Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35-36 | 37 | 38A | 38B | 38C | 38D

PART II
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS

39

JULY 1929

MARINA STOOD AT the back of the Armour Chapel in the middle of Elmwood Cemetery in her gorgeous white dress—far more grand than anything Mother would have allowed her to wear—looking at Trey in fine clothes, standing by the altar with a wry smile on his face.

He was so familiar.

He was such a stranger.

He was about to become her husband.

She would go to a strange house with him today.

She would wake up in that home tomorrow morning.

She didn’t know what was supposed to happen between going there and waking up.

And she had no idea how she’d gotten here. His smile faded as she stared at him—through him. She was floating like a dust mote, nothing under her feet, nothing attached to her arms, no body to speak of, just a tiny dot in a big universe that had no god.

Her attention wandered to the dark windows of a chapel used for funerals.

It was storming, which, she vaguely thought, was fitting. A metaphor. A simile? She didn’t know. Allegory? Irony? Satire? Parody? Pun?

Joke.

A plain ol’ joke.

On her.

Just to be cruel.

If the god she was taught existed, she now didn’t like him any more than Dot did.

Her mind was blank.

“Marina?”

She didn’t know who said her name. She didn’t care.

“C’mon, sis.” It was Dot, tugging on her.

She had no choice. Even if she had a choice, she would do whatever the person physically closest to her told her to do. She took a step down the aisle and tripped over the hem. Only Dot kept her from falling. She wasn’t used to wearing dresses, especially long ones.

“I don’t like this dress,” she said matter-of-factly.

Dot looked at her sadly. “I know.”

It was a beautiful dress. There was no doubt about that. It fit her well, but that was about all she could say for it. She shouldn’t be wearing white at all, which was its own cruel joke: white made her look sickly and they hadn’t been able to find an ivory dress that didn’t look like it belonged on a flapper or an Erté print. It was not as fine as one she could have made for herself had she had time. Or patience. Or energy. Or a sewing machine. Or space. Or one thought in her head that wasn’t fuzzy.

Money had not been a problem, either.

Time had been. Sister Albright had gleefully sped Marina and Dot around town in Trey’s convertible gathering everything they would need to have a nice wedding. When Sister Albright had objected at Bishop that a week and a half wasn’t long enough, Bishop was adamant that it be done as soon as possible. It wasn’t that the Albrights wanted her out of their house. It was that the baby’s birth date should be as far from the Dunhams’ wedding date as possible.

This walk down the aisle wasn’t the way it was done. She knew that. Usually there was music and people standing and all sorts of pomp and circumstance. This was just Dot dragging her from point A to point B using the most efficient route. She had to drag her because she kept tripping over her hem.

“Pick up your dress, Marina,” Dot said finally.

Marina did that and then it was easier to walk.

She didn’t look at Trey, not because she was avoiding him, but because she wasn’t looking at anything. Her eyes roamed around but took in nothing. All she really wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep.

She was so tired.

“Marina,” Trey murmured once she reached his side. “You look lovely.”

Marina didn’t react. She was too tired. Too numb.

His hand brushed hers, but she pulled away from him. He sighed.

“All right,” Bishop said abruptly. “Let’s get this show on the road. Marina, do you take this man, et cetera?”

Marina said nothing until Dot nudged her. “I do.”

“Dunham?”

“I do,” he said strongly.

“Man and wife,” Bishop said tersely.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Marina knew she was being a spoil sport, but she barely had any energy to …

 

 

Trey caught her when she fainted.

39

If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.

Speakeasy staff.