Page 92 of Say You Remember Me
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I scrunched up my nose, a wave of guilt washing over me. “D-did you talk to your dad about…that particular subject?”
She grimaced, then let out a long sigh. “I wasn’t going to bring it up. You know, I was banking on the hope that maybe he didn’t register the news in his medicated state.” She paused. “But then he brought it up.”
“And how did it go?” I asked cautiously. “Was he mad? Did you tell him it was made up?”
“I probably should have…” She sighed again, her shoulders sinking a little. “But before I could explain anything, he started going on about how he trusted my judgment and was relieved to hear I’d found a good man who could take care of me since he’d been worried about me moving away on my own.”
“Oh.” I was speechless for a moment because that was definitely not the response I’d been expecting. “Well, that’s…something.”
“I know, right?” She gave a half-laugh, half-sigh. “It’s crazy. He’s never even met you.” She shook her head. “And I’m sure if he were his usual self, he’d be asking all the questions, probably demanding I bring you in so he could give you the third degree about your real intentions with his daughter. But apparently his softer side is coming out with all the pain meds because he just seemed so happy for me.”
“Does he think you’re pregnant, too?” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“Oh, gosh, no!” Her eyes widened. “At least…I don’t think so. I’m sure that would be a whole different story.”
“Probably,” I agreed, relieved to hear that wasn’t part of the equation.
“So, what are you going to do now?” she asked. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about the board?”
“I think I’m going to tell the board the truth about what’s going on,” I said. “Honesty is the best policy there since I don’t want them to distrust me. Not when I’m hoping to take over my dad’s position one day.”
“That makes sense.” She nodded.
“But as for making an official statement…I kind of wanted to talk to you about that before I said anything.”
“Oh…” she said, as if only just then remembering how big this thing had blown up today. She probably still hadn’t even looked online with everything going on.
“Do your siblings think I’m your fiancé?” I asked, wondering what she’d told them if her dad thought she was engaged.
“No, they already knew everything was fake,” she said. “I told Juliette and Lexi about the whole fake engagement stuff back when we were in Boston.”
“Okay, good…” I said, my stomach twisting a little when she said the part abouteverythingbeing fake.
I’d at least hoped thatsomeof what had happened with us had been real.
“But with my dad…” she continued. “I think I’ll just let him believe it for a little while. He’s happy. And after everything he’s been through, I don’t want to take that away from him. Once he’s fully recovered, I figure I can just tell him we broke things off.”
“Okay,” I said, not really liking the idea of us breaking things off. Even if we weren’t really a couple, I kind of wanted to be one. But I didn’t want to look like I was the only one hoping for more out of the arrangement I’d basically forced her into, so I tried to keep things light by saying, “Just make sure to tell him a really good breakup story, okay? Something like, ‘I realized I could do way better than Ian Hastings and completely shattered his foolish little heart.’”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Maddie laughed, a soft, breathy sound that eased some of the tension between us. “Maybe we can come up with a story as epic as the one we came up with when we were at the conference.”
And even though she was talking about our breakup story like it would be a funny, light-hearted event, I couldn’t help but think that if this all ended—if we went back to being nothing more than colleagues—it wouldn’t be just another crazy conference story for me to tell my friends about.
It would actually sting. Much more than I cared to admit.
Because even though I’d been the one to push for this fake engagement, the truth was becoming clearer with every passing moment: there was nothing fake about the way I felt. And if this ended? A broken heart would feel like an understatement, since I was pretty sure I’d be devastated.
33
MADDIE
The night airwas cool as we stepped out of the hospital to head to the hotel, the faint scent of freshly cut grass lingering on the breeze. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a silvery glow over the parking lot. Grant walked beside me, his small hand clasped in mine, his energy seemingly untouched by the long day.
“Are we takingThe Lamboor is your friend, Ian, driving us?” Grant asked, his voice curious and bright as he tilted his head up at me.
I glanced at Ian who was walking on my other side. His brow furrowed, his lips twitching like he wasn’t sure if he should laugh. “Wait,” he said, “do you guys have a Lambo? And you’ve just been driving that old Subaru around so no one guesses you’re secretly rich?”
“No, no, definitely not.” A laugh bubbled out of me before I could stop it. “We only have one car, and it’snota Lambo. That’s just the nickname Grant and I gave it one day. Something silly.”
