Nathan Cole was ten minutes away from marrying Vanessa Price when the wedding videographer ran into the groom’s room and locked the door behind him.
Nathan was standing in front of a mirror while his brother adjusted his tie.
Outside, nearly two hundred guests were already seated beside the lake.
The string quartet had started playing.
White roses covered the wooden arch where Nathan and Vanessa were supposed to exchange vows.
His six-year-old daughter, Emily, was supposed to walk down the aisle first carrying a small basket of petals.
Instead, the videographer looked at Nathan and said, “You need to see something before you marry her.”
Nathan laughed nervously.
“Can this wait twenty minutes?”
“No.”
The man’s face was pale.
“It really can’t.”
Nathan stopped smiling.
“What happened?”
The videographer, Lucas Bennett, lifted his camera.
“I was filming some behind-the-scenes footage near the bridal suite.”
Nathan immediately thought Vanessa had gotten cold feet.
“Is she okay?”
Lucas hesitated.
“Your daughter was in there.”
Nathan turned.
“Emily?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Lucas pressed play.
The first few seconds showed nothing unusual.
Vanessa stood in front of a mirror wearing her wedding dress.
Her mother adjusted the veil.
Two bridesmaids were laughing near the window.
Emily stood several feet away in her pale lavender flower-girl dress.
She looked tiny among the adults.
She held a silver locket in both hands.
Nathan recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to Emily’s mother.
Sarah.
Nathan’s first wife.
Emily had been three when Sarah died from complications following an aneurysm.
The locket contained a tiny photograph of Sarah holding Emily as a baby.
Emily wore it only on important days.
Her birthday.
Christmas.
The first day of school.
And now Nathan’s wedding.
Nathan watched the video.
Vanessa looked toward Emily.
Her smile disappeared.
“What did I tell you about that necklace?”
Emily lowered her eyes.
“It’s Mommy’s.”
“I know whose it is.”
“I want to wear it.”
“Not today.”
Emily tightened her fingers around it.
“Daddy said I could.”
Vanessa walked toward her.
Nathan felt something inside him tighten.
The Vanessa on the screen looked different from the woman he knew.
There was no softness in her face.
No patience.
She stopped directly in front of Emily.
“Your father says yes to everything because he feels guilty.”
Emily shook her head.
“He said Mommy can come with me.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
He remembered the conversation.
Emily had asked whether wearing Sarah’s locket meant Mommy could “come to the wedding too.”
Nathan had kissed her forehead and said yes.
Vanessa held out her hand.
“Give it to me.”
Emily stepped backward.
“No.”
One bridesmaid quietly left the room.
The other looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
Vanessa’s mother stared at her phone.
Vanessa reached for the necklace.
Emily covered it with both hands.
“No!”