—Eloise—

I broke into a chuckle, then a laugh that reverberated through the room.

My family stared at me, caught between shock and confusion.

No one laughed.

My smile faded as I looked from my brothers to my father, then to my mother clutching the pearls around her neck, waiting for someone to tell me this was some elaborate joke.

“You're kidding me, right?” I asked. “Did you just ask me to marry the same boy who broke my heart a few years ago?”

“People change, ...