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In that e hadn’t sounded like such a terrible idea If her parents, who cared for her welfare more than anyone, could help her find a decent man to spend her life with, ould provide the financial security she had been so used to as a child, was that really such a bad idea? In that hter of A to either

Opening up her browser again, she perused a fewinterest What was the point? If Steph had had her way, she would have been a fashion design major, maybe in Boston or New York She had always had a talent for design, and her notebooks were filled with doodles and drawings of ideas She was an artist stuck working at a bank She had only gotten the job because of her father’s reputation, even though he had fallen so far Names mattered in Vermont People looked out for their own

Her eyes darted to the clock at the bottom of her computer screen, and she realized she could head ho to spend another minute in that stuffy blazer, Steph shut down her cooodbye to the tellers as she headed out the door

Suh that the terees, and the state was lush with beautiful forests, clean lakes, and plenty of pond-side beaches Steph couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up

Still, while her childhood had been idyllic, adulthood was less exciting in a toith only a few hundred people in it Most of her friends had left for colleges elsewhere, exploring the world, going on adventures As she’d watched theo on her own adventure, she had realized that her best bet would be the ed

Aplace in a few days’ ti, with her traditional wedding dress inside, was sitting in her room at that very moment as she made her way down her town’s small main street toward an ice cream parlor She slid out of her blazer and shoved it into her bag, relishing in the feel of the warm sun on her skin

Thanks to her diverse parentage, Steph had an exotic blend of dark olive skin, straight black hair, and piercing blue eyes She was petite, but she loved running, which gave her an athletic build Stephanie O’Hanlon was a fighter She was strong, and she had lived through her fa to help her father deal with his grief while her hest of storms and come out on the other side, and Steph was proud of her family, different as they were

Bells jingled against the glass door as Steph walked into the ice crea a newspaper

“It’s awfully quiet in here for how good the weather is,” Steph said

The wo like tissue paper “The kids aren’t out of school yet, though they should be any s you in here so early, Stephanie?”

Steph shrugged, pulling out her wallet and perusing the flavors written on a chalk wall “I went in early today, so I got to leave early I’ll be gone for a while after tomorrow, so I want to make sure I stop in at all my favorite places first”

Steph didn’t want to think about never co back She was potentially about to marry a h she had never seen it before If she hadn’t been so desperate for adventure, for soe, she would have told her parents to call off the deal As it was, afor her an ocean away Steph wondered what he looked like Did he like ice cream? Did they even eat ice cream in El Farah?

Having made her choice, Steph ordered a cara all out for her last stop in the store

“How long will you be traveling, honey? Itto see your mother’s home country for the first time!”

June was an aly kind woman She had run the ice cream shop since before Steph could even re out gallons of ice crea as she grew older