brother in Europe regularly. Her dad was still distant, but even
he seemed to be warming up to the idea of trying to be a
family again. They’d never said a word about their secret
marriage, and they probably never would. It was something
just between them, and they felt that no one really needed to
know about those few weeks they’d been legally married.
They did tell whoever wanted to know that they’d met
through the necklace. They just left out the parts about Giana
hitting her head, the marriage, and the annulment. And sugar
coated a lot of the rest. What happened between them was
their own business, and so what they called the frosting—
focusing on the sweeter details of the whole thing—didn’t feel
like lying. It felt like they were focusing on the good parts and
the healing.
“Yeah. It’s almost been a year.”
“It feels like a long time. Not just a year. So much has
happened.” Giana stiffened and Coralyn could tell that
something big was coming, even though her face remained
mostly placid. She was still too good at that, wearing that
mask, that she probably didn’t even realize she was doing it.
She didn’t force it anymore. She didn’t try to block out her
emotions. “Maybe this isn’t the right time. Maybe it should be
more romantic. Maybe I should…”
“Should what?” Coralyn prompted when she trailed off.
“Should wait and do something that involves more grand
gestures and…”
It finally clicked. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Giana nodded. “Geez, this should be romantic, not sad. I
should have asked you to dinner or something. Lit some
candles and put on mood music.”