My Fiancé Took Her on Vacation Instead of Marrying Me? I Married WAY Better novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Same Slot

Henry Ashcroft lays out his terms, remembers a chess game from sixteen years ago and marries Amanda in the slot she booked for Bryce, then invites her to sit in on Bryce's pitch.

The clerk looked from him to me and back.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Give me two minutes to pull a fresh form. The one on file has a different name on it."

She went back inside.

The man beside me put his gloves in his coat pocket.

"Henry Ashcroft," he said, and held out his hand.

I shook it. His hand was warm and dry, and mine was ice.

"You came," I said.

"Harold called me at eleven this morning and said, 'She might.' I was already in town. I've been sitting in a coffee shop across the street since one."

"Just in case."

I looked at him properly.

He was older than me, but not by much. His suit was plain and dark and fit him like it had been made for him, which it probably had.

He didn't look forced into anything.

"You know you don't have to do this," I said. "It's an old promise between two old men."

"One of them's dead," he said. "I loved him. He asked me once, at the very end, to at least show up if a Langley ever called."

"So you're keeping a promise."

"I'm keeping an appointment." He tilted his head. "You're the one who's allowed to walk away. I'd understand."

"Can I tell you how this goes?" Henry said. "So you aren't guessing."

"Please."

"You'll have your own room in my house for as long as you want it. Your own money, which you already have. Nobody will ask you to smile at a party you don't want to be at."

"I won't lie to you. I won't make you wait for me in public. If you want out in a year, we'll go out the same door we came in."

"And what do you get?"

He considered that.

"A wife who walked out of a job the minute someone humiliated her," he said. "Harold told me that part too."

I felt my face go hot.

"He tells everybody everything."

"He's proud of you."

Henry looked at the closed clerk's door.

"Also, you owe me a rematch."

"A what?"

"Christmas at your grandfather's house. You were eleven. I was seventeen and very full of myself. You beat me at chess in nineteen moves and asked if I wanted to go again."

I stared at him.

I remembered a tall, sulky boy in a sweater vest by the fire.

I remembered him knocking his own king over with one finger.

"That was you?"

"That was me. I said no to the second game. I've regretted it for sixteen years."

I laughed.

It came out of me before I could stop it, a real laugh, the first one all day.

The clerk opened the door.

"Langley and Ashcroft?"

Henry stood and offered me his arm.

He didn't take mine. He waited for me to take his.

I did.

The room was small and smelled like printer toner.

We signed the new form.

My hand shook on my name, and I had to go over the S twice.

The officiant was a cheerful older woman with half-moon glasses who didn't seem to notice that the bride was in boots with dirt on them.

"Rings?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to say we didn't have any.

Henry reached into his inside pocket and took out a small, worn velvet box.

"My grandmother's," he said quietly, to me. "Harold had it sent to the house this morning, in case. You don't have to wear it after today."

It was an old gold band with a row of tiny diamonds, worn thin on one side.

It fit.

It fit better than the ring I had worn for eight months, which always caught on my sweaters.

I didn't have one for him.

The officiant read the short version.

I said yes.

He said yes.

"You may kiss the bride," she said, beaming.

Henry looked at me.

Then he bent and kissed my forehead, lightly, once, and straightened up.

"Later," he said. "When you want to."

At 3:20 on the afternoon of February 13, I was Amanda Ashcroft.

We walked back out to the hall.

Henry stood next to me while I sat back down on the same bench where I'd waited for Bryce.

My phone had nine notifications.

Most were from the office group chat.

They were sharing a link.

I opened it.

It was Kylie's profile.

She had posted twenty minutes ago, from the airport lounge.

A selfie in a big white sweater, a glass of champagne, a boarding pass held up to the camera.

First class. Seat 2A.

Next to her, at the edge of the frame, a man's wrist on the armrest.

A heavy steel watch.

I had bought that watch with my bonus last Christmas.

The caption said: Valentine's getaway with my favorite person. Somebody had to do the work this week, and it isn't me!

Under it, someone from the cruise team had commented, wow.

Kylie had liked his comment.

I didn't realize I was gripping the phone until Henry put his hand over mine and gently turned the screen toward him.

He took his reading glasses out, put them on, looked again, and took them off.

"Is that him?" he asked. "The watch?"

"Yes."

"And that's the assistant who's presenting to me on Monday."

"She's presenting my deck."

Henry folded the glasses and put them in his pocket.

His face didn't change much.

His voice did.

"I'm flying down on Sunday," he said. "I have a plane, and there's a seat on it."

He looked at me.

"Come to Coral Bay. Sit in on his pitch."

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend