Kyle admitted Brent had bet his friends five hundred dollars that he could push me into the pool before the wedding cake was served. Worse, Brent had spent the entire week bragging that once our marriage license was filed, Grandpa’s ranch would practically belong to him. Brent didn’t deny saying it. He only repeated that everything had been a joke and begged me not to “overreact.”

I climbed from the pool, my drenched wedding dress dragging across the tiles, and accepted the license from Grandpa. I stared at Brent for several seconds. Grandpa gave me one small nod. That was all the reassurance I needed. I tore the paper in half, then tore those pieces again before dropping them into the same water Brent had pushed me into. The license was never filed, so our marriage was never completed legally. There was nothing for me to annul. My aunt wrapped a towel around my shoulders while Grandpa turned toward the band and made one unexpected request.