The two mothers began talking at once while the walls slowly closed in on Jake. He tried to make sense of it all, but nothing made sense at that moment.
Jake glared at Claire. “What are you talking about?” he demanded. “Ineverasked you to marry me!”
But his words were lost in the chaos.
The two mothers’ voices grew louder—discussing plans, what they would wear, where they would stay, and how many guests they would invite to their children’s wedding.
His mother was so happy—stunningly so.
Jake turned to Emily. Her eyes were rounder than two saucers, and her mouth hung wide open in shock.
Panic built in his chest. He couldn’t allow Claire to hurt Emily like this. He opened his mouth to protest, but Claire cut him off.
“Emily!” Claire called, and the room instantly went silent. “You can be Jake’s best man. You could wear a dress—or even a tux.” She sneered. “What do you think?”
“What a great idea,” Sherry exclaimed. “Oh, that would be so cute!”
Emily looked physically ill. She pushed back from the table as tears collected in her eyes.
Jake’s stomach twisted. “Emily! Wait!” he called, but she had already fled the room. “No! I didn’t—!”
He started after her, but Claire blocked the exit.
He glared at Claire. “How could you do this?”
Claire was too busy staring at her ring to respond to him. “Jake knows I’ve always adored my great-grandmother’s ring, so there was no need to buy me one.” She leaned over the table, and Mom began to examine it. “Isn’t it lovely?”
“Oh yes, sweetheart. It’s perfect!” Mom popped up from her chair and pulled Claire in for a hug. “I’ve been waiting for this day. This is just what we need after Leon’s health troubles. Tell me you’ll make us grandparents soon.”
Sherry started clapping. “I can’t wait to be a grandmother. Children are the best blessing there is.”
Mom moved over to Jake and swept him into a hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to propose? No wonder you’ve been acting so strange all day. How did you manage to keep this a secret?”
“Mom, I didn’t—” he began, but his words were cut off when Sherry hauled him in for a hug.
“Oh, Jake,” Sherry gushed. “You’ve made us so happy!”
Jake peeked out the dining room window toward the driveway, hoping for a glimpse of Emily, but her Jeep was already gone. He had to go after her and tell her that this was all a horrible lie. He couldn’t let her believe that he was actually going to marry Claire. He moved toward the door, but Claire and her mother pulled him into a corner while they continued to discuss plans for their imaginary wedding.
Chapter 22
Tears poured from Emily’s eyes while she steered her Jeep away from Claire’s house. She pulled over to the side of the road, shifted into Park, powered off her cell phone, and covered her face with her hands while sobs racked her body.
Jake had proposed toClaire. He was going to marryClaire.
How could Emily have been so foolish to think that Jake would actually pick her?
She couldn’t shake the woman’s haughty grin from her mind’s eye. She could still hear her saying:
Last night Jake and I did some soul-searching, and we realized that it was time to move on to the next stage of our relationship.
You can be Jake’s best man.
Hugging her arms to her middle, Emily tried to calm herself, but her sobs continued to pour from deep in her soul. This all seemed like some terrible nightmare. How could Jake go from dancing with her in the barn and giving her candy apple kisses to cheating on her and proposing to Claire?
It just didn’t make any sense.
When her tears finally subsided, she wiped her eyes and nose with a tissue and then collapsed onto her steering wheel. She had no idea where to go or what to do. She considered driving over to Andi’s house, but she didn’t want to burden her friend.
