Chapter 1: Shattered Promises on Main Street

I flagged down Derek Lang’s battered pickup on Main, waving him over before he could speed past city hall.

A dry spring wind rattled down the avenue, sunlight bouncing off the dented hood of Derek’s old Ford. The engine rumbled as I walked up to the window, catching the strong mix of gasoline and pine air freshener. Ridgewood’s low skyline shimmered behind us—city hall just down the block, the courthouse flag snapping in the breeze.

He hit the brakes with a jerk, face screwed up in irritation.

Brows furrowed, Derek barely glanced my way, tapping at his phone. Two joggers slowed to stare—nothing in this town went unnoticed, especially not Derek Lang’s truck stopped mid-morning with me standing beside it.

"Do I really have to go with you just to file for a marriage license?"

He drummed his fingers on the wheel, eyes darting to his phone. "Can we be done here? I’ve got better things to do. Aubrey’s been crying all night. I need to check on her. You can handle this, right?"

His words hit like gravel in my shoes. I saw Aubrey’s name light up on his phone. His thumb hovered, torn between texting her back or just gunning it and leaving me in the dust.

My hands shook as I offered him the manila folder with the marriage forms.

The courthouse seal gleamed under the sun, and the edges were creased from how many times I’d fiddled with them all morning. My heart thudded in my chest, but I managed to hold out the papers anyway.

"Derek, you wanna see for yourself?"

He slapped the paperwork out of my hands with a loud smack and slid back behind the wheel, his eyes full of nothing but annoyance.

The papers fluttered down into the gutter, one sheet snagging on a dandelion poking through the sidewalk. Derek’s jaw was set—just like every time he decided my opinion didn’t matter.

"Enough, Natalie. I never said I wouldn’t marry you. Can we be done here?"

Then, without another word, he rolled right over the paperwork as he peeled off down the block, not even glancing back.

His tires crunched the forms, muddy tracks smearing the promises we once made. The rumble of his Ford faded, leaving behind only the stink of exhaust and the emptiness in my chest.

For a second, I thought about chasing after him—screaming, crying, anything. But all I did was stand there, hands empty, heart pounding in my ears.

He never saw whose name was on the form—

Didn’t care to check, didn’t even wonder who I’d written in the groom’s blank. The wind flipped the paper over, like it was mocking him.

It wasn’t his.

It was the mayor’s son’s.