“So.. how ‘bout we start with the wedding night” Shane spoke and surprised herself at how clearly she did.

Carmen cringed.  She hadn’t thought about that night in a long time but knew that she had to move past it, which meant talking about it.

“That night… that night was one of the most embarrassing and the most hurtful things I’ve ever experienced in my life. To this day, I’ve tried to understand what happened – what went wrong, what made you leave me like that” Carmen responded.

“You did not do anything wroong Car. That was all my fault.  I got a huge case of cold fffeet and when I saw Gabriel with that woman, I did what I do best- I ran.  Bbut I bet you didn’t know that I sat in that parking lot for a while before I decided like a fool that you could do better than me” Shane answered.

Carmen had all but forgotten about the now cold eggs on her plate and leaned back in her chair, letting out a huge sigh as she looked up at the ceiling.

“After months and months of dancing around each other, you pushing me to Jenny, we finally getting together and deciding to be only with each other, how could you decide something so major within the span of minutes Shane?  You told me you loved me, did you forget about that? And when you love someone, you don’t intentionally hurt them!” Carmen didn’t realize that she was raising her voice now. 

“Carmen, I …” but Shane stopped. She was going about this all wrong so she decided to try a different approach.

“I know you read my letter, the one I left for you in the hotel room the night of the accident. I also noticed you were wearing the rrring yesterday.”

Panic struck Carmen immediately. “You, uh, saw that? I,um, tried it on a couple of times, you know, just to see what it looked like on.” She paused to take a breath as she was now rambling.

“Whoa,whoa” Shane laughed a little, glad the mood was lighting up just a bit. “You don’t have to explain. I bought the ring for you.  It’s yours” Shane spoke softly.  When Carmen didn’t respond she continued. “I mmeant every word of that letter.  I can’t erase the past, or the horrible thing I did.  But what I can say is that I want us to sss start over.  I can’t say I’m sorry enough, but if you want me to say it a million times, I will.  I wwant you to tell me right now, what will it take for you to forgive me and be with me again?”  Shane asked, pleading in her eyes.