“Do you even hear how that sounds? You don’t even know him. This is not the normal order of things. First, you get to know the guy, then you decide to marry him if he is worthy of your love. You don’t even sound like you really love him.”
“Bryan is a great guy, and he treats me like a queen,” she smiled. “When he asked I didn’t think there was any other answer to give. He wanted to at the time, so we went to a chapel nearby and did it.”
“Without stopping to think about how I’d feel,” Claire reminded her softly.
“Are you upset because I got married, or because of Chance?” she asked.
Claire turned to her with a terrified look on her face. “So you do know about Chance.”
“Bryan told me last night how close you guys actually are, and I am sorry, Claire. I did not set out to destroy you. I was encouraging you all along to let your hair down, but I wasn’t aware that you had. If I had known, I would have reconsidered being with Bryan.”
“Which proves you don’t love him at all,” Claire confirmed. “Maybe you can just call this off.”
“You know I’m not going to do that.” Willow looked at Claire, and the words she didn’t say were loud enough for Claire’s heart; as far as Claire was concerned, Willow’s selfish act had made it an awkward situation for her and Chance now.
Claire glared at her mother and walked back to the bed. “So what now, Mom? You move in with your new husband and I pretend I never met Chance? What about when I run into him at a family dinner or something? We were here…in this room…making…” She couldn’t even bring herself to say the words. Her eyes watered and she turned away, but Willow was able to read the words she didn’t say.
“Oh my,” Willow said and covered her mouth. “I didn’t know it had gotten that far.”
“Well, maybe if you had introduced me to Bryan before getting married, we would have cleared up most of this. Instead, I’m left with the bitter end of the stick…again. Your decisions are always so selfish, and I always get caught in the crossfire.”
“Claire, honey, I’m so…”
“Just forget it, Mom,” Claire heaved an exasperated sigh. “Just go.”
“Actually, the reason I came here was to invite everyone to breakfast. We started off on a bad foot, and I would like to make it right.”
“So I’m just supposed to go to breakfast and pretend this is all okay?” Claire asked. “Mom, I gave my virginity to Chance.”
Willow looked at her, and Claire could swear she saw the life go out of her. Willow dragged herself to a nearby chair and sat down. “Claire, I don’t know how to start…”
“Mom, please, just save it. I would have done it even if I had known you married his dad.”
“I don’t know…”
“You’re the older person here and should know. I need to shower. And yes, I’ll be down for a family breakfast,” Claire said sarcastically.
“Claire, we need to talk about this.”
“No, we’re done. You may leave my room now,” Claire said, moving to the door and opening it for her mother, who hesitated for a second before getting up.
“I don’t expect you to act like it’s okay, Claire, but I expect your respect when you see Bryan. Please,” Willow said as she walked to the door. “Breakfast is at nine.”
Claire fumed at her mother. She remembered what she had said to Chance last night about being selfish, but after seeing her mother, she hadn’t been able to stop the words that had escaped her mouth. She paced the floor for a few minutes, wearing out the carpet, trying to decide if she should really go to breakfast with them. She wondered if Chance was going to be there as well. If he was, she didn’t want to leave him all by himself with their parents. She pondered her other options. Maybe she should just go home and pretend none of this happened, but she knew deep down her heart would never allow it.
Her mind drifted to the way she felt when she was with Chance, the way he made her feel wanted, and she knew then how difficult it would be to forget him—to walk away and give him up. She couldn’t just up and leave. It was crazy how she had just been jilted by Trent, and now her mother was making her give up the one man who could have helped her heart heal. Her mother was oblivious of it, too!
Claire looked at the clock and saw that breakfast wasn’t a long way off. She needed to go meet her extended family and figure out how to be a good stepsister.
She was dressing when she heard a knock at the door. She swung it wide open, ready to battle her mother once more. “Oh, it’s you,” she said and walked back inside.
“Who did you think it was?” he asked and followed her into the room.
“My mother. She was just here, inviting us to breakfast,” Claire said and rolled her eyes.
“My dad asked, too,” Chance said. “I told him I’m not going.”
Claire walked over to him and traced the outline of his face with her forefinger. “I think we should, though. We can’t accomplish much if we keep them at bay.”