hudson. “Marry her.”

Nelson clapped him on the shoulder. “You heard Tabitha. She’s giving you her blessing. What more do you need?”

“Come on, Hudson,” one of the Farley captains called from the chapel steps. “Tabitha helped you get back on your feet. We all know that. But everybody knew who you wanted to marry. If you hadn’t gone to prison, you and Jean would have kids in grade school by now.”