I ended my engagement after my fiancée asked for a break to see if her ex still meant something to her. She thought I would sit and wait inside the life we had spent four years building — until three days later, her mother called me, and Tessa finally realized I was never her backup plan.

That is how these things work. Nobody ruins your life in one clean motion. Sometimes it starts with a shrug, a changed subject, a phone turned screen-down on the coffee table.

Tessa had been excited about wedding planning at first. She sent me photos of lakefront ceremonies, flower arrangements, wedding dresses, table settings, cake designs, even napkin colors. She asked if I preferred tulips or roses for the centerpieces.

She made jokes about whether my best man, Noah, could be trusted to give a speech without embarrassing me. Then, after a few months, her excitement faded. Not all at once.

Just enough for me to notice, and not enough for me to know what to do with it. I would ask, “Hey, have you chosen your bridesmaids yet?”

She would glance up from her laptop and say, “Not yet. I’m still thinking about it.”

A week later, I would ask about the dress.

“There’s still time.”