Page 9 of Bucked By Love

My Promise Ring.

I’m one step closer to Belleflower Queen.

“Yes,” I say, “I promise.”

When he slips the diamond on my ring finger, I don’t feel the stares of the congregation, or Pastor Jones, or Riley. Even my father fades from view as a new sense of purpose unlocks in my chest.

6

CLAIRE

Claire’s diary, June 24, 2008.

Hello, diary. This is my first entry.

I almost didn’t pick this journal. There was another one with horses on the cover. I almost got it, but then I thought better of it. It was too childish.

I’m thirteen. I can’t afford to look like a baby anymore.

This one looks more official. It has a leather cover and thick pages.

I think when I’m Belleflower Queen, people will want to read this. They will put it in a glass case and everyone will crowd around it to get a peek at the handwritten pages.

Everything is happening so fast and it all feels very important.

I’m going to write it down.

7

CLAIRE

“Let me see it!”

At the riverside, the girls flock over my ring.

I hold out my hand, fingers splayed, and turn my hand back and forth so the sunlight catches on the diamond.

“It’s official now!” Elsbeth says. She’s beaming. “We’re all Promise Sisters!”

Sisters. There’s a strange twisting in my chest at that.

I’m part of something bigger than myself. It’s a good feeling.

Our celebrations are cut short with the clamoring of the boys down the river. We all glance over and see three boys climbing a tree and launching themselves into the water off the bottom branch. The Sooters. I crane my neck, but I don’t see Riley among them.

Mary-Kate looks smug. “Looking for your boyfriend?”

A blush rushes over me. “I’m not…he’s not…I wouldn’t get involved with a Sooter.”

“Of course not,” Mary-Kate says, drawing her voice out. “You made a promise.” She taps her own ring knowingly.

She’s right. Daddy said it himself.

Purity was part of my promise. And Sooter boys aren’t exactly known for being pure.

“We probably won’t see Riley for a while,” Elsbeth says. “What with what happened to his parents and all.”

“What happened?”

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