It was the perfect day for a wedding.

After months of trying on wedding gowns, ordering invitations, and searching every bridal boutique in Toronto for the perfect shoes, Iva Remington was ready to walk---maybe even run---down the aisle of the church and into Noah Graham's waiting arm.

She'd licked stamps to post the more than one hundred announcements until her tongue was dry. She'd suffered through atleast that many long-distance phone calls home with her mother back in New Brunswick that sometimes ended in arguments and tears.

If she didn't stop weeping, her mama joked, their tiny town of Vancouver was going to flood over. But the calls and planning was over. Iva's wedding day was finally here.

That morning she had taken her big fat, red marker and made an X on the calendar.

"Mrs. Iva Graham, here I come," she whispered as she capped the pen and tossed it inside a packing box.

After five years of dating, she and Noah had gone through grad school together, first jobs, saving morning, and now Noah was climbing the ladder to become a partner to the law firm.

Tonight she'd be with the man of her dreams forever. No more work interruptions. No more hurried lunches---or no lunches. No more agonizingly long street car rides to get to one another's apartments. Lately, they'd just meet somewhere late for dinner.

Tomorrow, new renters were moving into her apartment on Bloor. When she and Noah returned from their honeymoon cruise to St Barts. Iva would unpack all the boxes sitting inside Noah's apartment waiting to officially move in.

From inside the hired car, street signs and green lights whizzed past, but with every passing intersection of shops, restaurants, and apartment buildings, Iva's stomach jumped. She checked the time on her phone. The wedding began in ninety minutes and it would take atleast half of that just to get through traffic.

She sent a text to Noah and then tried to stare out the window in an effort to settle her nerves. Despite staring blankly at the constant concrete and tightly packed buildings, Peter's Stadium glinted in the lowering afternoon sun.

With her brother Reed at the wheel and the car full of her mother, sister, and best friend, Alina on their way to the Episcopal church, Iva's brain went over the luggage in the trunk packed for fun, sun, and the beach.

Three bikinis; Black, Golden, and Red.

Slinky dresses for candlelit dinners.

Five pairs of shoes, including running. clothes.

Lingerie and toiletries.

She couldn't wait to get on that plane tomorrow morning and leave work and stress and family behind. Seven perfect days with Noah. Finally, finally, finally.

"I don't think Toronto had ever looked lovier," Iva sighed happily, pressing her nose against the glass like a school girl.

Golden sun warmed bed shoulders through the window. She was excited, anxious, and terrified all at once---and missing Noah. She hadn't seen him in three days due to his working overtime so he'd have a few days off for their honeymoon.

"I promise we'll have a longer honeymoon when I'm finished with this current case," he'd said last week. "A cruise of the Greek Islands in autumn."

"You know all my dreams," she'd told him, throwing her arms around his neck and feeling the beat of his heart against hers.

Pulling her arm down, Noah had given her a peck goodbye. "You know I have to be in the station at seven A.M., Iva."

She'd frowned, turning away to stare out the window of her apartment. It was a spectacular view of downtown and the lake. She'd been lucky to get this flat a year ago and hate to let it go, but Noah had a bigger place so she'd reluctantly given up her dream apartment.

"That case has taken over your life. Our lives," she said, trying not to whine. "We haven't been out in ages. We've hardly kissed in months."

"But we're getting married in a few days, Iva. Be a grown-up and get used to the hectic life of a criminal lawyer."

She despised those moments when he treated her like a child. But all she could say was, "But I miss you. Don't you miss me?"

As soon as she spoke the words, Iva chomped down on her tongue, sentiments like those merely underscored his assessment of her as a petulant child.