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her, he’d always be Coral’s godfather. “Take Coral so I can get a bite. I haven’t eaten all day.” Too many details to attend to. And nerves. Jitters over a wedding that meant nothing and angst over a custody battle that meant everything. She had a lot riding on the marriage, but not the usual bridal concerns, whatever those were.
    “She doesn’t like me,” Candy protested, backing away. “Cries like a baby whenever she sees me.”
    She is a baby . Jade decided to wait for someone responsible to wander by. In this crowd, it might take a while. She didn’t know why Bob and Candy had to make such a production out of the ceremony. They’d replicated their own wedding, and Bob hoped to intermingle some of their photos in to make it look like a grander affair for the judge.
    The bigger the wedding, the longer the marriage would last, according to Candy. She had an entire algebraic equation factoring in a couple’s wedding budget, the size of the diamond, the venue, their zodiac signs, and somehow she came out with a love quotient that could pinpoint, down to the month and year, a potential split.
    “There’s my wife.” Rick ambled over, a bottle of beer clasped in his hand. Not his first drink, judging by the mirth in his eyes and the levity in his voice. Clearly he was working on a what-was-I-thinking hangover. “You’re missing a great party, Mrs. Jette.”
    Jade rolled her eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
    “What’s wrong, honey?”
    Don’t call me that either . She pointed at Coral who squirmed in her arms. “Won’t take a nap.”
    Putting his bottle down on a table, he held out his arms and wiggled his fingers. “Mingle. Get something to eat. Enjoy your reception.”
    She hesitated, not sure if he was the responsible person she’d been waiting for. Hunger made her give in, against her better judgment.
    Finger pointed, she said, “Stay close.”
    Fear of losing her daughter forever to Ewan and his wife put Jade on a heightened sense of alert. She would not screw up. I can be the perfect mother. How hard could it be? Her typically doting, if not affectionate, Chinese mother had always made it look easy. The woman had the stamina of three decathletes, the hearing of a superhero, and eyes in the back of her head. A rebellious Jade had not made the job of parenting easy for her. Don’t get me started on my daddy issues .
    “Go on.” He waved her off. “Say your good-byes. Most everyone is clearing out.”
    Off to somewhere more interesting, she guessed. A party or a nightclub. They’d stay up until dawn and go out for breakfast, or home to fuck like cats in heat. Sleeping in until noon and waking up still buzzed would follow. They’d do it all over again. Empty lives. Sounded like a little slice of heaven. And a little like hell. No more heaven or hell for her, only the monotony of life on earth.
    Jade grabbed a plate. The best fare was already gone. When everyone left, she’d go to bed. Alone. As usual. Her day started at dawn. Sex—a distant memory. The vague reminiscence of Ewan’s powerful body grinding into hers sent a tremor of blissful recollection. She glanced in the direction of her new husband to ascertain how he measured up, but he was gone. Shit .
    She wandered around, simultaneously eating and searching. The few guests who remained wished her well. None of them were aware the wedding was a farce. They thought she was living the dream, same as Candy. From hooker to honeymooner in the blink of an eye. In a few months, she’d be a statistic of another failed union. No diamond on her finger, plus a bargain-basement wedding, equaled short marriage, according to the Candy Equation.
    Exhausted, Jade climbed the stairs slowly, not finding her soon-to-be-ex-husband and baby anywhere. The musical windup mobile above Coral’s crib reeled her closer to the nursery, which doubled as Jade’s bedroom. With the room cloaked in darkness, she could barely make out his silhouette standing over