by Kirk, Cindy
“Why do they have to find out?”
“I’m not following you.”
“We could date.” He spoke fast, the words tumbling out one after the other. “Just for a little while,” he added, apparently seeing the look in her eyes.
“Tripp, I adore your parents—I really do.” Adrianna took a deep breath and chose her words carefully. “But I won’t participate in a charade. I can’t lie to them.”
“I didn’t say lie to them.” His jaw took on a hard edge. “I said we could date. Are you saying you don’t want to date me?”
“We’ve been down this road before.” Knowing how upset he was, Adrianna gentled her tone. “I don’t interest you and—”
“I never said that,” he countered before she could continue.
“Yes, you did. That’s okay, because...” Even though she didn’t like to lie, she had to protect herself. How could she face him every day at the hospital if he knew she was carrying this torch for him? The answer was, simply, she couldn’t. “Well, because you don’t interest me.”
She’d lied to him before on this issue, but never had she said it quite so plainly.
He searched her eyes. “Tell me you don’t have any feelings for me. Not even as a friend.”
“Well, as a friend—”
“You’re my friend, too,” he said.
“Tripp, I’m not going to lie to your parents and make believe we have a relationship that doesn’t exist.”
“I’ll pay you,” he said, the desperation blanketing his face matching the tone.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Adrianna, I’m not asking you to do this for me.” His almost-frantic gaze met hers. “Do it for my mother. For my dad. Give them a little happiness.”
“It isn’t right.”
“What isn’t right is having the ability to give those two people some measure of comfort and not doing it.”
“Spell it out. Tell me exactly what you’re proposing.” The second the words left her lips, she knew she’d lost the battle.
“We start dating. I tell my parents we’re not talking marriage at this time but I enjoy your company. Which I do,” he hurriedly added. “In a month or so, when my dad is better, I tell them we had a falling-out and are no longer together.”
“Why not tell them that now?”
“Because my dad will be better, stronger in a month.”
You hope. I hope.
“We’re talking thirty days,” Adrianna repeated, wanting to make sure they were clear on this point.
“One month,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers.
Adrianna considered his proposition for a long moment. Even if she met someone today whom she was drawn to, the odds were he’d still be available in thirty days. She found the thought of spending the next month in Tripp’s company alternately appealing and scary as heck.
Would she be able to keep her feelings hidden? Would she be able to keep herself from falling in love when her feelings for him already ran so deep? It was a lot to consider.
Still, in the end, it was really so little to ask. If she was in his situation, she’d appreciate someone helping her out.
“What about Jim Ferris?” she asked. “You already told him we weren’t together.”
Tripp shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “I didn’t get a chance to speak privately with him the other night.”
“Tri-ipp.”
“Hey, but it’s worked out for the best.” He turned a beseeching gaze on her. “You’ll do it, won’t you, Adrianna? For my parents. For me.”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “For your parents.”
His blinding smile caused her heart to skip a couple of beats. “Remember, this is just between us. No one can know this is a charade. That includes any of our friends.”
“I can’t do that.” Adrianna shook her head. “I can’t lie to Betsy.”
Tripp’s smile disappeared. “It’s only for a month.”
Adrianna lifted her chin. “She’s my best friend.”
She heard Tripp take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He searched her eyes and she saw the question reflected in the blue depths.
“She won’t tell anyone,” Adrianna assured him, “if that’s your concern.”
“It is a worry.” Tripp raked a hand through his already-disheveled hair. “Jackson Hole isn’t that big. My parents can’t find out—”
“—that we mean nothing to each other.” Adrianna finished the sentence for him, a knifelike pain lancing her heart.
His gaze went sharply to her. “I hope you don’t believe that. I consider you a good friend.”
The warmth mixed with the worry in his eyes made her feel better. Perhaps this one-month charade would end up being a blessing in disguise.
Perhaps at the end of four weeks, Tripp would find it impossible to let her go. Perhaps he’d realize that he’d found what he’d been looking for, right under his nose. Perhaps—
Yeah, and perhaps pigs could really fly.
Adrianna resisted the urge to snort at the girlish dream. In one month she would walk away. Then she’d begin her search for Mr. Right in earnest.
* * *
Adrianna was grateful that her monthly book club met on Tuesday night. Because she and Tripp had just come up with their plan yesterday, she wouldn’t have to deal with any questions.
As she walked up the steps of Cole and Margaret Lassiter’s mountain home, her fingers tightened around the plate of hummus-stuffed celery sticks topped with capers.
Although all these women were friends, she’d only recently started attending the book club. Betsy—who’d never met a stranger—had told her the discussions were super fun and had begged her to join.
Finally, several months ago, Adrianna had agreed to give it a try. Although she found the meetings enjoyable, she still felt a bit like an outsider. Because of Betsy just having her baby, tonight would be the first time she’d attended without her close friend by her side.
It will be okay, she told herself as she balanced the plate in one hand and rang the bell. At least she was prepared for a book discussion.
Of course, that was assuming no one wanted to discuss The Garden of Forking Paths and instead opted for a general discussion on what everyone was currently reading.
