“I owe you an apology too, Lily,” he said softly.

“For what?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

He glanced up at me, his eyes begging for a lifeline I refused to throw, then looked back at her. “For not coming to see you walk down the aisle with your beautiful sign.”

Lily considered this with great gravity. “It was a very good sign,” she confirmed.

“I saw the video of it,” my father nodded, his voice cracking.

“You cried?” she asked, zeroing in on the emotional truth.