When I hung up, Helen looked at me.
“Are you canceling tomorrow?”
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m not canceling anything.”
“Sis…”
“If Danny wants his happy ending so badly, I’m going to give him one he’ll never forget.”
The next afternoon, my backyard filled with guests.
Danny looked delighted when he saw me.
“You look beautiful.”
“So do you.”
Helen offered me her arm.
Danny smiled when he saw my sister walking me down the aisle.
“I’m glad you two worked things out.”
“Oh,” I said. “We’re working on it.”
The ceremony began.
Danny cried during his vows.
Then came my turn.
“Do you take Danny to be your husband?”
I looked directly at him.
“No.”
Silence.
Danny blinked.
“What?”
“No.”
His face reddened.
“Helen got to you.”
“Actually, your son did.”
Danny’s expression collapsed.
My nephew blurted, “Wait – you have another family?”
I continued.
“Margaret wasn’t your nurse.”
“Please, Claire.”
“She was your partner for almost fifty years. The mother of your children. The woman you built an entire life with while I thought you were dead.”
“You’ve twisted the whole thing.”
“You never married her because you were still married to me.”
Danny said nothing.
“And now suddenly you wanted another wedding. Funny how important our marriage became once Margaret was gone.”
“It’s not true.”
“You had children with her.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No. It was complicated yesterday. Today it’s remarkably simple.”
He stepped closer.
“Let me explain privately.”
“Why? You explained my sister’s supposed betrayal publicly enough.”
Helen cut in.
“Tell her who paid your bills, Danny.”
He shot her a look.
I turned back to him.
“Margaret supported you for years. When she died, most of what she had went to your children.”
“That was manipulated.”
“And when they stopped supporting you, you went looking for someone who might.”
Danny stared at me.
I smiled sadly.
“That’s when you found me.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“No? Because you seemed awfully interested in whether my house was paid off.”
His face changed.
“And my will.”
“Sweetheart…”
“Don’t call me that.”
Someone behind me whispered, “This is better than television.”
“Shh,” my nephew said. “I want to hear this.”
I held Danny’s gaze.
“You didn’t come back because you remembered your wife, Danny. You came back because you remembered what she owned.”
“That isn’t true. I thought about you.”
