The Sweetheart Sham

by Danielle Ellison

  …

  After my shower, I text Will for the second time. He doesn’t answer me. I hate that he’s upset with me. Sure, us dating was his idea, but I could’ve said no; I could’ve been honest about Beau; I could’ve not said what I did about carrying his secrets. I didn’t mean that last part. All I can do now is cross my fingers and pray I haven’t lost my best friend.

  Downstairs, Momma and Daddy are sitting outside on the patio, talking through stuff about the wedding. I know because I recognize the list I helped her make. The Montgomery wedding is in six days, and I’m sure she’s so stressed since I abandoned her at crunch time.

  “The Belles did all the table centerpieces, so that’s done,” Momma says to Daddy. I don’t know if he’s listening or only offering himself up as a sounding board. “I really need her back.”

  I freeze at the doorway.

  “She will be,” Daddy says.

  “How do you know?” Momma asks, her voice heavy.

  “I’m here,” I say, and they both turn to look my way. Momma’s face looks immediately brighter, probably at the sight of me in actual clothes. I walk toward the table and sit in the empty seat between them.

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” Daddy says. His voice is stern. Daddy doesn’t ever raise his voice, especially not to me. He reaches over and takes Momma’s hand. “It was disrespectful to your mother, to my wife, and that’s not okay.”

  “I know, and I really am sorry. I’d never wanted to hurt you,” I say to Momma.

  She and Daddy sit there, exchanging a look, before she rests her gaze on me. “I understand that you’re not always going to want to talk to me. You and I aren’t eye-to-eye on everything, but we’re both here for you.”

  “I know,” I say.

  Silence falls between us for a moment. I wonder what they’ve been talking about and doing all week while I was holed up in my room. This was a busy week, and I didn’t think twice about abandoning Momma when she needed my help.

  “We’re ready to hear about what happened now,” Daddy says.

  I nod, the words all stuck in my throat. “To start, I reckon you should know that Will and I are not actually dating.”

  I anticipate some sort of big exclamation of surprise, but Momma stares at me expectantly. No one says anything though, which is not what I was expecting in the least. “You knew?”

  She gives me this little laugh. “Honey, I’ve known the boy all his life. I put it together years ago, or at least I suspected.”

  “Then why did you make it seem like that’s what you wanted?”

  She waves me off. “It’s tradition. I guess we Monroes and Montgomerys like to hang on to the possibility of our families. Although, you still have Beau,” she says.

  I shake my head. “Stop it.”

  “We’re all going to work on that,” Daddy says, giving Momma the eye.

  Momma nods. “Sorry. We will. Is that why you’ve been upset? I remember when he and Kerri Ann left. You were a mess. I thought it was just that you’d lost your friend, but that kind of heartache is deeper. Then when he came back this summer, I could just see it on your face.”

  I hadn’t realized Momma was so aware, not with everything going on back then. I guess she does pay more attention than I ever realized.

  I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to let it get this bad. I wanted to help Will, but this is all a mess.”

  Momma takes my hand. “I’m your mother, Georgie. You should’ve come to me with this. I would’ve told you it was a bad idea from the get-go.”

  I laugh a little. “Thanks for that.”

  “What your mother is trying to say,” Daddy adds, “is that we want you to be honest with us. About everything and anything you’re doing. We’re on your side, no matter what.”

  I bite my lip. “I really screwed up with Will.”

  Momma nodded. “You’re young. You’re bound to mess up more times than you can count.”

  “What do I do?” I look at my phone. Still no reply.

  Dad nods slowly and says, “Give him some peace.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He reaches over and takes my hand. “When you were a little girl and you were scared that the monsters were going to come out, what did I do?”

  “Told me it’d be okay.”

  “And?”

  I smile a little at the memory. “Checked all the dark places with a flashlight and showed me I didn’t have to be afraid.”

