Lennox’s father stepped up and offered me his arm.

We walked halfway down together, and then, as we had agreed, he kissed my cheek and stepped aside, and let me walk the last twenty feet alone, chin up, finishing the journey on my own.

Chapter 9 — By My Own Choice

When the minister asked the old question — “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” — I looked at the empty seats, and then at Lennox, and my voice came out clear and unbroken.

“I came here by my own choice.”

At the reception, in the warmth of Lennox’s sprawling, loud, loving family, my phone buzzed once in my purse.