She was debating whether to ring the bell again when the door swung open.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” Margaret smiled with a warmth that melted away Adrianna’s unease. “Charlie was entertaining everyone with a magic trick he’s recently mastered.”
Charlie was Margaret and Cole’s eight-year-old son. They’d adopted him several years earlier when their mutual friends had been killed in a horrific car crash just outside of Jackson. Margaret had opened a physical therapy clinic in town last year and with Cole busy running his Hill of Beans coffee empire, many wondered if they’d delay having more children.
Margaret’s rapidly growing midsection answered that question.
“How are you feeling?” Adrianna asked the woman everyone referred to as Meg.
“Fabulous.” Meg slipped her arm through Adrianna’s. “Cole and Charlie spoil me terribly. I’m loving every minute of it.”
“Well, you look wonderful,” Adrianna said sincerely.
Over the years the red hair that Meg had eschewed as a young girl had deepened to a rich auburn, the vibrant color a perfect foil for her creamy complexion. She was tall and slender, the hunter-green stretch-fabric maternity dress showing her only extra weight was in her belly.
“So do you.”
The admiration in Meg’s eyes when she looked at Adrianna’s color-blocked shirtdress in taupe and orange was too real to be faked.
Before Adrianna could respond, Meg squeezed her arm. “I’m glad you decided to dress up a bit.”
“With five children, I’m lucky to be dressed,” Mary Karen Fisher called out as Adrianna and Meg entered the great room where they were meeting. “Forget stylis
h.”
With blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and dressed in jeans and a floral top, Meg’s sister-in-law looked more like a college girl than a mother of five little ones. With a sunny personality and an infectious laugh, everyone liked Mary Karen, including Adrianna.
“I’m all about stylish.” Lexi Delacourt straightened from where she’d been bent over the refrigerator. Her tailored navy suit did little to enhance her curves. “But I got off late and had to come straight from work.”
“Does that mean no pasta rustica tonight?” Adrianna tried to hide her disappointment.
In addition to being a well-respected social worker, Lexi was a gourmet cook who usually made the entrée for the book-club dinner meetings. She’d mentioned last time that she planned to make pasta rustica with chicken sausage and three cheeses this month. The dish was one of Adrianna’s favorites.
Lexi smiled. “I had a feeling my day might be a long one, so I dropped the casserole off on my way to work. Meg just put it in the oven to warm.”
“Wine?” Meg asked, holding up a glass and a bottle.
Adrianna demurred. “I’m on call tonight, so iced tea or water is fine.”
Meg smiled. “Coming right up.”
“I know Betsy isn’t coming.” Mary Karen took a sip of wine. “And July has a sick kiddo. Who else is skipping?”
“Kate and Joel are out of town,” Lexi said.
“Michelle won’t be here,” Adrianna informed the others. “She went home early because she wasn’t feeling well.”
“We can still have a good discussion with four of us.” Meg glanced around the table. “Would you mind if Charlie ate with us? Cole should be home shortly.”
After everyone reassured her that they’d be upset if the boy didn’t join them, Meg set an extra place at the table and called in the child, who still wore a magician’s cape and hat.
When his mother replaced the capers with raisins and deemed Adrianna’s dish “ants on a log,” Charlie ate the appetizer with great enthusiasm.
Over dinner, the four women talked about everything from movies to their favorite phone apps. When the talk shifted to the benefits of cloth diapers over disposables, Adrianna felt out of step.
She hoped that someday diapers would be a part of her world. There was plenty of time yet. She wasn’t even thirty. She had several patients in their early forties pregnant with their first baby.
Adrianna took sympathy on Charlie, who seemed equally bored by the conversation about pocket diapers versus all-in-ones or all-in-twos. “Tell me about your magic tricks.”
Charlie was intently explaining to her how he’d made the bead vanish from the paper cup and show up in his pocket when he heard the front door open.
“Daddy’s home.” The brown-haired boy jumped to his feet and raced from the room.
“We have extra food in here,” Meg called out. “If you’re hungry.”
The sound of heavy footsteps sounded on the hardwood. From the rumble of deep voices, Adrianna guessed that Cole Lassiter wasn’t alone.
She half expected to see him with Ryan. After all, he and Betsy’s husband were best friends from way back. Until she remembered Ryan would be home tonight with his wife and newborn son.
The second Tripp stepped into the room, Adrianna’s heart stopped beating.
No, the voice inside her head cried out, it’s too soon for the charade to begin.
At first, it appeared she may have been granted a reprieve. Meg busied herself preparing a plate for the two men, while Lexi got them each a beer from the refrigerator. Charlie was talking nonstop to his dad about his magic tricks. And Tripp was teasing Mary Karen about something related to her boys. Then his gaze shifted.
When her eyes met his, she realized he hadn’t expected to run into her this evening either. The smile lifting his lips told her he was far better at reacting to unexpected changes than she was.
“Anna.” He crossed the room and bent down. Before she could react, he kissed her cheek. “I didn’t know you’d be here. But then, I was tied up in meetings all day.”
The eyes of the three women in the room appeared to widen at precisely the same instant.
“Anna?” Mary Karen sputtered. “Only Betsy calls her Anna.”
