11

11

Since Claire had the day off, she decided to pamper herself for the date ahead. It had been a long time since she’d been on a date.

The last one she could recall had been about a year after her car accident, when the son of one of her dad’s friends had asked her to dinner. She’d been excited, until he let slip halfway through that his father had agreed on his behalf, and he had gone through with the date to be a good sport. He hadn’t meant to be a jerk about it because they’d already connected and were friendly at that point. He didn’t seem to realize that confiding the truth to her had been off-putting until she asked to go home shortly thereafter. He’d seemed annoyed with her overreaction, and they hadn’t spoken again.

It caused a ball of anxiety to form in her stomach as she remembered her last attempt. After that, there hadn’t been any more invitations, but she’d determined she would turn them down anyway unless she was absolutely certain there was no pity involved.

Yet here sh