COLEEN

By the time dinner rolled around, I had managed to convince myself that it couldn’t possibly get worse than the afternoon.

Turns out, I was wrong.

The dining room was straight out of a lifestyle magazine, gleaming silverware, crystal glasses that sparkled under chandelier light, and a table so long it felt like a bridge. Hayden sat beside me, close enough that our knees brushed beneath the table, but even that small comfort wasn’t enough to loosen the knot in my ...