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I shrugged. “Yes and no. I mean, I do love Chad. I wanted to marry him, but everything changed after what he did to me at Nana’s Kitchen. How could I ever trust him again?”
“You can’t.”
I stared at my left hand and then looked back at my daddy. “I think it’s time.”
“Time for what?”
“To do this.” I took off my engagement ring and set it on the table.
“Riley, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I know it’s for the best. I just hate that you and Momma have spent so much money on my wedding and now, it’s not going to happen.”
“We’re not worried about the money. All we want is for you to be happy.”
“It’s going to take time.”
My daddy picked up my ring, looked at it, and cut his eyes at me. “There’s something that I’d like to tell you.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve held another one of these before.”
“What?”
My daddy set my ring back down. “Rhys came to see your momma and me a little over a year ago. He asked for our permission to marry you. He also had your engagement ring with him and showed it to us after we gave him our full blessing. On the Saturday you broke up with him, he was planning to ask you to marry him.”
My stomach sank. “Oh God,” I whispered, feeling the sting in my eyes.
“I figured you should know about it now, considering everything that’s happened.”
“I knew Rhys was hurt by my decision to end things with him and move to Fort Worth, but I cannot imagine his pain after hearing what you said. I feel even more awful.”
“I didn’t tell you about what he did to make you feel that way. I only wanted you to know the truth.”
I wiped my eyes and nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”
“I’ve got to get going, sweet pea. Got a busy day ahead, dealing with the high school kids.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
He got up from the table, kissed me on my head, and went to work. I was still sitting in my chair, thinking about Rhys, when my momma walked into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she said, doing a double take. “What’s wrong?”
“Daddy told me about Rhys asking y’all for permission to marry me last year. He also told me about the engagement ring that Rhys bought for me.”
My momma sighed, sat down beside me, and patted my back. “I didn’t know he was going to do that. Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I just keep making wrong choices, is all.”
“Riley, you’ve made choices that you believed were right at the time.”
“I hurt Rhys so badly.”
“And he’s okay. He’ll always love you, though.”
I dropped my head and started crying.
