Rory couldn’t help smiling back. “Save it,” he warned, tilting his chin up to meet Arthur’s eyes. “I gotta get going.”

“Where’s your ring?”

“Pocket.”

“And...?”

Rory huffed. “I’m so bad at it still,” he said. “I’m not gonna start a tempest at Mrs. B’s wedding.”

“If you’re in danger, you most certainly are,” said Arthur. “Teddy, you promised.”

The ring was safe in its heavy lead box. It wasn’t like Rory was actually gonna need to use it. “All right already,” he grouched. “I promise.”

“Good.” Arthur’s gaze traveled over Rory’s suit again, then his tongue darted out and wetted his lips. “How much time do we have?”

“Not enough,” Rory said, with real regret.

Arthur sighed but moved back. He grabbed the suitcase off the bed and they made their way down to his car, parked on the street in front of the hotel.

The church was at the end of a street of row houses, built of ivy-covered gray stone with arches over the doors and a huge stained glass window. Arthur brought the car to the curb in front of the church and then reached into the back seat. “Would you like to borrow this?”

He held out a gray fedora that went so perfectly with Rory’s suit that Arthur had to have brought it on purpose. Rory raised an eyebrow. “That yours?”

“It is,” said Arthur, “but it should fit you. Well. More or less.”

Rory hesitated. Maybe it was a strange thing to make his heart beat faster, but there was something about sitting in Arthur’s car, borrowing his hat for the morning like it was no big deal—it was a simple thing, but somehow having even the casual parts of their lives entwined like a real couple felt like a fairy tale.

“Thanks,” he said quietly, taking the hat.

Arthur brushed the thanks away. “I love that you think I did this out of the goodness of my heart and not out of a selfish desire to treat my eyes.”

Rory put the fedora on. It was a little big, but not ridiculously so, and that would keep it from messing up his curls too much. “How’s it look?”

Arthur’s gaze was locked on him. “Perfect,” he said simply.

Rory’s lips curved up. “See you in two hours?”

“I’ll be here,” Arthur promised. “And I mean every word when I say I can’t wait to see you again.”

The Cadillac puttered away as Rory crossed the sidewalk to the stone arch, passing an open iron gate to the church’s heavy wooden door. He grudgingly took the hat back off, clutching it to his chest as he stepped inside. As his eyes adjusted to the darker church, he caught sight of the altar.

He hesitated, just inside the door, his fingers tightening on the brim of the hat.