“You don’t have to do that.” She flushed with embarrassment. She didn’t want him to stain his sweatshirt on her account.

Ignoring her, he sat in the chair her pack had just occupied.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said with a small smile and slight shrug.

How could she? That was one of the nicest gestures anyone had done for her backpack.

Joy smiled shyly. “You aren’t going to give me a choice, are you?” Unless she packed up and left, they were sharing the table. She had to hand it to him for being bold. Another time, another place, another her, she might have acted in a similar manner had she seen an attractive guy sitting alone at a table with a spare chair.

“No, I’m not.” He laughed lightly. “I’m Mark.”

She grasped the hand he offered. “Joy.”

To her relief, Mark didn’t try to engage her in conversation. He did ask to walk with her to class, and as they crossed campus they exchanged their basic stats—clubs, majors, year in college, where they were from, and what they planned to do with their degrees after graduation. Joy had thought the last time she’d see him would be when he’d wished her good luck on her final before she went into her classroom, but he was waiting for her after her exam. He’d finished his early and thought he’d swing by her building to see if she was still there. He then walked her back to the sorority house where she lived and asked her out to dinner.

“There’s something about you, Joy.” A curious smile drew up his lips. “Something I like very much.”

He flattered her. Of course she said yes, because when they’d started talking, Joy immediately liked him. He was from New York, a state she’d never visited. A state Judy had thought she’d one day move to with Todd. Mark had played rugby when he was an undergraduate, he’d told her. As if his sweatshirt and the muscular shoulders underneath weren’t a big enough clue. But there was something about him. His demeanor and personality reminded her of happier times. Times when her dreams mattered.

They dated through college, even after Mark had graduated with his master’s and returned to New York to work in the family business, commercial real estate. The day after Joy’s graduation, Mark proposed. They’d planned early on that Joy would move to New York after school and live with him. She wanted to work in the cosmetics industry, and Vintage Chic had been one of her top choices postgraduation. She just hadn’t expected Mark to propose so soon. But she loved him, so she’d said yes.