Blake took the whole scene in. He wore a black suit and a black tie with a crisp white shirt. His hair looked slightly wet and plastered into the kind of order I’d never before seen on him. He kept his eyes on Amanda and me but spoke to Samantha.

“What is this all about? It’s time, honey. It’s time to do this thing once and for all.”

“Blake, I think you’re going to want to hear this,” I said.

He smiled, but there was little warmth in it. He looked at me like I was a stranger, someone he needed to tolerate for just another moment. “I don’t need to hear anything from either of you. You were invited, but you said no. So . . . that’s probably for the best. I told the truth about what happened in college, and I’m going to get in some trouble for all of that. And none of that is sitting well with Sam’s parents. They’re not even here.”

“And that’s fine,” Sam said. “We can do it all on our own.”

“Sam was just about to tell us something important,” Amanda said.

For the first time since he’d stepped outside, Blake turned and looked at his bride-to-be. And then he spoke to us while he stared at her. “She doesn’t have to tell me anything else. I know what happened. And I know why Sam went to Jennifer’s house that day. Why do you think I wanted your laptop? I started to suspect Sam had done it, and I wanted to check the information you downloaded. When I saw the messages from Lily Rose, I knew. I’ve played the stupid drinking game with her. But none of that’s important. Our wedding is.”

He reached out and took Sam by the hand, gently tugging her in the direction of the Barn and their wedding guests.

But Sam stayed rooted in place, resisting the pressure. She fixed her eyes on me.

“It’s not jealousy,” she said. “Do you know why I went over there to see Jennifer that day?”

“Baby . . . ,” Blake said.