I wish, more than anything, I could give him this one happy moment before he dies.
I flop back, feeling worn out and exhausted. “I guess it will be, but I’m not going to tell anyone yet. I don’t want to give Linda a reason not to come up.”
She nods. “I think that’s a good idea. It gives you guys a chance to spend time together.”
“Yeah, and most of his siblings will be here. None of us have really had a chance to see each other that much.” I sigh. “I feel so broken, Dev. I feel like I can’t keep it together and nothing makes sense.”
Devney’s smile is sad. “You’ve had a lot happen in the last few hours. Your fiancé called off the wedding and then the whole Oliver thing, so give yourself a day to just breathe. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll come up with a plan to make the visit special.”
My world is crumbling, and there’s nothing anyone can do that will make this better. I am so angry at my . . . ex for doing this to me. I mean, I get not marrying me if he doesn’t really want to, but he should’ve had a damn clue about it before now. Then I’m angry at myself because I had the clues and I ignored them, which is unlike me. I just wanted to give my father what he wanted.
I wanted to let him have his moment before I lost the chance to.
“I’m going to clean myself up,” I say to Devney.
She pulls me in for a hug. “Okay, I’m going out front to call Sean.”
“What are you going to say?”
She shrugs. “I guess there’s no point in him coming. I hate to have him fly down with Austin and Cassandra if he doesn’t have to.”
Yeah, she’s right. “Makes sense.”
“Go do what you need to, and once I get off the phone, I’ll order some junk food and wait out here for you with a bottle of wine.”
Thank God for my best friend. “You’re the best.”
She grins. “I know. Scoot . . . go.”
I head into the bathroom, and when I see my face in the mirror, I actually recoil. Lord I’m a mess, and not a hot one. I splash some water on my face, and when that doesn’t help, I dunk my face in a few times, hoping for it to do something helpful. I just end up looking like a drowned rat.
Great.
I sit on the toilet, since I’m already feeling down in the dumps. Did I really want Oliver to say yes? Would I be relieved if he hadn’t pointed out that I was being a nutjob? I don’t know. I really thought it was the best option to try to salvage the situation.
Then the guilt hits. As much as I want to see my father, having him drive all the way up here only to be disappointed, seems so selfish and wrong. Maybe it’s best I tell Linda, listen to her bullshit, and let them stay home.
I don’t know what to do. I always know. My gut is what has saved lives more times than the intel has. It’s what I’ve always relied on to get me where I am today, and it’s broken.
I’m broken.
A knock on the door causes me to jump. “Coming,” I say to Devney, forcing myself up out of my self-pity.
When I open the door, it’s not Devney standing there. No, it’s a very put together Oliver Parkerson.
He stares at me, and his lips quirk to the side. “You still want to get fake hitched?” he asks, and all I can do is blink at him.
“What?”
“I asked . . . if you still need me to be your pretend fiancé.”
“I heard you, but . . .”
Oliver leans against the doorjamb. “I said no because I really couldn’t wrap my head around it, and to some extent, I still can’t. But after you left, I felt really shitty for saying no.” He steps inside. “I think it’s fucking insane, but if you need me, I’ll do it. I’ll pretend so that your dad won’t be crushed.”
My heart begins to pound, and I don’t know what to say. For the first time since the breakup happened, I feel hope. I let out a huge squeal and bounce into his arms. Oliver laughs as he catches me and falls back against the wall.
“Jesus. I take it you want to do this?”
I lean back, staring at my friend. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I know it’s crazy and is a lot to ask, but yes I absolutely still want to do this. I will never be able to repay you, Oliver. Never.”
“You’re really sure? You want to lie to everyone you know?”
I bite my lower lip but nod. “It’s not ideal, but it isn’t as if I concocted this whole thing from the start. I’m just subbing out the man to make my father rest easier.”
He raises one brow. “And if he figures it out?”
“I think we’ll be okay. He’s not well and . . . we don’t have that long to lie.”
I go into a little detail about how this will work. Being that my father has never met Oliver one-point-oh, there’s no chance of him finding out unless we tell him. We just have to sell him on the fact that we love each other, which should be easy enough. Oliver is a great guy, and Devney has sung his praises about being an amazing person.
“I hope not because I really don’t want that on my conscience.”
“I think it’ll be fine. I’ll start coming up with a very in-depth plan. The only other small thing is that . . . well, my aunt gave me her beach house in Myrtle Beach for my—our honeymoon. I have to go or she’ll think something is up. Well, we have to go. It’s important that I stay there for at least one night, but we have it for five days. And you can have it after that one night.”
Oliver sighs deeply. “We’ll figure all that out. I’m not sure taking off before the opening is a good idea, but we can do at least one night.”
I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth and all, but something about this is bothering me slightly. I open my mouth, hesitate, and then decide to ask anyway. “Why are you doing this, Ollie? I know you said you felt bad, but . . . is there something more?”
“I don’t know what it’s like to love one of my parents so much I’d be willing to ask someone I haven’t seen in almost a decade to pretend to marry me. I figure that must be pretty special and rare.” He smiles, and I do as well. “Also, you booked the whole resort and we spent a lot of money to get it ready in time. Therefore, my family threatened to kill me and bury my body somewhere in the woods. Considering my brother-in-law is a wilderness guide, it seemed like a high probability that I would never be found.”
At that, I burst out laughing. “Well, either way, I appreciate it.”
“You say that now, but you’re stuck with me through this.”
I extend my hand to him. “We’re in this together, right?”
He shakes my hand. “God help us both.”
Oliver’s sister wasted little time telling the rest of his family, and two hours after he showed up at Dev’s rental house, I’m sitting at his brother Grayson’s house with the entire clan going over what should happen next.
“How exactly is this going to work?” Grayson asks, tucking his daughter into some swing thing.
I clear my throat. “Well, my family has never met Oliver one-point-oh, and the only thing they really know about him is that he works with me in Virginia Beach.”