Page 68 of Highlands Summer Wedding

Everyone turned and looked. In addition to the “Splitsville” headline, they had footage of Max and me in the restaurant.

I had nowhere to hide.

We waddled over to the drying stations. I sat there, cold air blowing on my toes while I looked out the window.

“Whelp, the fake dating part is done,” I said, staring at my feet.

Caitlin toyed with a button on her flannel. “He may have made that official for a reason.”

“Yeah. I don’t know.” I checked to see if my toes were dry. They were not.

“What are you going to do, Abby?” asked Melissa.

I shrugged. “What I always do.”

Caitlin showed me a page in her magazine. The article read “Declutter Your Life but Don’t Throw Away That Which Brings You Joy.”

She tapped it and gave me a knowing look.

I nodded.

As Caitlin went to the front to pay, I reached into my purse for a tip. My gaze caught on something deep in the corner of my wallet—the ticket stub to the first movie Max and I had gone to together. Our first real date. Not the on-set flirtations, not the grad school editing.

The movie was titledSecond Chances.

I looked at the stub for a long moment, then put it back in my wallet.

“Abby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lied, my voice tighter than I wanted it to be as I hurried out the door, Caitlin on my heels.

“Abs?”

My cheeks were hot and the street looked blurry. “Let’s get in the car.”

We got in.

“Drive.”

“No. What’s wrong, Abby? I know you’ve got a lot going on, but something just happened and it wasn’t about Cat Turner and I don’t even know if it was entirely about… honey, talk to me.”

I sniffed. “June 18.”

Caitlin nodded.

My voice was tight as I choked out the words. “He took me to dinner. At the Gristmill, you know, that beautiful place not far from Austin by the river?”

Caitlin had been there. “With the multilevel patio facing the river and fairy lights and s’mores for dessert and amazing food…”

I nodded. “And when the s’mores came, there was a ring on my stick. And I said yes.”

“Oh! Abby!”

“We went right downstairs to the manager and booked the place for our special date…”

“June 18.”

“And we were so lucky, because they were booked solid through September, but there’d been a cancellation and we snagged it. Paid a hefty deposit and we were so happy. And we had such a beautiful night.”