C17 SEVENTEEN

Here Come the Lovers

ROSE

Here come the lovers, full of joy and mirth.—

Joy, gentle friends! joy and fresh days of love

Accompany your hearts!

—William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

THE WHOLE DRIVE there I stared at my engagement ring, enjoying the weight of it on my finger as I considered what it would mean to be a wife, to actually be with Derek for the rest of my life