  Dad nods. “Maybe Will’s afraid he’s lost you, the same way you did him. Do more than tell him, Georgia Girl. Show him he didn’t. Show him he’s not alone.”

  I can do way more than that. I jump up and hug Daddy, then Momma. “Thank you. That’s a great idea.”

  I start to leave when Momma reaches out for me. “What are you going to do about Beau Montgomery?”

  I shrug. “He left again. Not much I can do.”

  “He’ll be back,” she says.

  I cross my arms. “Well yeah, I’d hope, since he’s in the wedding.”

  Momma laughs. “You’re here. Trust me, he’ll be back.”

  I shrug, but there’s a flutter in my chest. I ignore it. Beau has left me twice now. He can come back for me all he wants, but it doesn’t mean I have to let him in again. I’m done playing that game. Now, whatever happens with Beau is on him.

  Whatever happens with Will is on me—and I know exactly what I need to do.

  …

  The major piece of the puzzle has already been put into place. The only remaining one is Will. I have to recruit Drew to help me get him to go to Charleston. That’s the hardest part, because apparently he doesn’t want to leave the house. Somehow though, Drew gets him there.

  I’m standing across the street from a downtown coffee shop when Will and Drew go inside. Once they’re in, I take my seat in the back of the shop and hide behind a large fern. It’s totally conspicuous, but I feel like if he sees me, he won’t stay. He has to stay.

  “What are we doing here?” Will asks Drew.

  “Drinking coffee,” Drew says.

  Will groans. “I don’t want any coffee.”

  “You already put on pants so sit down and drink your coffee,” Drew orders him. Will flips him off, but he ultimately complies. He slumps in the chair. His hair is a mess, sticking up all over the place, and that’s not how Will does things. I feel even worse now, but this is going to help fix it. It has to.

  A barista stands in front of a microphone. Giant black-frame glasses rest on his nose; he has flappy red hair and freckles. I’d know him anywhere, even though it’s been years.

  “Hey, everyone. Welcome to our Open Mic Night here at Beans. I’m Dale.” He pauses. “If you buy a pastry, you get a free shot of espresso, so check that deal out.”

  I see Will sit up straight in his chair and whisper something to Drew, who shrugs. I can’t hear them over the mic, but I bet Will recognizes who this is, too.

  “I started this poetry night last year because a lot of us feel we don’t have a voice in this world. But you do. Here, you do. I have a few sign-ups, and those people can go first. So Laney…”

  He drifts off as a girl with bright red hair takes the stage with a bongo. This is my chance.

  I walk over to the table and Will looks up at me. “Come with me,” I say.

  Will crosses his arms. “I’m mad at you.”

  “I know, but come with me anyway.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that Dale Westin?”

  I nod, and Will pauses for minute, eyes still on me. He looks back toward Drew, but during our conversation Drew went to get their drinks, so there’s no one else for Will to turn to. I watch him process. His face shifts from anger to curiosity. Wordlessly, Will stands and follows me back toward the bathroom where Dale is leaning against the wall.

  “Hi, Dale?” I start, and he looks at me. “I’m Georgie.”

  He wags his fi
nger. “You’re the one who called me. The girl from Culler.”

  “Yeah,” I mutter.

  “That was some creepy shit you tracking me down like that,” he says. My cheeks get hot, but I don’t let that back me down because this isn’t about me.

  “It’s important,” I say. “This is my best friend, Will.”

  Dale and Will look at each other for a second, and Dale nods over his shoulder. “Come back here with me.” He yells at a female barista that he’ll be back in a few, and leads us to the overpacked stock room. The smell of coffee and spoiled milk makes my stomach churn. “So, what can I do for you?”

  I look at Will, hoping he understands what I was trying to do here. His head is bobbing, and though he lacks his usual spark and charm, he clears his throat. He’s nervous. “I was a few years younger than you, but you might remember my brother Drew?” Will doesn’t stop talking to let him answer. “I remember you and I don’t know…”

  Dale puts a hand on Will’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”

  “What is?” Will asks.

