The Way We Once Were

After the tragic death of my best friend, I took her younger brother in and treated him like my own. Everyone knew how much Zach Lawson meant to me, so much so that I vowed not to marry because I could not bear leaving him.

The day he turned eighteen, he got on one knee and asked me to marry him.

With tears of joy streaming down my face, I took the bouquet from him, only to realize they were made of writhing snakes.

Everyone laughed at my misfortune. It was an artfully crafted joke, at my expense. Thalia Lewis laced her arm through Zach's and grinned. "Sorry about that, Sydney.