ROMeANTICALLY CHALLENGED. Marina Adair

      Annie had always thought that love, in any form, could be nurtured into the kind of unbreakable connection Gloria and her sisters shared. It was why she held so tightly to those in her life, because even when love changed forms, it was still love. Wasn’t it?

      After last night, when Emmitt had accused her of being a pushover, she began to wonder if maybe she was willing to hold on to love even when it was no longer healthy. Her talk with Clark had felt anything but healthy, leaving her feeling discounted and used.

      And that wouldn’t do. Not unless Annie was trading in her lab coat to become a Professional Practice Fiancée. So after ending the wellness call with Gloria’s sisters, Annie gave herself a stern pep talk and made another pressing call—this one for her own peace of mind.

      Clark was the one who said, above all else, he wanted to remain friends. Well, he was going to get his chance to prove himself. And Annie would get her chance to prove that remaining friends with an ex wasn’t only doable, it could be healthy if done right.

      Afraid she’d chicken out, Annie stepped into an empty exam room and immediately dialed. Her heart raced faster with each ring, until it stopped cold when he answered.

      “I am so glad you called.” His voice was bright and cheerful, as if he’d slept like a king last night. As if she were being silly and the past few months had changed nothing between them, leaving Annie painfully confused.

      “You are?” She’d imagined this call going differently. In fact, she’d made a mental list of approximately ten thousand things to do instead of calling Clark—labeling sample tubes, buying doughnuts in desperate need of a home, fixing the leaky faucet in exam room nine—but it turned out she hadn’t needed to.

      Annie was about to set some boundaries and, it seemed, Clark was ready to acknowledge them.

      “Of course. I wanted to apologize about last night. I got off the phone and felt like a dick. Emotions were high, and I wasn’t really thinking before I spoke. And you called it, there was no patient waiting. I was avoiding the inevitable.”

      “I think I have been too,” she admitted. “Last night was an awkward situation, and we both could have handled it better.” Annie thought back to what Emmitt had said. Make it simple, straightforward, and leave zero room for misunderstanding. “But the only way things will start to feel normal between us again is to clear the air.”

      Look at her go, confidently putting it out there. No softening or sugarcoating, just stating the facts and clarifying the game plan.

      “You can’t believe how happy that makes me,” he said. “I not only felt like a dick, I felt as if I left you hanging. Afterward, I talked with Molly-Leigh, and she pointed out just how badly I’d blown it. I knew I needed to make things right. So I stopped by the post office this morning on my way in to work.”

      “Wow, Clark, that’s great.” And it had been so easy. “I thought you’d Venmo it along with the invitation money and cake deposit, which I got this morning by the way, so thanks for that. But if you’d prefer to settle the rest by check, that totally works too.”

      It would take a couple more days than she’d planned, and the bank might not clear a check of that size right away, but come Monday, she’d be cuddled on her own couch with a bottle of wine and a large pepperoni and green olive pizza all to herself.

      “A check? What are you talking about?”

      “The deposit for the venue. You dropped it in the mail, right?”

      “What I put in the mail was an invitation to the wedding,” he said as if she had somehow lost her mind. “We settled the venue issue last night.”

      “Actually, no. You said it would make things easier if you could wait until after the wedding to pay me back. I said that didn’t work for me. It still doesn’t. I need the money, this week.”

      “See, this is what I’ve been talking about. You and me, we’re not the same as we used to be. You never used to freak about things like a deposit or a dress. It’s like we’re... I don’t know...”

      “Broken up?”

      He ignored this. “Ever since you moved, it feels as if we’re off somehow. And you know how much I hate it when we aren’t on the same frequency. I mean, we vibe, that’s what we do.”

      Surely, Annie misunderstood. She was talking about squaring up, paying off debts so she could move on—literally—and he was using words like vibe and we when there hadn’t been a “we” in months.

      “We don’t have a frequency, Clark. When you changed the setting from KANW to KMLM, ‘we’ were no longer ‘vibing,’ which is why I have an issue with your keeping my money for another five weeks. Five weeks. I’m not freaking out, I’m moving on. So inviting me to your wedding is completely inappropriate.”

      “Inappropriate?” He, honest to God, sounded hurt by her words. “For the past six years, you have been the single most important relationship in my life. Nothing will change that.”

      “The ring on Molly-Leigh’s finger says otherwise.”

      “So I’m getting married. So what? Molls knows how much I rely on you,” he said, and Annie wondered how she’d ever considered him a sweet talker. “One day you’ll get married too—that doesn’t mean we can’t be each other’s rock.”

      “That’s exactly what it means.”

      “Look, I didn’t take your call to argue, I wanted to tell you that I blew it last night, not extending the invitation properly. Nothing would make me happier than for you to share in that special day with us,” he said.

      “You handed over your future happiness to another woman, Clark. I’m no longer responsible for your feelings.”

      “But you’ve put so much into this wedding, Annie,” he went on as if she hadn’t even spoken. “You deserve to enjoy the product of all the hard work. I invited your parents and assumed you’d know that invitation extends to your whole family, but I wanted to make sure I was clear. We want you at the wedding, Anh Bon.”

      She cringed. “You invited my parents?”

      “Of course. How could I not? Maura’s like a second mother to me.”

      Betrayal stuck to her ribs and pushed at her sternum. “Because she’s my mom. And if you invite her, you know she’ll feel obligated to say yes?”

      “She should say yes and so should you. Even Molly-Leigh hopes that you’ll come. She told me to pass along that she’s saved you a seat at our table for the rehearsal dinner, so we can catch up. I’ve missed you.”

      Annie closed her eyes to keep the pain from spilling over. The only reason a woman wouldn’t mind her man’s very recent ex-fiancée coming to her retrofitted wedding was if she knew for certain the ex posed no threat. And while Annie had zero romantic interest in Clark now, it still stung to think his love for her had been so superficial that it was insignificant.

      It was devastating that a single word summed up six years of her life. The most important romantic relationship she’d ever had was insignificant.

      She tried to get angry, tried to picture Emmitt handing her that sticky note, but that one word seemed to take all the steam out of her. She wished she could be the woman to tell Clark to fuck off, but what was the point when her love was nothing more than a passing note in the life of the man she’d thought to marry.

      This was why Annie subscribed to the head-down, pick-your-battles method of coping. She was about to turn the big three-oh and still hadn’t found the right battle. But she knew in her heart, this wasn’t it.

      “I wish you well, Clark, I really do, but I won’t be at your wedding. And I can’t be your go-to person anymore. It hurts, and as long as you still have the power to hurt me, this won’t work,” she said, leaning forward and resting her forehead on the exam table. “I need some space. Some time away