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finger of her left hand. “Oh, no, it’s a perfect fit.” She bit her lip in dismay. It would be so much easier to return the ring if she could tell Mateo that it didn’t fit, it would be so much less awkward. Not that there was anything easy about any of this.
    Marti drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. “Okay, I’m not getting any more information today, am I?”
    Ava shrugged apologetically. “I promise you’ll be the first person I tell everything to as soon as I’m ready.” As soon as the shock wore off and just as soon as she set Mateo Ortega straight on the fact that his plan wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t do this.
    **
    Mateo arrived at the engagement party when it was in full swing. The number of cars lining the street and the sounds of laughter floating through the spring air told him that everyone invited had likely turned out to celebrate his and Ava’s engagement. Everyone except his fiancée.
    He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel while his mind raced. He felt an absolute fraud going into the midst of his family and telling them that he’d lied to them about being engaged. More easily than he wanted to, he could imagine their shock when he told them that not only weren’t he and Ava getting married, but they weren’t even dating. He wouldn’t blame them when the shock turned to anger and disappointment. In their eyes, he’d look a fool, but that he could take. It was seeing the hurt and disappointment on his grandfather’s face that he couldn’t stand to see.
    He lowered his window and a light breeze filled the car. He laid his head back against the truck’s headrest, closed his eyes, as if doing so would present him a solution to his predicament. What were his options? To go in with an excuse for Ava’s absence and pretend that everything was fine? He could spend the evening with his family, accepting their sincere compliments and best wishes, all the while knowing that his lies were making a mockery out of their kindness. Never had he felt such frustration and anger with himself, but then again, he’d never done anything this stupid before.
    A light tap on his windshield startled him. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Ava. His heart began to race. She stood in the semi-darkness, the street lights casting a halo effect around her. But she wasn’t a vision, she was really there. One quick glance at her appearance gave him hope. The way she was dressed made it clear that she was dressed for an evening out. A party he hoped. Her eyes were grave though, which felt like a kick in the gut. He hated being responsible for the look of apprehension he saw there. He opened the door and stepped out. “Ava,” he said, keeping his voice low. “You came.” He leaned in slowly and gently kissed her cheek. She smelled of summer roses. “You look beautiful.”
    “Hello, Mateo.”
    He watched as she lifted a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder and fingered it. The gesture was a long ago habit. He remembered her doing the same thing when she studied geometry with his sister. She had always used her left hand while she wrote with her right. He immediately noticed that her left hand was bare. She wasn’t wearing his ring. Not a good sign. “I wasn’t sure if I’d see you tonight,” he said.
    “I had to come,” she replied. Her eyes seemed to search his for some sign that he understood her reluctance. He certainly did, but he felt at an absolute and total loss as to how to explain to her that he knew he’d put her squarely between a rock and a hard place.
    “I’m happy to see you, Ava. But I would have understood if you didn’t show up here tonight.”
    She glanced around. “Can we talk somewhere privately before someone finds us?”
    So she was there to turn him down. He deserved no less. “We could sit on your mom’s front steps.”
    Ava nodded. “That works.”
    Mateo reached out for her hand and felt both pleased and relieved when, after only a