by Eliza Boyd
“I didn’t want him to worry about me. He slept through the night with all of the medication he was on, so I never had to worry. I figured I should use the extra time to make extra money to help get him more than the bare minimum. To do more to pay him back for being the best dad a girl could ask for.” Her voice became watery as it broke on the last word. The sight of her father in a hospital bed was enough to make her feel awful, like she wasn’t living up to the standards she’d set for herself. “But now…”
“One step at a time, Nicole. Okay?” He put a gentle hand on her knee, getting her attention. “You were doing your best. And you can relax a little. Maybe put that job search aside and spend some actual time with him while you have enough money to do so.”
A sharp laugh left her mouth. “About that money…”
Immediately, Evan shook his head, sitting back in his chair. “Absolutely not. I won’t take it. Every penny is yours.”
“It’s so much,” she argued. “Too much.”
But he shook his head harder. “Nope. You earned that and then some.” Leaning forward, he locked his gaze with hers and said, “You have all of my friends convinced we’re the greatest couple on the planet. Plus, Hadley got into her dream school. I don’t know how it came so naturally to you, but I couldn’t ever pay you enough for that.”
It was enough to make her cry again. Instead, she reached her left hand out to hold his. He didn’t even hesitate to accept it.
“Thanks” She gripped his hand tight. “I don’t know why the universe thought I needed you to spill all of those drinks on my tray,” she said, chuckling lightly as more tears formed in the corners of her eyes, “but I’m sure glad it did.”
With a twinkle in his eye, he said, “Yeah, me too.”
As she held his hand, she felt a kinship with him. A connection. They both knew about loss. About losing loved ones. About promises being broken and people abandoning them. They’d helped each other out more in the past ten days than some of the most important people in their lives ever had. She’d done a lot of the work, but he’d paid her handsomely. In the end, they’d both gotten what they’d needed.
But what about what they wanted?
With his gaze on her, she had the desire to tell him how she really felt: that she wanted this to be real. They didn’t need to be engaged or get married right way—or even at all. She just wanted to be in a genuine relationship with him. She liked him. A lot. And if he’d be patient with her, she could figure out how to make it work around her dad’s schedule while he figured out how to make it work around Hadley’s. They both had their challenges to bring to the table, but together, they could work them out.
When she opened her mouth to do just that, though, her father woke up. His first words shocked the heck out of her.
“Is that a ring on your finger?” he croaked in a raspy voice.
As Nicole whirled her head in his direction, she slipped her hand from Evan’s and tucked it behind her back. She went straight to her dad’s bedside and held his hand. “You’re awake!”
“And you’re engaged,” he said, trying to sit up more in his bed.
“Let me get that for you, Dad.” She helped him as best she could and then turned to Evan. “Can you get the doctor?”
He nodded and sped out the door.
Her dad followed him with his eyes. “Who’s he?”
Nicole was glad to see he was alert after his fall, but she had no time for those kinds of questions. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” he said dismissively. Cords and tubes moved around as he brought his hand up to the bandage on his head. “Or I will be. Maybe I’m hallucinating. Did I not see a ring on your finger?”
“You did hit your head pretty hard,” she said, trying to find the humor in this. But she realized it wasn’t nice to treat a patient with head trauma like they were seeing things. She didn’t know what else to do though.
“Is that the guy you’ve been texting?” He raised his eyebrows, though he sucked in a breath after a second when the pain registered.
“It doesn’t matter, okay?” she said, tucking the blanket back around him. “I just want to see you get better, all right?”
“Nicole Ann Ballinger.”
Uh oh. Her dad’s stern voice still worked even after a spill.
“If you’re engaged, I want to know,” he said. He patted her hand and squeezed it. His voice came out in rasps as he continued. “All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy, ladybug. And you seem happier when you’re texting with whoever you text with. So tell me.” He flicked his gaze toward the door, but Evan hadn’t returned yet. “Is that the guy?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes. That’s him.”
A small smile came over her dad’s face, which nearly stopped her heart. If all he wanted was to see her happy, all she wanted was the same for him. She didn’t want to lie to him. But the truth would hurt him too, which only added to the list of their victims in this mess.
“Tell me about him,” he requested.
“His name is Evan,” she started, preparing herself for the worst. “And yes, I have a ring on my finger, but we’re not—”
“Getting married right away,” Evan finished for her. He stepped farther into the room. “We aren’t sure when we’ll do it, but that’s the plan. Eventually.”
Nicole knew he hadn’t been in the room long. But he hadn’t closed the door on the way out, so she wondered how much he’d heard. Enough, apparently. As he scooted his chair closer to her, she eyed him with all the gratitude in the world. She hadn’t wanted to break her father’s heart or get his hopes up. Not while he was in the hospital. It only added to the chaos, but they’d figure it out eventually.
“Thank you,” she mouthed with as little movement as she could manage.
He gave her a sympathetic smile and threaded his fingers through hers, squeezing just enough that she felt stronger thanks to his presence.