Lexi’s gaze shifted from Adrianna to Tripp. “Is something going on between you two?”
Tripp laughed, his hand resting on Adrianna’s shoulder. “What was your first clue?”
Meg smiled. “I always thought you’d be a perfect match.”
Cole chuckled. “My wife, the matchmaker.”
“I just want everyone to be as happy as we are,” Meg said with sudden seriousness.
Adrianna gazed up at Tripp. When he looked at her that way, she couldn’t help but blush. Her cheek still sizzled from the warmth of his lips. What would it be like if he really kissed her? Not the chaste kisses of the other night, but ones fueled by passion?
Then she reminded herself that none of this was real. He was only pretending to be happy to see her. Deep down, he was probably irritated he’d been forced to put their game plan into play so soon.
The gentle kiss on the cheek wasn’t real. The way his hand lingered on her shoulder as he played with her hair wasn’t real. The only thing that was real was her response to his nearness.
Her heart had picked up speed. Heat washed across her cheeks as desire uncurled and stretched in her belly. That was when Adrianna realized the hardest thing about this charade wasn’t going to be making people believe she cared about Tripp. It was going to be walking away from him when the month was over and finding a way to mend her broken heart.
Chapter Eight
Once the men left to go upstairs to Cole’s office, Adrianna tried to forestall the inquisition by beginning a discussion of The Garden of Forking Paths, sure that Lexi would take part. No such luck. Then she brought up the romance novel she’d recently read. Not one bit of interest. Not when they had a love story right in front of them.
“When did this thing with you and Tripp happen?” Lexi pinned Adrianna with her gaze. “It had to have been recently.”
The other two women were equally focused.
Adrianna rose to her feet and started clearing the table. “Well, you know we went to that hospital function at the country club together. Then he invited me to a barbecue at Jim Ferris’s house last Saturday.”
Lexi took several plates from her hands and gave them to Meg, who was loading the dishwasher. “Yes, but I thought that was just as friends.”
“Friendship has a way of turning into something more,” Mary Karen pointed out, obviously thinking back to her own romance with her husband, Travis. Her lips curved up in a smile. “It’s such fun when that happens.”
“Cole and I had to find our way back to an earlier friendship.” Meg’s eyes took on a distant glow. “Yeah, it was fun, but stressful, too. Not knowing if we were just together because of Charlie or because our feelings went deeper.”
“Is that what’s happening with you and Tripp?” Lexi asked.
“I’ve liked Tripp since I was in high school,” Adrianna admitted. “Back then he only had eyes for Gayle.”
Lexi cocked her head. “That was his first wife, right?”
Even though Lexi had been a Jackson Hole resident for a number of years, she hadn’t grown up in Wyoming.
Adrianna nodded. “Gayle and I were next-door neighbors.”
“She was beautiful. But no more beautiful than you,” Mary Karen added hastily.
“Gayle was a lovely person inside and out.” Adrianna’s exhalation came out sounding more like a sigh.
“She’s been gone three years,” Mary Karen said gently. “It appears he’s finally ready to move on.”
“That’s what he says.” Adrianna forced a light tone.
“You don’t believe him?” Lexi’s gaze turned sharp and assessing even as her eyes filled with concern.
“I want to believe,” Adrianna heard herself whisper.
She wishe
d she could tell them that she’d always known Tripp was the guy for her. Even back in college when she’d convinced herself she was in love, those emotions had been child’s play compared to what she felt for Tripp.
Meg moved to her side and gave her arm a squeeze. “Give it time. This is new for both of you.”
“Believe me, there were so many times that I said to myself that no way would Travis Fisher and I ever be together.” Mary Karen’s eyes then took on an impish gleam. “I’m the best thing that ever happened to him. Just ask me.”
The women laughed and the talk turned to men and how they often didn’t know what was best for them until it bonked them over the head.
Adrianna felt the tension slip from her body and she realized she felt close to these women. They were her friends. They cared about her.
Mary Karen filled their cups with coffee and Meg brought out the dessert: a banana-split cake that was Charlie’s favorite.
Adrianna had never even heard of such a thing. It was a layered dessert, not really a cake and without any ice cream. The butter cookie crust was followed by an “ice-cream” filling of butter, vanilla, eggs and confectioner’s sugar. Meg had added toppings of bananas, pineapple, strawberries, shaved chocolate and nuts. Maraschino cherries added some bright color.
Over bites of the delicious confection, Mary Karen informed them that instead of an end-of-summer barbecue, she and Travis had decided to host a retro party. There would be Twister, spin the bottle and plenty of mistletoe, a staple of any party at the Fisher household.
“Make sure you put it on your calendar, Adrianna,” Mary Karen urged. “With all that mistletoe, you’ll want to be there with Tripp.”
“Mistletoe. Party?” Tripp said from the doorway. “I’m there.”
“I was telling Adrianna about the retro party at our house. Everyone else already heard about it over breakfast Sunday. But you two weren’t there.” Mary Karen tried to look severe but failed.
Every Sunday, their particular group of friends got together after church, while the children were in Sunday school, at a local café, The Coffeepot.
