Page 73 of Beyond the Stroke

“You told Scarlett yet?” Cal asks, like he can read my mind.

I sigh. “Not really. She’s going to have thoughts.”

She's been my ride-or-die since we were nineteen, and if anyone knows how deep my marriage aversion runs, it’s her.

So, I text her a quick “Getting married today. Don’t freak out.”

Three seconds later, my phone rings.

Of course it does.

I excuse myself from Cal’s peaceful fishing excursion just in time to get an earful from Scarlett.

“Tell me you’re joking,” she says by way of greeting.

“I’m not. It’s a courthouse wedding. No flowers. No fuss. Just paperwork.”

She groans. “Summer…what are you doing?”

“I’m helping a friend. I need health insurance. He needs to get his parents off his back so he can train. It’s not real.”

“You’re legally binding yourself to a man, and it’s not real?”

“It’s Rory,” I say, like that explains everything.

Because it kind of does. He’s becoming the one person I can’t say no to. And Scarlett knows.

The silence that follows is long and heavy.

“You really think you can do this without catching feelings?”

“I already laid out the rules,” I say. “No intimacy. No complications.”

Scarlett doesn’t laugh. Doesn’t even scoff. Just lets the quiet sit for a moment too long.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Sum. Just…don’t lie to yourself about how you feel.”

Before I can respond, a shriek cuts through the air.

“Summer!”

It’s Winnie.

“I gotta go,” I say quickly.

Scarlett sighs. “Fine. But I want pictures. Not wedding photos. Proof of life.”

I end the call and rejoin Cal just as Winnie comes racing down the dock toward us, waving her arms wildly.

She’d texted me earlier asking if she could help me get ready for today. I’d agreed only because I don’t know what one should wear to a courthouse wedding for their marriage of convenience and Winnie seemed so excited to help.

But now I’m wondering if I can jump off the side of the dock without her seeing me.

“There you are,” she pants, out of breath from the full-on sprint down the dock.

“She found me,” I whisper to Cal, whose raspy chuckle warms my heart.

“We’ve got to get you ready!” Winnie exclaims.

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