Nowhere, Kansas

Part 1 - Present

"A heart on the run keeps a hand on the gun

It can't trust anyone.

I was so sure what I needed was more,

Tried to shoot out the sun.

In days when we raged, we flew off the page

Such damage was done;

But I made it through, coz somebody knew

I was meant for someone."

* * *

One year ago.

This time there was no church. There was a chapel a few hours west of the farm that Izzie briefly considered, but Alex shot it down. The only thing he wanted for this wedding was her, the kids, and their home.

"And Anh," Eli and Alexis insisted in one voice.

"And Anh," Alex agreed.

So they kept it simple.

There were flowers, of course; phlox and wild violet, spiderwort and redbud, a riot of wildflowers that turned the western pasture into a gorgeous patchwork quilt of bloom. Anh, beaming and teary, helped Eli and Alexis gather masses of blooms into a bouquet for Izzie to carry.

Izzie's dress was simpler this time, too: pale, pale pink, like the inside of a petal. It reminded Alex of the dress she wore on their first date, how she looked waiting for him at Joe's. She wore her hair in a cascade of loose curls; Alex thought she looked about seventeen years old and as beautiful as she'd ever been.

He waited for her under a stand of sassafras trees; they hadn't even had to discuss the location, because they both knew it was Izzie's favorite place on the farm. And as Izzie walked through the flowers toward Alex, she didn't stumble once. She brushed a fallen yellow bloom off his shoulder when she reached him, and when he kissed her, their children screamed in equal parts joy and mock horror.

They'd wanted Meredith there – but as the covid cases started to soar in Seattle, it soon became apparent it was not going to happen. She sent them a lovely card and a magnum of champagne, and that night, Izzie and Alex couldn't sleep for being tipsy and giddy on joy and bubbles.

Anh brought a proper camera and took almost 300 photos, but Alex's favorite – the one he insisted they put on the wall, the one he printed and put in his wallet – was taken by Alexis. It shows Izzie, looking at the camera, with Alex standing slightly behind her, looking at her. Both their faces are aglow, and their hands are linked in a heart-shaped knot.

* * *

Today.

"He's cheating on me."

Dylan doesn't answer at first. He finishes filling his and Izzie's glasses with pinot grigio and walks back to the couch. Izzie, her knees tucked up under her chin, reaches for the wine, but instead of handing it to her, Dylan sets it down on his coffee table. He sits down next to her, and with great love and gentleness, reaches out and flicks her on the nose.

"Hey!"

"You're an idiot."

"That hurt," she grumbles, rubbing her nose. She swipes her wine glass from the table and takes a gulp.

"You do not actually think he's cheating on you," Dylan says as he settles back against the couch cushions. His voice is bored and slightly amused. "Right?"

Izzie rolls her eyes. "Okay, no, not really."

"That's what I thought."

She waves the piece of paper she's been clutching in her fist since she arrived at Dylan's condo in his face. "But something is definitely going on. Why else would he do this?"