And now she was marrying Lucas. Committing a year of her life to a man she didn’t love. Good grief, most of the time she didn’t even like him. Not that he was a bad person. He was just so . . . irritating sometimes. Vexing. The way he was late and careless and so laid-back she wished she had a remote control so she could push the fast-forward button.

She couldn’t think of a man less suited for her.

Mrs. Petrie finished the song and returned to her seat. The preacher began talking about the sacredness of the vows they were about to take. Kate wanted to plug her ears. She was a proponent of lifelong marriages. It was her life’s work to help couples stay married. And now she was making a mockery of the process before God and man.

I’m a hypocrite. A fraud. What would my readers think if they knew?

Reverend McFadden turned toward her, and Kate focused her attention on him as he announced the reading of the vows. She was supposed to face Lucas. She handed her bouquet to Anna and turned toward Lucas. She wasn’t sure if she was capable of breathing, much less speaking.

Then she saw the corner of Lucas’s lip tilt up ever so slightly, his eyes soften. Instinctively, she relaxed.

I can do this.

The preacher read the vows, and Kate repeated them, cringing inside “I, Kate Lawrence, take you, Lucas Wright, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.” Kate swallowed hard and forced the words from her lips. “Until death do us part.”

The last words were rushed, but she’d done it. Now the preacher prompted Lucas.

He repeated the vows, and he did it well. His eyes said as much as his voice. The way he looked at her . . . It was the way every bride yearned to be looked at. Like she was precious. Like she was his chosen one. His voice was low, as if rumbling up from the deepest part of the ocean. It was more than credible. It was convincing.

Reverend McFadden said a prayer and ended it with an amen. “It is tradition to exchange rings as a symbol of the love between a man and a wife.”

Rings! Kate felt something akin to a tidal wave inside her. Bryan’s best man had her ring. Lucas wouldn’t have a ring to put on her finger. She turned a desperate look toward the preacher, but he was looking at Lucas as he spoke. “. . . representing the unending love of your union.” He cleared his throat as if the words had left a foul taste.

Kate stared hard at Reverend McFadden, hoping mental telepathy would work just this once. There are no rings!