Page 167 of 10 Rings I Hate About You
Marc looked at me. “What?”
“What if we don’t wait for the committee?” The idea that had scratched at my brain was now coming at me like a runaway locomotive. “What if we don’t sit here and just wait for their decision? What if we give them something else to look at? To think about?”
“What do you mean?” Theo asked. He’d slipped in a few minutes ago. He and Marc were so alike it was no wonder they got along so well.
“A community event,” I said. “A big one. Not a yoga class, or maybe it could include one, but a full day event. We can do it in the Ruby River Commons. Vendors, food, a local band, a temporary pen for shelter animals that we can showcase for adoption, raffles, and prizes.”
This time the entire table was quiet.
I sucked in a breath. “People love the shelter. They want to help. Let’s show the committee that we take care of our own.”
Grace leaned forward. “They said they’d get back to you in two weeks, right?”
Marc nodded, never once taking his eyes off me.
“Then we do it big. We make it shareable. Video content, live coverage, a hashtag. We get it in front of not just Ruby River, but all of Rhode Island. The whole United States.” Grace pumped her fist.
“Donations,” Adele said. “Not just attendance. Not just visibility—let’s give people a way to contribute directly to the shelter.”
Marc stayed silent, and for the first time, I didn’t know what he was thinking.
I wanted to help him. Create something he could participate in so he didn’t feel so helpless.
His mouth twitched. Just one tiny movement. “When?”
“Next weekend. Before the committee issues their report.”
“That’s only one week,” he pointed out.
“I know.”
He held my gaze for a second longer before turning to Theo. Theo’s expression was so full of hope I wanted to cry. “I’m in,” he said quietly.
We looked at Glamma because she was Ruby River’s biggest mover and shaker. If she said we could do this, then we could.
“Let’s make it happen,” she grinned.
Those four words opened the dam. Everyone talked at once. Grace was messaging Everly, asking about the Ruby River Commons. Adele and Ellie workshopped the donation structure. Josh, Drew, and Theo debated the logistics of large animal pens versus smaller stations. Maddox and Alice came by and helped brainstorm food vendors. Kevin asked what he could do and was assigned three tasks by Grace.
Marc reached for my hand again. He lifted it up and kissed my knuckles. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know.” I said. “I wanted to.”
He looked at me. “Why?”
I thought about these few weeks of us together. Of a back storage room turned into a yoga studio with some fairy lights and blind faith. About Noble getting adoption inquiries. About the community, and Marc’s family that had shown up because that’s what Ruby River did. It showed up for one of their own.
“Because it matters to you,” I said. “And you matter to me.”
Thirty
MARC
The second we passed through the door of my house, I pressed her against it.
“Marc.” My name escaped her with notes of surrender and demand; a plea as her sigh moved through me in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
The whole way home I’d kept my hand between her thighs—not enough, never quite enough—moving slowly, stopping short of where she wanted me. Watching her grip the door handle and seeing her work to breathe normally and fail. Every small exhale she forced out dismantled me from the inside. It had taken considerable control not to pull over on the side of the road.
