Chapter 8: The Stage

Delaney stopped at the center of the stage and held up her left hand.

The diamond caught the spotlight.

"I am so sorry to surprise you all," she said into the microphone, soft and breathy.

"Leland and I wanted tonight to be a family announcement."

"Jonas and I have been engaged since August."

The ballroom gasped.

Three hundred heads turned toward the man beside me.

I looked up at his face.

It was perfectly calm.

That calm frightened me more than anger would have.

"Excuse me," Jonas said to a waiter, and set his champagne on a tray.

He took my hand.

Then he walked me through the crowd, which parted for us like water, and up the five stairs at the side of the stage.

Delaney's smile twitched.

Leland stepped aside with his glass.

Jonas took the microphone out of Delaney's hand, politely.

"Good evening," he said.

His voice filled the pavilion.

"I have never proposed to Ms. Whitlow, and I never gave her a ring."

"I did not know she owned one until ninety seconds ago."

Delaney's mouth opened.

"I am married," Jonas said.

"I have been married for three years and seven months."

"My wife is standing next to me in a green dress."

He turned to me.

"Her name is Hannah Drexler Thackeray, though she hasn't decided whether she wants the last part."

A ripple of laughter, and then a loud silence.

"She is the best litigator I have met," he said.

"She is the only person who has ever told me no and been right."

"I should have said this three years ago, and I'm saying it now because I am done hiding her."

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