Mason handed him water instead of whiskey. Ryan leaned against the counter.
"Maybe I should just get through today. People have doubts before weddings. That doesn't mean everything is wrong."
Mason stared at him. "You're not afraid of marriage. You're afraid this marriage will make your life permanent."
Before Ryan could answer, he heard a laugh behind him. Maya had approached the bar. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"Hi, Ry," she said. No one else had called him that in years.
"Hi, Maya."
Mason suddenly found a reason to help a server with a box of glasses and disappeared. Maya rested her bouquet on the counter.
"I wasn't sure you would actually speak to me."
"I wasn't sure you would come."
"Caroline insisted. She said having me here would prove everyone had moved on."
Ryan lowered his eyes. "Have you?"
Maya studied him, then smiled faintly. "That is a dangerous question to ask on your wedding day."
He almost apologized, but the familiarity between them pulled another question free. "How have you been?"
"Busy. I came back from Berlin a couple of weeks ago. The exhibition went better than I expected."
"I heard."
"You heard?"
Ryan knew he should lie. Instead, he gave a small shrug.
Maya's smile widened. "You followed it."
"I may have seen a few things."
"You always were a terrible liar with me."
The sentence opened a door Ryan had spent years holding shut. He remembered the plans they once made: train rides through Europe, mornings in museums, a small apartment where Maya would paint and Ryan would build something of his own rather than inherit everything already made. None of it had happened. He had called those dreams unrealistic because that was easier than admitting he lacked courage.
"I'm glad it went well," he said.
"Thank you."
Their eyes held. Maya's expression softened. "You look tired."
"I haven't slept much. Wedding nerves."
He wanted to say yes. Instead, silence answered for him.
Caroline's voice came from behind them. "Ryan, your mother needs you for family photographs."
Maya immediately stepped away. Caroline gave her a composed smile. "Everything all right?"
"Of course," Maya said. "Congratulations again. I should find the others." She picked up her bouquet and left.
Ryan watched her go until Caroline said quietly, "You can stop pretending I don't notice."
He turned. For the first time that day, Caroline's polished expression had cracked. Hurt sat plainly beneath her control.
"I knew you had history with her," she said. "I told myself it was old history. I thought inviting her would make the past ordinary. Instead, the moment she arrived, you became someone I have never seen with me. That isn't fair, is it?"
Ryan had no answer.
Caroline looked toward the guests. "Not here. Not in front of everyone. But we are going to talk before this ceremony."
She walked away before he could stop her. Mason returned and stood beside Ryan without speaking. After a while, he asked, "What happened?"
Ryan watched Caroline disappear into the house, while Maya joined the bridesmaids near the terrace.
"I think," Ryan said slowly, "everyone finally stopped pretending except me."
The musicians began testing the first notes of the processional. Ryan looked at the chairs filling beneath the oaks and felt the afternoon narrowing toward a decision he could no longer postpone.
Caroline found Ryan in the upstairs dressing room less than an hour before the ceremony. She closed the door behind her and stood with both hands clasped in front of her, as if holding herself together through discipline alone.
"We need to stop protecting appearances for a few minutes," she said.
Ryan set down the cuff link he had been trying to fasten. "Caroline, I never wanted to hurt you."
"That is not the same as loving me." The words landed harder because she did not raise her voice. "For two years, I believed we were building a life. I supported your work. I learned your family's routines. I listened when your father spoke over you. And when you pretended it did not bother you, I thought we understood each other."
"We did."
"Then tell me you love me and that you want this marriage."
Ryan opened his mouth. Nothing came.
Caroline closed her eyes for a moment. When she looked at him again, there were tears there, but also clarity. "That silence is the answer."
"I care about you deeply."
"I know. That is why this is worse. I thought caring could become enough. I thought if everything fit, eventually my heart would catch up." Caroline gave a small, broken laugh. "You make it sound like a business merger."
He flinched. She took a slow breath.