  “You are.”

  Will looks for a second like he wants to cry, but he doesn’t. I suddenly feel like I shouldn’t be in here, but I don’t want to leave. Will nods along to Dale and mutters, “Thank you.” It seems like this gives him confidence, because he stands up straighter. “What made you leave Culler after you came out? You were there and then one day you were gone. Were people that horrible to you?”

  Dale looks between the two of us, and refocuses on Will. “No.”

  “No?”

  He shrugs, pushes the glasses up on his nose. “I got a few awkward questions and sometimes people stared. My parents heard some whispering. People talk, yeah, but that’s expected. No one was overtly mean to me or anything like that.”

  “Then why did you leave? We heard you got run out of town.”

  Dale laughs. “No, man. My parents got transferred. That was all. My dad was sent to Germany for work, and I moved here to live with my aunt to finish high school, then I stayed.”

  Will lets out a sigh of relief. “For real?”

  “Yeah,” he says.

  I exhale, too, and it feels like this breath I’ve been holding in finally releases. I never realized I needed Will to be wrong about Culler and Dale Westin as much as he needed it.

  Dale crosses his arms. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s hard no matter where you are. There will always be someone who makes you feel out of place, but I’d never go back to hiding who I was. I was miserable, and I wanted more. You’re allowed to have more, man. You are just as important as every other asshole. For each one of them, there’s also someone like her,” he says, nodding toward me. “Someone who fucking tracks down a stranger who was once in your shoes. You should try not to worry about the other people. It’s their fucking problem.”

  The barista from the front pops her head in the back. “I need you!”

  Dale nods and puts a hand on Will’s shoulder. “You’re going to be okay,” he says again before he leaves us there.

  Will doesn’t say anything at first, nor does he move. I hope I did the right thing. I spent all of yesterday calling people who were once close to Dale, starting with a girl he hung out with whose grandma still lives in Culler. The whole thing took me about twenty minutes, and I honestly can’t believe it took this long for me to try.

  “Will,” I start, and before I can say another word, he hugs me. We stand there in each other’s arms. He squeezes me so tight it hurts a little, but I’d never complain about a Will hug.

  “I’m sorry,” I say quickly. “I didn’t mean that stuff I said. I was mad at Beau, not at you.”

  “I know. I forgive you, and I’m sorry, too.”

  “For what?” I ask.

  Will sighs as we pull apart. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do that.”

  I shake my head. “I volunteered. I do want you to be able to have a love life.”

  “We should both get to have one. Next time be honest with me.”

  “You officially know all my secrets,” I say.

  Will gives me a little glimmer of a smile. “We would’ve staged the best breakup in history, even better than the beginning story of our fakeship.”

  “It would’ve been pretty epic,” I say.

  “I’m thinking paint guns,” he says.

  I laugh. “God, I missed you.”

  “I know. We can never let a stupid boy come between us again.”

  “I won’t,” I say. “For the record, I didn’t know I’d still like him. I wanted not to like him anymore. I tried not to.”

  “Silly, Georgie,” Will says softly. “If anyone is going to understand trying not to like someone, it’s me. But I know best of all that you love who you love.”

  “I love peanut butter,” I say.

  “Back at you, jelly,” he says. He wipes his eyes and wraps his arm around me. “Let’s go find my brother. I think I have something I should tell him.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Beau

  We pull into the driveway of the Montgomery Estate, and I feel this automatic sense of relief. I park my truck beside Ma and get out before she even turns the car off. I wait for her. She wanted to come, but she also didn’t.

  I had to remind her of her owns words. We will never know if we run away.

  Ma’s shoulders tense up once she’s out of the car. She looks at the house like it’s the last place she wants to go. She’s staying with the Monroes, but she promised she’d come here first and get all the hellos over with. The biggest one being Dad. They haven’t been in a room together since the divorce.

  I wish I knew what she was thinking. She turns back to me.

