Their relationship was rapidly deteriorating. They didn’t laugh and joke like they used to, and every date seemed to be more tense and awkward. Their sex life was all but nonexistent. It had all started to go downhill ever since Nina’s birthday. For whatever reason, things had taken a turn for the worse. Dwight thought it all stemmed from his marriage proposal. He had taken the biggest step of his life the night he asked Nina to marry him. But judging by the following weeks, it was also the biggest mistake of his life. Nina remained torn between reality and hope. The reality was that she had a good man who cared for her, who vowed his commitment to her on bent knees. And even though she had accepted Dwight’s proposal, her hope for Dutch ate at her incessantly. Her long-dead feelings were attacking her with a vengeance. What if? In his absence, Dutch loomed larger in her life than he had when he was with her.
