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plate, snapping it and letting it flutter out in the air for just a

second before it rested on her knees. She went to grasp one of

the many dishes on the table, but Emily’s look stopped her.

“You can, Mom,” Emily said softly. “And I do. You can

know after just a few days that someone is special. That what

they have is different, and that what you have together is a

great and rare thing. I could let it go. I could move on. I think

Dani could probably do that too. Maybe. I don’t know.

Honestly, I think we’d both spend the rest of our lives thinking

about each other, wondering if we let that one special person

get away. There might be other loves. We might even be happy

with other people. I’m not trying to pretend that I’m buying

into the sappy romantic notions that books and movies sell. I

am being real. I know we have every odd stacked against us. I

know that a relationship coming out of an agreement is strange

and kind of crazy, but I also know I’m not going to throw it

&

nbsp; away. People meet for a reason, and right now, she’s that

reason. I know I started all of this. I’ve made a huge mess of

something that was supposed to be quickly resolved.”

Emily held out her hand and slipped the ring off. She set it

down on the table beside her plate. “We’ll get an annulment.

We’ll date like most other people do. Dani is fascinating. She’s

a beautiful person; funny, kind, tougher than you could ever

believe, compassionate, inventive, entrepreneurial. She’s all of

those things and a thousand more and I want to dedicate the

time and effort it takes to actually getting to discover every bit

of her that I don’t know yet. I know we have a long way to go

and that if we make it, everyone will talk about our crazy

beginning forever, but I’m not giving her up.”