Ronda May took a cautious sip of her coffee. “He told me I’d make a good wife and a good mother. But I don’t think he meant for him.” She dumped another packet of sugar into her coffee. Her eyes met Megan’s across the table. “What I think is, he’s in love with somebody else—not you, somebody he can’t have. We were doing fine until the Christmas Ball, last year, when this sexy singer came out onstage. Conner’s eyes almost fell out of his head. He couldn’t stop looking at her. It was like I wasn’t even there. After that, things were never the same between us. I was hoping he’d be over her by now. But I think maybe he’s waiting for her to come back. So don’t you get your hopes up, either.”

Lacy strikes again. Megan stifled a groan.

“What is it you really want, Ronda May?” she asked, changing the subject. “If you could have anything, within reason, what would it be?”

Ronda May answered without hesitation. “I want to get married. I want to walk down the aisle in a beautiful white gown and veil, with everybody looking at me. And I want the man who’s waiting at the altar to put that ring on my finger and show the whole world how much he loves me. I want to cut the cake and throw the bouquet and go on a honeymoon. Is that too much to ask?”

Megan shook her head. “You deserve all that and more,” she said. “But getting married is just for one day. Being married is for a lifetime—a lifetime of hard work, raising a family, and sharing years of joy and heartbreak. For that, you need a man who’ll be a faithful partner and always love you. It doesn’t sound like Chuck was that man.”

“No.” Ronda May’s answer was accompanied by a melancholy sigh. “But I thought Conner was. He treated me better than any boyfriend I’ve ever had. He opened doors for me and took me to nice places—and he never got mad or hurt me or yelled at me, even when I did stupid stuff. I really loved him. But he didn’t want to get married. After a while, I got tired of waiting. That’s when I got engaged to crappy Chuck.”

Megan sipped her coffee. Any animosity she’d felt toward Ronda May had fled. All she could think of now was finding a way to convince this sad young woman of her self-worth.