“Claire?” Chance asked from behind her, moving closer.
“Just go,” she said. Her voice cracked as she stood with her back to him.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he whispered, touching her shoulder. “I just thought I’d do something nice for you, to take your mind off him. Any man who does that to you doesn’t deserve your tears.”
“Just go,” she said, but her voice had grown weaker and the sarcasm was gone from her voice. She didn’t want him to go. Not yet.
“You’re too good for him. Don’t you ever forget that,” he said. He released her and left the room.
Claire stood rooted to the spot, crying even after he had gone. Her heart felt heavy and somehow she felt betrayed by Amy. She didn’t need a stranger to know that, let alone a man who was apparently interested in her. She must seem like a fool to him now. And she had no one to blame for that but Amy. She quickly brushed the tears away, dressed in cut-off jeans and a tank, and headed for Amy’s room.
“Amy!” she shouted as she pounded on the door. “Open the door.”
“Claire?” Amy answered from inside her room. “Are you okay?” As soon as Amy opened the door, Claire barged in. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” she fumed. “What did you tell Chance about me and Trent?”
“Oh,” Amy said and covered her face. “I’m so sorry, Claire; it just kinda slipped out.”
“It slipped out? My personal affairs just accidentally slipped out to a perfect stranger? What makes you think I wanted Chance to know anything about me, let alone that I was jilted the day before my wedding?”
“Claire, I was at dinner with him, and remember how I told you he always seemed unavailable to me? Well, that’s because he likes you. A lot! I only told him so he would understand why you aren’t interested in him and why he should leave you alone. I was wrong, and I’m sorry,” she said as she moved closer to Claire and took her hand. “You are my best friend, and I love you, and I wish I could kill Trent for what he did to you. But that doesn’t mean I want to see you sad all the time, or hurt again, either. I thought I was helping.”
“Well, you didn’t help keep him away,” Claire sighed. “As a matter of fact, you only made him try harder.”
“How? What happened? What did he do?” Amy asked.
“I got a delivery this morning,” Claire said and sat down. “He bought an emerald necklace and had it delivered to my room,” she smiled. “And then he showed up in my room this morning.”
“He did what? So? What did you do?” she asked excitedly.
“What do you think I did? I gave it back to him.”
“You did what? Are you crazy?”
“He didn’t take it back. It’s still sitting in my room, and you know I don’t like men buying me things. It makes me feel cheap, and with him, it felt like a down payment for whatever he wants after. And honestly, by the look on his face, he was expecting me to run into his arms out of gratitude.”
“He’s full of himself, isn’t he?” Amy smiled.
“Is he! He irks me,” Claire said and smiled at Amy.
They sat next to each other on the bed, and for a moment, each of them was lost in their own thoughts.
“He does seem to like you a lot. I don’t think he goes around handing necklaces to every girl who throws herself at him.”
“And that’s another thing,” Claire said, as if she didn’t hear a thing Amy said other than ‘girls.’ “There are always a lot of women following him around. He is clearly a ladies’ man, and I don’t want to get caught up in that.”
“But you know you don’t have to be,” Amy said. “Maybe just have a little, no strings attached. Get Trent out of your mind. He’s putting a lot of effort into getting your attention. I think he deserves a date at least. Remember, we leave here in a couple of days. Maybe you should oblige him just once so you don’t spend the rest of your life wondering what might have happened if you’d said yes to dinner.”
Claire nodded. Chance had told her Trent didn’t deserve her tears; she could see that now. Still, she wasn’t so sure about running off with a playboy, either.
“I’m going to see if Mom is awake,” she said abruptly, rising to her feet. “I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages.”
“I’ll meet you for breakfast in a few,” Claire replied. “I need to wash up first.”
Claire stepped out into the hall just in time to see her mother entering her room. “Mom?” she called in surprise. “Are you just getting in?”
“And what would be so wrong with that?” her mother defended.
“You’re being too defensive,” Claire said as she covered her face. “I don’t even want to know where you have been.”
“Bryan is quite the host,” Willow laughed.