He said: "My wife left me on our wedding day. I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It turned out to be the best thing. I hope you find that out too." I gave him a twenty-dollar tip. I went upstairs. I woke up my parents at 4 AM. I told them everything, handed my mother the ring, and watched her close her fist around it so hard her knuckles went white. By 7 AM we were calling guests. By 10 AM, two hundred and eleven people knew the wedding was canceled. By noon, Beckett's mother had left me eleven voicemails. I never listened to a single one. I didn't answer my phone at all for six weeks. I slept. I ate takeout my mother brought me. I did not post on social media. I did not explain myself to anyone who hadn't been at our church. I grieved a wedding. And a man. And a version of my life that had been cheaper than sixty thousand dollars in the end. Beckett is, as of last week, engaged to Caroline.