The chapel fell silent after the caretaker’s words. The one where the groom is someone else. Nobody laughed. Nobody dismissed him. I studied his face. He wasn’t being dramatic. He genuinely believed the photograph existed.
Dominic spoke first. “That’s impossible.”
The caretaker simply replied, “So I was told.”
The caretaker explained that many years ago, Thomas Reed had given him specific instructions. If anyone ever came asking about the agreement—and if that person was named Lydia—he was to tell them about a photograph stored somewhere no one would think to look. He had never seen it himself. He only remembered the instructions.
The man had been very specific: “When she begins doubting her memories, she’ll know she’s close.”
That sentence lingered in the damp air like smoke.
Harrie
