“Okay.”
Then he took Ava’s hand.
They walked downstairs.
The string quartet continued playing for eleven more seconds before somebody signaled them to stop.
Daniel never forgot how unnatural silence sounded in a ballroom prepared for celebration.
Guests watched.
His father stood from the front row.
Ava’s maternal grandmother, Susan, stood too.
Susan saw her granddaughter.
Then saw her hair.
Her hand went to her mouth.
Daniel did not explain.
Not yet.
He simply said:
“We’re leaving.”
Susan crossed the room immediately.
“What happened?”
Ava started crying again.
Susan crouched.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“She cut it.”
Susan looked toward Daniel.
“Who?”
Before he could answer, Lauren’s voice came from the staircase.
“Can everyone please stop acting like I attacked her?”
Every face turned.
Lauren stood at the top.
Still beautiful.
Still dressed to marry him.
Daniel looked at the woman he had loved for almost two years.
Then at his daughter.
Something in him broke.
Not his heart exactly.
The future.
The future he had imagined.
Sunday breakfasts.
Family vacations.
Christmas photographs.
Someone beside him at school events.
A woman Ava might someday call something close to Mom without anyone asking her to.
He had wanted that future so badly he had ignored the possibility that wanting a family could make a man careless about who he invited into it.
Susan rose slowly.
“What did you do?”
Lauren exhaled.
“I trimmed her hair.”
Susan’s face changed.
“You what?”
“It was uneven.”
“She’s been growing it for four years.”
Lauren looked annoyed.
“I know.”
Susan walked toward her.
“Then you know why.”
A murmur moved through the guests.
Lauren’s eyes flashed.
“This is not the place.”
Susan laughed bitterly.
“You made it the place.”
Daniel touched Susan’s arm.
“Please.”
She looked at him.
He shook his head.
Not now.
Susan stepped back.
Ava reached for her grandmother.
Susan hugged her.
Daniel looked toward the crowd.
People deserved some explanation.
Not details.
He raised his voice.
“I’m sorry everyone traveled here.”
The ballroom became silent.
“The ceremony will not be happening.”
Gasps.
Someone whispered, “Oh my God.”
Daniel continued.
“Please enjoy the food.”
It was a ridiculous thing to say.
He knew that.
He simply could not think of anything else.
Then he turned toward the exit.
Lauren shouted:
“If you leave, we are done.”
Daniel stopped.
He looked back once.
“We were done when she said no and you kept cutting.”
Then he walked out.
Ava held one hand.
Susan held the other.
Michael followed behind carrying the bags.
The doors closed.
For the first time all day, Daniel could breathe.
It lasted approximately three seconds.
Then Ava asked:
“Dad?”
He looked down.
“Yeah?”
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel stopped in the stone courtyard.
The question nearly destroyed him.
He knelt.
His tuxedo trousers touched damp gravel.
“What?”
She began crying again.
“Because I ruined your wedding.”
“No.”
“You wanted to marry her.”
Daniel took her face in both hands.
“Ava.”
She looked at him.
“You did not ruin anything.”
“But—”