He reached for her hand. “You don’t have to marry me—not now.” He touched his ring on her finger. “But this is still for you. Maybe someday you’ll decide to be my Clare Collins.”

It changed everything. She didn’t realize it at the time, but those two little events, his, “Will you marry me?” and her no had plucked her from the life she had always known and placed her onto this unknown and unfamiliar path that felt like it was heading, hard and fast, toward a life that didn’t include Adam in it. Which was impossible to even imagine. Would she be standing here, feeling this way, the canyon between her and Adam growing larger every day if she had simply stuck with her yes?

Could she still give him a different answer? What would he do if she told him she changed her mind—again? Yes, yes, Adam, I will marry you. Also, I think we should go through with it before you leave for school.

It was desperate…and exactly how she felt.

* * *

Clare watched Donna set the last page facedown onto the coffee table between them. She had been burning with embarrassment since she’d first handed the pages over, certain she’d made a huge mistake agreeing to any of this. Oh well, lesson learned. Now she would calmly sit here and take it as Donna broke the news: Clare sucked, obviously, as a writer and frankly shouldn’t bother wasting another second on creating drivel.

“It’s not bad, Clare,” Donna said, sounding sincere. “I mean, it needs some editing, some tightening up, and obviously you need to change the names of your characters unless you want everyone to assume this is about you and that it actually happened.”

Clare nodded, trying to keep her facial expression neutral and not let on just how much Donna’s small praise had filled her heart with a joy she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Is it true?” Donna asked.

For a few seconds, Clare considered lying, but Donna was her friend, and she trusted her with the truth. “Basically.” Clare shrugged.

Donna raised her eyebrows while she considered this confession. “Well then, you’ll for sure want to change those names before our meeting with the rest of the group on Wednesday. Also, don’t tell them. Let them think it’s just fiction. Trust me. This way you won’t feel so exposed when they rip it to shreds.”

Chapter 21

Eileen