“Congratulations.”

Max looked him up and down.

Then he laughed.

Not politely.

Actually laughed.

Several nearby guests turned toward us.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

“Him?”

Max looked around as though everyone should understand the joke.

“Your boyfriend?”

Claire touched his arm.

“Max.”

He ignored her.

“I don’t believe it. No one would date you. Especially someone like him.”

My face burned.

Then he gave me the same grin he always used when he wanted cruelty to sound like humor.

“What did you do, pay him to come?”

For half a second, I was back in our bedroom watching him pack.

I wanted to disappear.

Edward didn’t raise his voice.

Instead, he smiled.

“Actually, Max, I brought you a wedding gift.”

Max looked surprised.

“For me?”

“Especially for you.”

Edward turned to me.

“Give me five minutes.”

Then he walked outside.

Max watched him leave and smirked.

“I knew it.”

Five minutes later, Edward returned carrying the cardboard box from his car.

He set it on an empty table.

“For the groom.”

Max laughed.

“You were serious.”

“Open it.”

By then, several guests were watching.

Max opened the box.

His smile disappeared.

Inside was an enormous pair of trousers.

He pulled them out.

“What is this?”

“Mine,” Edward said.

Max looked between Edward and the trousers.

“You wore these?”

“Yes.”

Edward took them back.

“I used to be much heavier.”

Max frowned.

“So?”

Edward looked at me.

“Veronica knows part of this story.”

I stared at him.

“I do?”

“About three years ago, before we became friends, someone brought birthday cake into the office.”

Then I remembered.

Edward had been standing near the break room.

Someone offered him cake.

He refused.

“People who look like me don’t need cake.”

I had been having a terrible week with Max.

Without thinking, I replied,

“Funny. My husband talks about me like that.”

Edward’s smile disappeared.

Then I told him,

“I hate hearing it from him. I don’t like hearing it from you either.”

At the time, I took my cake and walked away.

I had almost forgotten the conversation.

Edward hadn’t.

“That stayed with me,” he said.

Max looked impatient.

“What exactly is the point?”

Edward folded the trousers over one arm.

“The point is Veronica never told me what I should weigh. She never told me I would be more valuable if my body changed. She just made me realize I had started speaking to myself the same way someone else was speaking to her.”

People were listening now.

Edward continued.

“I stopped postponing my life until I looked acceptable. Later, I changed some habits, and my body changed too.”

Max smirked.

“So Veronica inspired you to get in shape. Great.”

“No.”

Edward answered immediately.

“That is exactly what you still don’t understand.”

Max’s smile faded.

“She didn’t fix me. There was nothing wrong with me that needed fixing before I deserved to enjoy my own life.”

Claire glanced at Max.

Then at me.

Max gave an uncomfortable laugh.