“Derek? Claire?” Emily’s voice cracked as she stepped into the garden, her hands trembling.
Derek and Claire froze, their lips still inches apart. The vibrant greenery of the church garden deemed at that instant, the air was now very thick with tension.
“I can not believe you did this to me!”
Claire was the first to react, shoving Derek away as though the contact burned her. She stumbled toward Emily, falling to her knees.
“Emily, no, it’s not what it looks like!” Claire cried, her voice desperate. “I swear, I came here looking for you, and then—then he was just… he was all over me. Please, you have to believe me!”
Emily stood frozen, her mind reeling. The scene in front of her felt like it was straight out of her nightmare, like a cruel imagination she had put herself into ju
