Page 35 of The Fiancée Farce
“No mason jars. It’s just that neither of us are really interested in a big wedding.” Tansy stepped around the counter and headed toward the front table. “We’d prefer something small.”
“Small?” Katherine’s heels clacked against the floor as she trailed Tansy. How she managed to put that much derision into one word was beyond Tansy. “Howsmall?”
Tansy tidied theas seen on TikTokdisplay, glad that her back was to Katherine so she couldn’t see her wince. “You know... intimate.”
“Intimate,” Katherine repeated, her voice clipped, full of suspicion. “Intimate as in, what? Fifty guests? One hundred?”
Tansy choked. “Fifty?”
In what universe did fifty guests count assmallandintimate, let alone one hundred?
“I assume byintimateyou mean family and close friends.”
Tansy wasn’t sure she evenknewfifty people, much less fifty she’d want at her wedding. Not that there was going tobea wedding. Not in the traditional sense. “We were thinkingmoreintimate.”
“What’s more intimate than family and close friends?”
Tansy cringed. “A courthouse wedding?”
“A courthouse—Tansy.” A hand seized her by the arm, spinning her around. “You can’t be serious. What in God’s name would possess you to get married at acourthouse?”
Katherine did nothing to conceal her look of horror at the prospect.
“We really want a simple wedding without—”
“Olivia can give you simple,” Katherine said, steamrolling right over her. “But you hardly have to go to a courthouse to have it.”
“Sure, but planning a wedding sounds like such a headache. Gemma and I would much rather save ourselves the time and the trouble and just pop over to the courthouse and”—get it over withnearly popped out of her mouth—“skip to the part where we can enjoy being married.”
Katherine balked. “You can’t honestly tell me that youwanta courthouse wedding, can you?”
It didn’t matter what she wanted. If it meant saving the bookstore and sparing herself the humiliation of anyone finding out she’d fabricated a relationship, the ends justified the means.
Katherine took Tansy’s pause as an invitation to keep needling. “No little girl dreams of getting married at city hall.”
No little girl dreams of a marriage of convenience to a practical stranger, either.
She couldn’t tell Katherine the truth: that Gemma had less than three months to secure a spouse, otherwise she’d be effectively forfeiting her inheritance and handing over the family business to Tucker. Tansy wasn’t entirely sure how much she could get away with telling Katherine, or if it was smart to even mention the trust or if that would be a red flag that their motives for marrying were matter-of-fact.
But whatlegitimate—key word—reason could they have for wanting to speed things along and marry ASAP? If she couldn’t explain it to Katherine, how were she and Gemma supposed to explain it to anyone else? To the Van Dalens, who were justdyingfor a reason to call foul on Gemma’s inheritance? Would a courthouse wedding look suspicious to the executor of Hieronymus van Dalen’s trust?
Based on Katherine’s reaction alone, she had a terrible feeling that it would.
“I’m sure Olivia can help give you the intimate wedding of your dreams on a timetable that works for everyone.”
Tansy gave an absent nod. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” Katherine beamed. “Now, as far as this engagement party is concerned, you don’t need to do a thing. All you have to do is show up and look pretty.”
It took everything inside her, every ounce of self-restraint she possessed, to keep from rolling her eyes. “Sounds like a plan.”
Speaking of, she needed to talk to Gemma.
***
Incoming call: Tansy Adams
“Tansy, just the fiancée I was thinking about.”