Maybe things were still a mess. She’d thought they’d been able to end their fake engagement. The universe had other plans though—as always with them. And the beaming smile on her father’s face would make telling the truth to everyone even harder.
Hopefully, it’d be all worth it in the end. After her dad healed up.
Which meant, yet again, this wasn’t over with Evan. Not by a long shot.
15
After a week and a half of barely getting any work done since he’d met Nicole, Evan hunkered down and focused on his investing and trading. He spent four full days at his computer and on his phone while Hadley was at school. He managed to save a few of his investments from losing him a significant amount of money just in time, and even though that was good, it worried him a little.
He, too, had taken his eye off the ball. Nicole had told him she’d felt that way about her father, and he’d done the same with his money. And his daughter.
And, apparently, his mother.
She’d been gone two nights in a row, and he hadn’t seen her that morning, either. He wasn’t sure what she was up to, but prying into her life would lead to her prying into his. It wasn’t like his was squeaky clean. He needed to make sure she was okay though.
Same with Nicole. He hadn’t heard from her since Sunday. She’d texted him when her dad was able to go home late that night, but since then, he hadn’t heard a peep. It was now Friday morning and his phone had no missed calls, texts, or other kinds of notifications from her. It was radio silence, and that worried him too.
Their fake engagement was still very much on. They needed to figure out how to put an end to that, and they needed to do that together.
Evan: Hey there. It’s been a few days. Everything okay? How’s your dad?
He thought, by not asking about her or them, he’d get a response. Three hours later, he’d received nothing.
Evan: Sorry to bother you again. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Call me crazy, but I’ve missed my fake fiancée this week. ;)
&nb
sp; When he still didn’t get a response, he contemplated the “putting money in her bank account” idea, but it wasn’t like she got automatic alerts. A text was more efficient at letting her know he needed to hear from her. But she wasn’t taking the hint. He could call her, but she was probably at work. He had a few things to grab for Hadley’s Pemhall Prep acceptance party that night anyway. He figured he could swing by, see how Nicole was doing, and then run the rest of his errands after.
So, after wrapping up a few trades, he threw his coat on and snatched his keys up on his way out the door.
And nearly plowed his mom over on the front porch.
He stopped short just before doing that. “There you are. Where have you been this week?” he asked a little sternly.
Instead of answering, she straightened her jacket, pulling on the lapels. “Where are you headed off to in such a rush?”
When he opened his mouth, he didn’t have an appropriate answer. A stutter came out instead. “I just have an errand to run in Denver. That’s all.”
“It has nothing to do with the woman you and my granddaughter were having breakfast with?” Puffs of white spiraled in the air as she spoke.
“I’m getting the rest of the things we need for the party tonight.”
“Hmm,” his mom said. “And I’ve just been to the tea shop.” Her raised eyebrows dared him to challenge her on that.
Evan didn’t have the time or the patience to deal with this at the moment, so he shook his head, slipped past his mom, and headed to his Jeep. Clearly, they both had secrets. He’d get to the bottom of it after he’d gotten his own life in order.
The half-hour drive into the city was uneventful. The snow had melted, but they were still in a deep freeze. With the heat at full blast, he found a parking spot near the bank. Then he took a deep breath and prepared himself to see Nicole again.
As her fake fiancé. Again.
Honestly, it wasn’t a hard gig. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said what he’d said to her father. He hadn’t been able to watch her crush him by telling him the truth. The man had been in the hospital, for crying out loud. Plus, with all the feelings he had for her, he’d been confident that they’d make this work somehow. That, in the end, none of it would have been a lie. That was the easy way out of it, but Evan wanted it to be true.
He didn’t want to be her fake fiancé. He wanted to be her real one.
Inside the bank, warm air surrounded him as he searched for Nicole. She wasn’t at the window she’d been at the last time he’d gone there. He didn’t know where else to look for her, so he stood in the line three people deep and waited for the next teller. When it was his turn, the man at the window informed him that Nicole had been off work all week. That worried Evan because she wasn’t the type of person to do that. But maybe, with all the money he’d paid her, she’d felt more comfortable to do so. She was probably taking care of her dad, and it made him feel good to have been instrumental in making that possible.
He’d do more of that for her if he could. If she’d let him.
So he headed to her house to let her know, confident that she’d accept his offer.
Except she wasn’t there, either.
He was more worried now. While she was probably at a doctor’s appointment with her father, he couldn’t help but wonder if another incident had happened. But with everything else he had to do that day for his own daughter, he needed to get a move on. He’d call her the next day, once he’d gotten through the evening. For now, he’d text her one last time.
Evan: Okay, so I know this sounds like I’m a stalker, but I stopped by the bank and your house and you’re not at either place. I hope everything’s okay. Can we talk soon?
There. That would have to do for the time being.
He picked up the food and the last of the decorations before heading back home. The moment he stepped through the door, his daughter bombarded him, begging for the streamers so she could decorate the way she wanted to. It was her party, after all. And being the pushover dad he was, he agreed, pulling the blue and green streamers from the bag and letting her go wild.
Two hours later, he and his mom had made everything perfect.
