Like the needle being dragged across a record, time screamed to a stop. Diana cringed, clasping Cliff’s fingers like he’d evaporate into thin air or Celine would rip him away.
“I mean …” She cleared her throat. “I do.”
“Sit down!” Aunt Willow tugged on Celine’s arm. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
And ruining my wedding!Diana wanted to scream. Her voice was caught in her throat, stuck there by the fear of her world unraveling.
“This is all a sham.” Celine threw her arm toward the front of the room. “They’re pretending to be in love so you two will get off her back.” She wrenched away from her mom and stormed into the middle of the aisle.
Cliff moved slightly so he was between Diana and Celine. She put her hand on his arm, hoping he didn’t run down the aisle to get away from her or her family.
Celine’s eyes blazed. She was warming to her tantrum—her righteous indignation fueling her forward. “And I don’t blame them. Every year, it’s the same thing.Why aren’t you married yet? What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you get a man?Well, I’m happy without a man in my life. I like not having to explain why I spent two hundred dollars on a pair of shoes. Okay?” She glared around the room. “Diana and I are fine being single.”
Aunt Willow flapped her hand. “Diana’s gettingmarried, Celine.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you—this is all fake.” She circled her hand, indicating Diana and Cliff. “They made the whole thing up!”
Mom slowly rose to standing. “Diana, is this true?”
Diana opened her mouth and then slammed it shut again. That was a multilayered question she wasn’t sure how to answer. “Which part?”
Cliff’s shoulders tightened.
“Did you lie about being engaged?” Mom asked outright.
Diana closed her eyes. The shame of what she’d done, of how she’d lied to the people she loved, washed over her. Hearing her crimes recounted in Celine’s acidic tone made them real. “Yes,” she said. She opened her eyes to face it all. “Cliff is my neighbor, my best friend. I asked him to come so you would think I had someone special in my life. Which I did. He’s very special to me.” She wanted to tell them all that she loved him. But she hadn’t even said those words to Cliff.
“And you went along with this?” Dad asked Cliff.
He nodded. “You have one special daughter, sir. I’d do anything for her.”
Tears began to roll down Mom’s cheeks. “Am I really that horrible?” A sob burst forth, and she covered her face. Several people gathered around her to offer comfort.
The family rose to their feet, unsure what they should do.
Diana pressed cold fingers against her cheek. Her feet had gone numb too. She glanced at Cliff. He looked lost and regretful. She put her hand on his arm. He jolted it away and then immediately apologized with a look. “Bring up bad memories?” she tried to joke, but it came out flat.
He shook his head. “I never made it this far before.”
In the middle aisle, Celine shouted at her mom. “You’re such a nag! I can’t do anything right.”
“You need to grow up. Life isn’t about you!” Aunt Willow fired back.
That got the parents moving. They ushered their children out of the room. The kids begged to stay. Nothing was more entertaining to a child than a group of adults misbehaving.
Diana lifted her cheeks, but the smile just wouldn’t materialize. For the moment, she and Cliff were forgotten, but that wouldn’t last for long. “Listen, I have a long talk ahead with my parents. Maybe you should go.” She looked past him to Asher. “Can you give him a ride home?”
“I can. If that’s what he wants.” Asher checked with Cliff.
He looked deep into her eyes. “I’ll stay.”
She shook her head sadly and lifted a shoulder. “The jig is up.”
“But—” Something inside of him crumbled. She could see it all fall apart right here in front of her, and her heart reached for him.
But she had to let him go. She’d made a mess of them. There were so many layers to sort through—they needed time. Time together and time alone. And what waited for her, with her parents and family, wasn’t going to be pretty. She’d rather save him more trauma.
“You’ve done more than I could have ever asked—more than I wanted to ask.” Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall, not in front of him. “Please, just go.”
