her shirt like confetti. Lucas guided the rattling cart toward the fruit, thinking about diapers and cereal, when a bright flash between bruised apples caught his eye and pulled him out of his spiral.
Nestled in the display was a gold band crowned with a diamond that looked unmistakably real, heavy and cold when he closed his fingers around it. For a heartbeat, his mind did what desperation teaches it to do, measuring the ring against everything his family needed: brakes for the minivan, a dryer that only worked when
