Claire
I'd been planning this dinner for two weeks, ever since Daniel proposed, mostly as an excuse to have everyone I loved in one room at the same time before the wedding planning swallowed every ounce of my attention. Sophia. Daniel. Mark, who'd become such a steady, welcome presence in our lives again these past few months that it felt strange to imagine a family gathering without him now.
"You've outdone yourself," Daniel said, coming into the kitchen and surveying the spread I'd been working on most of the afternoon, the roast, the potatoes, the pie cooling on the counter that I'd nearly burned twice because I kept getting distracted texting Sophia about seating charts for a wedding still five months away.
"I wanted it to feel special. It's the first proper dinner since the engage
