“What did you tell him? You can’t stop there, Lauren.”
Lauren exhaled slowly and picked at her fingernail. “I told him I need time to think.” Rather than help her sort things out, her conversation so far only intensified the uncertainties she’d been battling for weeks.
“Okay. Did you still take Kevin with you to New York last weekend?”
She switched her attention to another fingernail. “He had the flu, so I went without him. He invited me to spend this weekend with him instead, and I planned on doing that until he pulled out this ring.” Lauren handed the box to Callie. “Or at least I think I would’ve stayed if not for that. I’m not sure.”
“You said your relationship wasn’t serious yet.”
Lauren shrugged. “I didn’t think it was. He shocked me last night when he gave me that.”
Next to her, Callie opened the box. The light reflected off the stone, casting rainbows on the ceiling.
“He’s got good taste.” She examined the ring for a moment before handing it back. “Do you want to marry him? Are you in love with him?”
She snapped the box closed. “I like him, but love? No, not yet anyway. And I know it’s the same for him.”
“He asked you to marry him, but he doesn’t love you? Lauren, come on, get serious. Why would he do that?”
Lauren had considered that she’d have to tell Callie his reasons for the marriage. “He sees marriage as a business deal. It’d be good for his company if he got married.” Please don’t ask for details. How could Lauren ever tell her friend that Kevin was using marriage as a way to get in tight with her family?
Callie looked like she’d just swallowed a lemon whole. “What about you? How is this business deal good for you?” Callie’s tone told Lauren her exact thoughts on the matter.
“Financial security. I can open my own dance studio. I can travel. Whatever I want.” Lauren made an attempt at a sound argument. “It’s not as if I don’t like him. We get along well and have fun. Maybe someday we’ll love each other.”
Callie sat in silence biting her lip, a sure sign she was processing everything she’d heard. Across from her, Lauren waited and forced herself to remain silent. Part of her wanted to further plead her case, make Callie understand why marriage made sense. How would that look, though? Would it appear as if she was trying to convince herself, too?
“What about Nate?” Callie asked, her tone gentle and patient.
Not the question she expected. Lauren had to reverse gears.
“You said you told him you needed time to think,” Callie said, repeating her own words. “If you told him that then you must still feel something for him.”
Sometimes Callie knew her too darn well. “I do.” Before now she’d kept the truth inside. “When we kissed it was like we hadn’t spent more than a day apart. But I don’t know if I want to go there again, chickie. If I do and things end again . . . I can’t go through that another time. I’m safe in a relationship with Kevin. There is no burning passion between us, but he can’t hurt me either. “
“You won’t be happy. That type of marriage isn’t you. We both know that. Maybe it works for others, but you’re too much like me. Before long you’ll wish you’d never met Kevin.”
Lauren squirmed. She’d known Callie would speak the truth. “Then you think I should say no.”
Callie nodded. “At least for now. Maybe keep things the way they are with him and see what happens. What’s the rush?” Callie stopped then opened her mouth to say more only to snap it shut again.
“What? Tell me?”
“You’re not going to like it.” She sounded resigned to the fact.
“Out with it, chickie.”
“I think you should give Nate another chance. I know how much it hurt when he left, but you’re both different people now. He wouldn’t be trying if he didn’t still love you.”
Tears tickled her eyes, and she forced the happy image of her niece and nephew the previous Christmas into her thoughts. The memory did the trick, and the overwhelming sadness she’d felt moments earlier dissipated enough she could keep from bawling her eyes out. “Do you remember what I was like when he left last time? I can’t go through that again.”
Callie put a hand on her arm. “You’re assuming it won’t work before you even try,” she said in her most patient teacher’s voice. “What if everything goes the way you always wanted?” She leaned closer. “Do you want to risk that for a business arrangement? People don’t usually get a second chance like this, Lauren.”