“Not that it’s anyone’s business… but I have dinner plans with Jaxon tonight.”
The room went silent.
Sara’s chip stopped mid-air. “I’m sorry—what?”
Macie gasped like someone spoiled the ending of her favorite show. “WHEN were you going to say something?!”
Taylor spun around. “Since when did we start keeping secrets?!”
Claire laughed and threw up her hands. “Whoa, whoa—y’all went from hungry to hostile real fast.”
Sara leaned across the island. “When did you talk to him? What did he say? WHERE is he taking you?”
Claire shook her head, holding in a grin. “I texted him while we were on the beach. He asked me to dinner at 7. Sent me an address. That’s it. That’s all I know.”
Macie snatched her phone. “Let’s look it up.”
Sara leaned in. “What kind of restaurant is it?”
“There’s no website,” Macie said, squinting. “But it looks like… a private venue? Fancy as hell. Like secret-lanterns-and-wine-glasses kind of vibes.”
Claire grabbed her phone back. “Well, I’m excited either way. And I’ll have y’all drop me off before you head to dinner.”
“Oh, this is getting serious,” Sara said, shaking her head.
Claire just smiled.
Because for the first time in a long time…
She wanted it to be.
11
The Hard One
Clairehadbeenreadyfor over an hour—but that didn’t mean she was calm.
She paced. She double-checked her hair. She debated redoing her makeup. Twice.
After a day that felt like it ticked by one slow, agonizing minute at a time, it was finally here. 7:00 was close enough.
“Let’s go,” she said, practically herding the girls out of the house like they were late for church. “Come on, come on, move!”
Taylor looked at her sideways as they loaded into the SUV. “You good?”
“I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh,” Macie said from the driver’s seat, smirking. “You’ve only been buzzing around the house like a caffeinated hummingbird.”
“Shut up and drive.”
The GPS led them off the main road and onto a gravel drive that twisted beneath the canopy of old oak trees. The deeper they went, the more unsure it all felt.
Taylor leaned forward from the back. “Are we… sure this is right? This feels like we’re being lured into a Nicholas Sparks-themed abduction.”
“The GPS says this is it,” Macie replied, squinting at the phone like it might betray her.
As they rounded a bend in the drive, the trees opened just enough to reveal a massive boulder nestled between two trunks. One word was chiseled clean into its surface: Stone.
