Chapter Thirty-Four

“SO, FANCY CAR, fancy new clothes,” Joey said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“You keep using that word,” he said. “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

They both laughed, and Joey relaxed at the sound of Dan’s genuine, actual chuckle. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought.

“So, an engagement gift,” he said as they pulled away from his driveway. “Please tell me what I’m supposed to be looking for here?”

“No idea,” Joey said. “But we’ll know it when we see it.”

“Fair enough.” He shrugged.

He turned on the radio to fill the silence, but music had always been their thing, and it only took one song for them to hear one that held a special meaning.

“I can just…” Dan said, reaching down to turn it off.

“No, let it play,” she said, falling just short of touching his hand to stop him.

“From This Moment On” by Shania Twain had been a favorite song for them to sing together, and he’d surprised Joey with tickets to see her in concert a few years back. He didn’t know it, but it would also end up being the first song on the wedding soundtrack they’d given out as favors for their reception. Or, knowing Dan, he did know because it had been his idea and he might have had it before he proposed.

They listened to it and Joey wondered what songs he and Betty had landed on in the past year. She couldn’t bear the thought of him using any of the ones that had been theirs, but she was also sure it wouldn’t be an issue. Betty was aware of the songs that belonged to Dan and Joey. She’d never have agreed to a secondhand song.

“You seem more relaxed today,” Joey said as the song ended.

“Relaxed?” Dan said.

“Yeah, maybe that’s not the right word. I got the feeling last night like you were nervous.”

“I’m not nervous around you.” He sounded defensive.

“I didn’t mean around me.”

“Betty? Why would I be nervous around Betty?”

“Because she dresses you and tells you how to stand and sit. And you want to make her happy.”

She added that last part so it didn’t sound so accusatory. If she tried too much too soon, Dan would shut down and the whole day would be a waste.

“Yeah, well, you know Betty,” he said. “And yes, I do want to make her happy. Is that a bad thing?”

“Not at all,” Joey said. “I want you to make her happy too.”

“You do?”

“I want you both to be happy together.” It sounded weird to say out loud on a day when she was actively trying to break them up, but assuming she failed, she knew that was, in fact, the goal.

“Oh. Well, thank you.”

“Can I ask about the honeymoon?”

“I knew you had a problem with that,” Dan said.

“So, you did hear me?” Joey laughed.

“Well, you were shouting with your expression.” He joined her laugh. He had told her for years she had no poker face, but it was worse than that. If she was mad, everyone who could see her face would immediately know. She was tactful and kind, but her face gave her away every time.

“What about your scholarship?” she continued. If the topic was on the table, she was going to see how much she could get out of him.

“Deferred,” he said. “You’re allowed to do that for up to one year before you start, so I requested an exception and they granted it.”

“And what about graduating early?”

“I’ll see the world and learn plenty on our trip. Isn’t that better than finishing my degree a little early?”

That was Betty talking through him and she knew it. Dan had worn his early graduation status like a badge of honor, and she knew why. He’d worked his butt off to do it and it had always been a goal. Betty’s logic wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t Dan.

“So, I guess you’ve thought of everything,” she said. “And you really want to go?”

Dan hesitated and Joey waited patiently to give him time to think.

“If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said no,” he said finally. “But I think I really do now. And it’s kinda your fault.”

“My fault?”

“Seeing you run away last year really changed me. I was so sure of what our, er, my future would look like that it never occurred to me to think about other options. But you leaving made me realize there are paths other than the straight and narrow.”

“But you like the straight and narrow.”

“So did you,” Dan said quietly. “Or so I thought.”

“I still do. I thought I wanted something else, but this year has taught me that the life I was running away from was actually perfect.”

Dan flinched. She’d gone too far. It was cruel to say that to the guy she’d left behind.

“Well, maybe I need to experience that year away so I can come to the same conclusion.”

There. That’s what this all came down to. She’d run away and now he was going to too. It wasn’t out of spite. If anything, it was flattery.

“Going to Europe with Betty isn’t going to be at all like my year away,” she said. “You know that, right?”

“Oh hey, look, we’re here,” he said, turning the car into one of the parking garages.

Joey left that last thought dangling in the air as they found a spot and made their way to the entrance. She knew Dan would be thinking about it for the rest of the day.

And she knew better than most how a single thought can change your fate.