Synopsis:

Elizabeth knows that her marriage was a mistake. She had an idea from the moment Keith proposed, when her first response had been "why?" instead of "yes". So when he leaves her for another woman eleven years later, she isn't surprised. It just means an official end to something that's been over for years. She has never been able to be truly herself around him, anyway.

One of the few people she can always be herself around is Marcus. They had dated in college for more than 2 years, but he had needed time to find himself and discover what he wanted out of life. By the time he had figured it out and wanted her back, she was already engaged to Keith. Now that she is single again, they find themselves drawn back to one another. Things are better than she can hope for at first, but no one gets to live entirely happily ever after. Marcus's only family left, his older brother, dies, and Elizabeth can feel him pull away at times. For reasons she can't explain, even though she wants him more than she ever has, part of her pulls away as well. Maybe it's being burned by her first husband. More likely, she's afraid that he'll realize once again that as good as their relationship is, it isn't what he wants. She even turns down Marcus's marriage proposal out of this fear, thinking it must be too good to be true.

What she doesn't know is something Marcus can't bring himself to tell her until much later--that he had planned on asking her to marry him eleven years ago, but Keith had beaten him to it the same day. He still keeps the ring he had intended to give her, worn on a silver chain around his neck at all times.