Page 24 of Make Her Mine

“Don’t you think it’s weird?” Harlow asks.

I’m enjoying this far more than I expected to. I’m not sure what I thought our mothers’ reactions would be, but calm acceptance wasn’t it. I approach the counter and cross my arms on top of the bakery case, settling in.

“You don’t think people will think this is strange and sudden?” I ask.

My mom shakes her head. “You’ve known each other forever. You’ve spent a lot of time around one another. You’re about the same age. I don’t think anyone will think it’s strange that you’d date at some point.”

Harlow snorts and I grin instead of taking offense as some men would. I can’t help it, she cracks me up. Her seeming distaste for me is over-the-top.

I believe that she’s mad at me. I believe the grudge she’s holding, that she’s held for years, is real. But I don’t think she actually thinks I’m a horrible person. I think she enjoys telling herself and acting as if I’m a horrible person, though.

“I would never date him.”

“Then why are you pretending to this week?” Peyton asks as she turns back to frosting the cookies laid out on the counter in front of her.

They’re shaped like Ferris wheels and she’s adding shiny icing that fills in the tiny seats and spokes of the wheel. Obviously, these are for the festival rather than the wedding. Then I shake my head. They actually could be for either. Or both. I love the way Kaelyn and Carver are combining their wedding with the festival. It’s really turning into just another festival activity at this point.

“Zach Nelson is back in town,” I say. “He thinks that he’s going to win Harlow back. We decided to torture him a little bit. Harlow telling him no will upset him, but we want him to be really miserable.”

Peyton is nodding as if she’s fully on board with that. But then again, Peyton has a mean streak.

The amusing and mildly surprising part is that my mother is also nodding and smiling. My mother is very sweet. She’s not the revenge type.

Unless, of course, someone hurts someone she loves. She won’t smash headlights, but she’d definitely be up for some conspiring.

“Good for you. He doesn’t deserve your time or energy,” my mom tells Harlow.

My family loves Harlow. That’s not in question whatsoever. And of course, they feel protective of her. Even if Zach was just your run-of-the-mill ex-boyfriend who had hurt her mildly. But he isn’t. He was her first love and broke her heart badly. So they automatically don’t like him. That’s pretty amazing.

And they don’t even know the half of it. Most people don’t. Harlow doesn’t even know that I know the whole story.

“While Zach’s in town we need to sell the story that you two are together, madly in love, and we’re all thrilled by it,” Peyton summarizes. “That’ll be easy.”

Harlow narrows her eyes. “Yeah?”

“Certainly. We all love you both. Having you together will be great.”

Harlow’s gaze meets mine. She looks like she has questions. I just shrug. It’s nice that our parents love us both and think it will be easy to treat us as a couple, I suppose. It will certainly make this week easier.

“You’ll tell Dad?” I ask my mom.

My dad is an interesting guy. He loves us all, but he is very analytical. He might be one to dig more into why we’re doing this, what is our expected outcome, is there another better approach, and what the effects will be afterward.

Those are all fair questions, and I’m not sure I can answer them. The best communicator with my dad has always been and will always be my mother.

She smiles. “Of course.”

She’ll also know when the best time to tell him will be. When he’ll actually absorb the information and understand how he needs to act so that no one gets suspicious.

“Can I tell your dad?” Peyton asks Harlow with a grin.

We all laugh. Scott is protective. Of his wife and his children.

But I realize I’m not worried. Sure, Peyton will tell him that it’s fake and why. I assume Scott will approve of me protecting Harlow to some extent from Zach. But I don’t think Scott would have a problem with me and Harlow dating. Scott likes me. He knows I’m a good guy.

He also knows Harlow and my general vibe.

He might actually be worried about me.

---