Chapter 65: The First Dance

Scarlett had planned the first dance with military precision.

Two minutes. Slow tempo. Alexander's left hand at her waist. Her right hand on his shoulder. Cane nearby. Chair within reach. Dr. Cross pretending not to hover.

Then the music began, and all precision vanished beneath feeling.

The reception took place beneath a glass tent beside the lake. Candles glowed on every table. White roses hung from the ceiling like stars. The guest list was small, but every person there had earned their place.

Alexander led Scarlett to the center of the floor. He did not pull. He waited.

'Ready?' he asked.

'No,' she whispered.

'Good. Neither am I.'

She laughed, and the fear loosened.

He helped her stand.

For a moment, her legs trembled so badly she thought they would fail immediately. Alexander held her securely, but not tightly. The difference mattered.

They moved once.

A tiny step.

Then another.

The guests disappeared. The cameras were banned. The headlines did not matter. Scarlett felt only Alexander's warmth, the music, and the impossible fact of her body moving through space in a wedding gown.

'You are dancing,' he said softly.

'Barely.'

'Barely is still forward.'

She smiled because he had said that to her once before, in the therapy room, when hope had been only an inch.

After thirty seconds, pain sparked through her legs. After forty, her breath shook. After fifty, Alexander felt the change.

'Chair?'

Pride almost said no.

Wisdom said yes.

'Chair,' Scarlett answered.

He helped her sit with such care that no one could mistake the moment for failure.

Then Alexander did something she had not expected.

He knelt before her chair, took her hand, and continued the dance from there. He moved with her seated, turning the chair gently, smiling only at her.

The guests began to clap softly.

Scarlett laughed through tears.

Later, Luca raised another glass. 'To the bride and groom. May their enemies continue making poor decisions far away from us.'

Even Alexander laughed at that.

That night, when the celebration ended and the lake house finally grew quiet, Scarlett looked at her husband and understood that happiness did not mean the scars were gone.

It meant they no longer danced alone.