The teacher’s lounge is a busy fray of voices by the time I make it for the party planning meeting. Sara and the others have already arrived, each one of them sitting around the table with tall mugs of fresh coffee and multi-colored ribbons scattered among them, mostly various shades of red and blue.

My first instinct is to apologize for being tardy but that’s comparable to jumping into shark-infested waters covered in fresh blood. Any obvious weakness will be my downfall here and I’ve already worked too hard to get on this committee in the first place.

I walk right in with my head high but my guts lurch the moment Sara’s eyes flick over at me and she casts that look of judgment at me and my red smock.

“You’re late,” she spits out as she trims a piece of sapphire ribbon with scissors.

I take the one empty seat on Natalie’s left. “The toy store didn’t close until seven.”

“If you’re going to be involved, Jovie, then you have to be on time. Otherwise, you can go.”

Natalie scoffs. “Oh, please, Sara. We literally just sat down. Un-bunch thyself.” She twists in her seat to stare at me. “Let me see it.”

I lean back. “See what?”

She launches forward and reaches across my lap to snatch my left wrist. Her jaw drops as she whips my hand closer to her face to get a good look at my ring.

“Oh, my gosh!” she says. “It’s so pretty!”

I smile. “Thank y—”

She practically yanks me from my chair to thrust it into Claudia’s face. “Look at it!”

Claudia makes the same fawning expression. “Oh, wow. Will has such good taste!”

Two others pop out of their chairs to rush over and see. I peek through the group to check out Sara’s impatient, almost furious, face. Honestly, it’s more than a little satisfying watching the steam billow from her pink nostrils as her friends unanimously praise me for anchoring down her little brother.

“Let’s concentrate, people,” Sara says, her voice rising. “We need to come up with decorations to match our theme.”

“Theme?” I ask as the others disperse back to their chairs. “It’s the Valentine’s dance. Isn’t the theme always Valentine’s Day?”

Natalie giggles over Sara’s annoyed glare. “Not anymore. Ever since Sara took over, we’ve started doing themes to increase attendance and it really got people excited again. Last year, it was the Renaissance, and the year before that, it was Romeo and Juliet.”

I chuckle. “Aren’t those pretty much the same thing?”

Sara’s stare hardens but she doesn’t answer.

“Okay…” I move on, “what’s the theme this year?”

“A USO show,” Natalie says, still grinning.

I raise a brow. “Like entertaining the troops and stuff?”

“World War II style, baby!” She tugs on my arm. “It’s going to be so much fun! Swing dancing and jazz music and cigarette girls — candy ones, of course. I can’t wait!”

“Yeah.” I nod. Actually, it could be much worse. “Sounds cool.”

Sara lays her scissors down a little too hard. “Good. Then, you won’t mind making signs to display around town to announce the theme.”

It’s a ploy to get rid of me. Not from the committee, of course. Just out of her face.

“Sure,” I answer, sitting a little taller. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Ohh, let me help!” Natalie says. “I live for signage.”

“I don’t care,” Sara says. “Just have at least five done tonight and posted around the square tomorrow morning.”

Natalie latches onto my arm. “Come on, Jovie.”

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Shopping for supplies.”

I let her pull me out of my chair and she guides us out into the hallway.

“Okay, Jovie. Spill,” she says. “What do you have planned so far?”

“Planned?”

“You know. For the wedding. Where’s your venue? The two of you have lived here your whole lives — save your little vacation, of course — so you’re probably going to have it here, right? There are three churches in Clover but only one of them has a sanctuary big enough to give a damn about. Or you can be like me and my Dickie and get hitched in the town square. Plenty of space there for whatever kind of ceremony you want.”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll have a ceremony or anything,” I say. “We’ll probably just elope at the courthouse.”

Natalie halts in the hallway mid-stride. “What?” she gasps. “Why—why—why would you elope? Why would you do that? What’s wrong with you?”

I glance around the sea of lockers and trophy cases. “What’s wrong with eloping?”

“Everything.” Her eyes grow wider. “You need a real wedding, Jovie. You need a big, white dress and flowers and a cake the size of your torso.”

“Why?” I ask.

Her mouth opens but only light stuttering comes out as she stares at me. “That’s… just… what you’re supposed to do.”

“Sounds expensive,” I say, nudging us forward again. “And, traditionally speaking, it’d be on me and my family to pay for that and I don’t know if you’ve ever met Hank Ross, but he’s not exactly a big saver and I stock dolls for minimum wage.”

She stops in front of the art room door. “Well, I’m sure the town would chip in to make your day special.”

I snort. “Really?”

“Well, I would.”

Natalie shoves it open and walks straight toward the paint cabinet in the corner. I flick on the light and pause as a few stray memories invade from my teenage days. I only took one art class the entire four years here. Don’t remember a damn thing I learned, though.

“Thanks, Natalie,” I say, watching as she sifts through large bottles of paint. “But I don’t think so.”

“What does Will think?” She points at my feet. “Grab that crate, will you?” I bend over and pick up an old milk crate from underneath the teacher’s desk. “Doesn’t he want a real wedding? Doesn’t he want to watch you walk down the aisle toward him?”

I stand beside her as she fills the crate with various paints and brushes. “I doubt he cares, honestly.”

Natalie tilts her head. “Are you sure?”

“I mean, we haven’t exactly talked about it or anything.”

“Why not? By this time in my engagement, I already had the venue booked, the officiant on lock, and multiple caterers engaged in bidding wars.”

“We’re just still in a celebratory phase, that’s all,” I tell her. “Once that wears off, I’m sure we’ll be in full wedding planning mode.”

“Well, as soon as you’re there, let me know,” she says. “I still have my wedding scrapbook and it’s full of ideas we never used.”

“Thanks.”

She leans in. “Can I see it again?”

I roll my eyes and set the heavy crate down on a desk before holding out my left hand. She grabs it and pulls it closer to get one more good look at my ring.

“Ohh,” she coos. “It really suits you guys.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, I mean — and don’t take this the wrong way at all — but it’s simple. It’s elegant. It’s not flashy but it’s still a little rock and roll. Totally Will and Jovie.”

I tilt my hand back to take a look for myself. I never gave much thought to diamond jewelry before. It all pretty much looked the same to me. Now that I have to wear it around and show it off, it’s becoming a part of our whole relationship. Real or otherwise.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I say to myself.

“Nothing like mine,” she says, flashing at her own giant, glimmering rock. “I’m pretty sure I’d drown if I ever jumped into the deep end of a pool but it’s so me and Dickie.”

“Gaudy and unapologetic?” I quip.

She grins. “Damn right.” Her eyes fall to the crate again. “Okay, we got red, we got white, and we got blue. Let’s go. Grab it and follow me.”

I pick it up as she swipes a few sheets of white poster board from the cabinet by the door.

“So, this is shopping for supplies?” I ask, raising a brow.

Natalie brings a perfectly painted fingernail to her lips and fires me a subtle wink. “Shh,” she says.