Laura’s wedding day shimmered like gold—twinkling Christmas lights, laughter echoing through the backyard, and her spinning barefoot with joy amid the dust and spilled punch.
We stood by the lemonade table, hands sticky and grins wide, and I said to her, “You’re really married now.”
She lit up—but only for a moment.
I didn’t notice the flicker in her eyes, the brief break in her smile.
By the next morning, she was gone—vanished from the motel room where she’d spent her wedding night.