Just before everyone was about to arrive, his mom caught him in the kitchen, double-checking the bowls of chips and salsa on the island.
“Who’s all coming tonight?” she asked, stealing a chip from the bowl.
As she dunked it into the salsa, he said, “The usual. Jude and Helen with Makayla, Roger and Melody, you…” He shrugged.
She kept her gaze on the salsa as she asked, “Not the woman who was here over the weekend?”
“Her name is Nicole, Mom,” he deadpanned. “And no. She’s not.”
“Didn’t invite her?” she questioned, more than plain curiosity evident in her tone. Then she reached for another chip.
But Evan snatched it away before her hand landed inside. “No. I didn’t.”
His mom let her hand fall to the counter. “How come? She seemed to get along with Hadley really well.”
She did, didn’t she? He remembered how full and warm his house had felt with her at his kitchen table. How nice it was to see Hadley interacting with a woman like Nicole. A woman who could be her stepmom in the future. They weren’t supposed to meet, but he couldn’t find it in him to be sorry they had.
“That’s not all that matters,” he told her, trying to dismiss the conversation.
His mom wouldn’t let him though. “Evan, if you like that woman, you should tell her.” She reached for the bowl of chips again and managed to steal one this time.
Evan was too lost in his thoughts while pondering that statement to care. He wanted to. He really did. He’d tried to talk to her that day. And he’d try again the next day. She probably needed some time with her father after what had happened, and he’d been willing to give that to her. But with their fake engagement hanging in the air, he needed some of her time too.
“And hey,” his mom said, bringing him back to the present. “Did you ever get my ring out of the laundry? It’s still missing.”
On the inside, Evan sighed. Nicole still had it. With her father in the hospital, they’d both forgotten about it. He trusted her with it, but his mom was still asking about it, so he’d need to get it back.
Before he had to answer her though, he was saved by the doorbell.
“I’ll get it,” he said—referring to the door and not her ring. He’d deal with that later.
Jude and Helen brought Makayla inside when Evan opened the door for them. Roger and Melody arrived soon after, and Hadley came bounding down the stairs to make sure they liked the decorations. All of his friends complimented them and congratulated her for getting into the school.
And then they asked the one question he wasn’t prepared to answer.
“Where’s Nicole?” Helen asked as she took her jacket off. “I thought she’d be here to celebrate with us.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Hadley chimed in. “Where’s Nicole? Does she know I got into Pemhall Prep?”
“Of course she does.” He waved for everyone to follow him into the kitchen. “She was with me when I found out.”
Hadley sped ahead and walked backward to face him. “Then why isn’t she here?”
“Yeah,” Melody said behind him. “She is such a doll. I was hoping to talk with her more tonight.”
Helen nodded, and the husbands went straight for the food.
Evan, however, snagged the towel hanging on the oven handle to dry his palms. They were slick as he thought about how to answer this. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of a good reason as to why she couldn’t make it—mostly because he hadn’t anticipated this question at all. Now, he was silently berating himself for it. It was ridiculous to think his friends wouldn’t ask why his fiancée wasn’t there.
“She, uh…” As he thought about earlier that day, he realized he had the perfect excuse at his fingertips. “She had to take care of her dad. Remember, Hadley? She told yo
u about him?”
“Oh yeah.” His daughter pouted as she nodded. “I remember.”
“She did mention that, didn’t she?” Melody said. “The Vicks thing. I remember too.”
Helen’s head bobbed as well. “That’s right. I hope he’s okay.” Then her eyes lit up like she’d just gotten an idea. “Think I can get her number?” she asked Evan. “Maybe I’ll call her tomorrow and the three of us can go out?” She flicked her gaze to Melody.
“That’d be great!” Melody eyed Evan as if she were waiting for him to recite the digits that very moment.
But he wasn’t going to. With how upset she’d gotten over his friends getting involved in the first place, she would not appreciate it at all if he handed her number out like candy on Halloween. Still, he said, “Sure. Later though. I’ll write it down,” to pacify them for now.
After that, things settled into the groove he’d expected. Hadley and Makayla found a corner to color pictures in and talk about what school was like at Pemhall Prep. Everyone mingled and enjoyed some food. Things seemed like they were back on track.
Until the doorbell rang.
16
Nicole had spent all week rushing around, trying to get things in order for her father’s future physical therapy schedule. He still needed a little bit of time to heal from bumping his head the previous weekend, but the schedule was set. It’d taken more time than she’d thought it would. Her insurance didn’t want to cover it, so she’d had a hard time getting approved. But when she wrote a check for more money she’d ever spent in one go before, they’d come around.
With a little time to breathe, she finally had to remember where that money had come from in the first place.
Her fake fiancé.
They were in this weird limbo place. Even though they hadn’t spoken all week, he’d texted her three times earlier that day. Now that dinner was over and her dad was already in bed pretty early, she thought about heading over to his house to talk. Her heart was all tangled in the idea, and she had nothing to worry about with her dad. He was out like a light—he’d sleep until morning.
