A Guy's Best Friend by Shawna Hansen, Chapter 1

Summer was more than halfway over and “more than halfway over” summed up how Emma felt about being engaged to Ryan.  They’d been engaged for almost four years and lived together their last year in college.  After three months apart and three solid months of fighting, all she could think about was how today would have been their Two Month Anniversary if they’d eloped to Vegas in June after college graduation like they’d planned since last Christmas when he’d turned down her first proposal to elope. 

Ryan shocked her at dinner after their last college final by telling her he had bought his uncle’s failing auto dealerships with their savings.  He was leaving Florida for Boston the next day.  Emma could handle packing up their condo on her own and her parents would be down Memorial Day weekend.  She’d join him in Boston for the summer.  He had it all planned out.

Emma was too heartbroken to cry.  He’d picked a public place to tell her he was leaving her.  He’d said eloping to Vegas was too sudden when she asked him last Christmas and said if he got into Stanford for his MBA, they’d drive out to Vegas after graduation in June and spend the summer as a honeymoon.  He got into Stanford and she hadn’t even sent out one resume for a job because she was planning to spend the summer with Ryan before starting a new life as a married couple in California.

Their first real fight in their entire four year relationship was Memorial Day weekend when he showed up to get his clothes and then immediately flew back to Boston to work out problems in the new business.  She’d told him she was going home to New Hampshire and had bought a Jeep from another dealer in town. 

Ryan said no way was she keeping a Jeep she bought from another dealer.  The soft top was a bad investment and he’d find a way to get her money back, but she said to leave it alone.  She loved the soft top and couldn’t wait to take it off and remove the doors all summer.  He said she should spend the summer with him in Boston, but she said no, she was going home to New Hampshire.  Her mind was made up. 

Ryan promised her he’d be back for graduation and they’d work everything out then.  If she wanted to be all alone in New Hampshire away from him, he’d get her to change her mind.  He loved her and promised her they would get married in Vegas at the end of summer and that he’d been looking into honeymoons in Tahiti.  He won the fight by convincing her he was doing everything for her and for their future. 

Emma’s parents were flying in to spend the last two weeks before the graduation ceremony with her and his parents were coming down the week before the ceremony.  He said he’d fly down with his parents and he’d make everything up to her then. He left with his clothes and a promise from Emma that she’d calm down after she saw the potential in this new business, think things through and live with him in Boston for the summer.  She said, ok, we’ll talk with my parents when they’re here, but I’ll need to spend the first weeks of summer helping them with the B&B.

Emma broke up with him in June when he didn’t show up for graduation ceremony and she ended up spending the week before the graduation ceremony alone with his parents, her parents and her best friend, Katie.  They got back together in DC when he met her halfway home on her road trip to New Hampshire from Florida. 

They broke up again over the 4th of July when he’d spent their romantic weekend together working, but he convinced her not to do anything except give him a chance until he could come see her in person in North Conway.  He hadn’t shown up here and his calls had nearly stopped except for a Tuesday night call which was probably put on his calendar by his secretary. 

Even after their second makeup weekend over the 4th of July holiday, Emma couldn’t stop herself from looking out her office window and thinking if she really loved him the way she should, she’d be counting forward three months to October when they’d talked about getting married for real this time, but she couldn’t stop looking back and wondering why she’d wasted almost four years on a dead-end relationship.