Page 36 of The Fiancée Farce
“You were thinking about me?” Tansy’s voice lilted, surprise carrying through the line. “I mean, hi.”
Gemma fell back against her pillows with a smile. “Hi.”
“So.” Tansy cleared her throat. “I spoke with Katherine, and it turns out she’s the one who sent out the invitations.”
“Hmm. I see.” Gemma didn’t know Tansy’s stepmother, but given what Tansy had told her, the woman had done little to endear herself to Gemma.
“She had a little help from your aunt, apparently.”
Gemma sat up. “Mywhat?”
“Bitsie?”
Ugh.Of course. This had the stench of Bitsie’s Chanel No.5 all over it. “Did you tell Katherine we don’t want an engagement party?”
“Well, I tried...”
Her eyes slipped shut. “Tansy.”
“I did! I tried, but Katherine’s already mailed the invitations.”
Why did she have a feeling Tansy’s definition oftrywas much different than hers? “That’s Katherine’s problem, not ours. We just won’t go.”
“To our own engagement party?” Tansy sounded scandalized, which made her laugh.
“Tansy, sweetheart, we’re going to be married by then. An engagement party would be a bit belated, don’t you think?”
“About that...”
Her pulse lurched. “You’re not backing out, are you?”
Not only would that be mortifying, her fiancée jilting her before they even made it to the altar, but there’d be no time to find a replacement before the general meeting. Not if she wanted the marriage to be believable.
Plus, Gemma was beginning to find herself rather fond of the bride shedidhave—and her predilection for blushing.
If Tansy backed out, Gemma would be devastated.
“No! Nothing like that.”
Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted.
“I was thinking.”
“Oh, the horror.”
“Shut up.” Tansy laughed. “Be serious.”
“Serious.” Gemmahmmed, grinning. “What is this word of which you speak?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a little infuriating?” She still sounded amused.
“I might’ve been called that a time or twelve,” she said, smiling up at her ceiling. “Putting up with my infuriating nature is the price you pay for pretending to date me.”
Tansy laughed. “I guess I deserve that, huh?”
Gemma tucked her feet beneath her rumpled covers. “Now that we’re agreed—I’m infuriating and we both know it—go on and tell me what you were thinking. I want to hear.”
Silence stretched between them. If it hadn’t been for the soft sound of Tansy’s breathing, Gemma might’ve thought the line had gone dead, that maybe Tansy had hung up on her. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft and contemplative. “I could barely think of a reason to give Katherine for why we want a courthouse wedding. What are we supposed to tell everyone else?”