  “You doing all right?” she asks.

  “Yeah. You?”

  She shrugs. I see the ring shine in the light coming from the window. Ma must notice me staring at it.

  “You think I should take it off? It’s a tricky thing to be in two worlds,” she says.

  I shake my head. “You should definitely leave it on, so when you tell them all you’re engaged, you can do that girly show-it-off thing.”

  I smile at her.

  She smiles. “Beau. Are you saying yes?”

  I want Ma to be happy. I want to believe in love the way she does, and that means saying yes. “You do want to marry him, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then do it. You have my blessing.” Ma throws her arms around me, her eyes a little teary.

  Something I’m learning is that love requires faith.

  Ma had faith that I loved her enough to let her be happy. Will had faith in me to keep his secret and to be in his corner. Georgie had faith in me, in us, and I broke that twice now, but I have faith that she will try one more time. If all those people love me enough to believe in me, then I need to be able to do the same. I want to do the same.

  Ma has faith in Lawrence to be with him despite everything, and if she can do that, then there’s hope.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  Ma shakes her head. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “You should tell him yes,” I say. I wish I had said this at home so she coudlv’ve brought the ring with her. Maybe Lawrence will want to propose the right way now that I said yes. I’m not really sure what their plan is. Ma squeezes my hand.

  “You’re sure?”

  I nod. “I love you. Lawrence is a good guy.” I watch Ma look toward the house, a little nervousness on her face. “Dad and all them, they love you even if you’re not blood. You’re family. They’ll all be happy you’re moving on.”

  “Are you?” Ma asks me.

  “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

  “You say that a lot, but really, you’re the priority for me. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah,” I say.

  Ma wraps me in a hug. When she pulls away, she sighs. “Do you think they’re all waiting inside?”

  “Yup,” I say. “Probably in the entry way wa
tching us right now, knowing them.”

  Ma holds her shoulders high and wordlessly walks toward the big front door. It opens before she makes it to the knob and Uncle Ben hugs her. He’s double her size so she looks like she’s going to snap in half in his arms. Uncle Ben holds her at arm’s length. “I reckon I never thought I’d ever see you again, Kerri.”

  “Me either,” she says. “I can’t believe your son is getting married.”

  “Surprised us all,” Drew says, and Ma gives him a hug, too.

  When she sees Will, Ma points to this picture of him on the wall when he was all toothless and freckles and then to him now before hugging him.

  Aunt Madison is next, and they do that girly squealing hug. At least Mrs. J isn’t here. The three of them together are impossible. “You look so good!”

  “Me? Look at you. You’re too young to have a son who’s getting married!”

  “I know, I tell myself that all the time,” Aunt Madison says.

  Aunt Sissy and Rena stand in the back of the room. She’s not even looking at Ma though, and that’s okay with me knowing what I know.

  “Let me get in there,” Granddad yells, making his way toward the door. “Well, look at you. You’re a sight for sore, old eyes.”

  “You’re not old.”

  Granddad snorts, and then a big smile appears on his face. “You were always my favorite daughter-in-law.” Which makes Aunt Madison shout out a, “Hey, I’m right here.” Everyone laughs. It’s a greeting card moment in here.

  Dad enters and he and Ma exchange a glance from across the room. He stands there awkwardly, like he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. Ma does, too. The room is quiet, a little too quiet for so many Montgomerys.

  “How about we go have some drinks?” Uncle Ben asks. The others all agree and spread out from the room. Ma starts to follow.

  I watch Dad as he comes over toward us and hugs me. “Glad you came back.”

  “I didn’t want to be a coward,” I say, using his words back at him.

  He moves across the room and extends a hand to Ma. “You look great, Kerri.”

  “Thanks, Hank.” Ma seems a little awkward, but she’s trying to hide it as much as she can. “It’s been a while.”

  Dad nods. “Yeah, I know.” He looks toward her hand. “You’re wearing the ring.”