Page 19 of Crumbling Truth
I tapped the edge of the phone thoughtfully against my chin as an idea took root. “We could go together,” I mused.
“Together,” she repeated. “You want to carpool?”
My lips twitched. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Like…a date?”
“A fake date.”
“Remember how I said I don’t date? Sofia will never buy it.”
Esther’s expression was skeptical, but she hadn’t dismissed the idea out of hand. The more I considered, the better the prospect sounded. She was skittish, but it would give us the chance to get to know one another without pressure.
And it would give me the opportunity to see if she was open to more while I was in town.
“Think about it. You and I make occasional appearances together in a social setting. I’ll help you in the truck for your events. People in Spruce Hill start to make assumptions, and voilà—a perfect excuse for us both to avoid the inevitable invitations to various holiday dinners.”
“I usually just say no thank you,” she said dryly.
“That can’t be foolproof, right? Especially knowing the Jimenez family. They don’t ask half a dozen times, in different ways, hoping you’ll change your mind?”
Tipping her head to one side, she conceded, “Okay, true.”
“I’m only here until the end of the year, but that’s more than enough time to get us past the holidays. It’s perfect.”
She still looked unconvinced. “Perfect. Except then you’ll be headed back to North Carolina and I’ll be stuck here fielding questions from every resident in town about what went wrong. WhatIdid wrong, because you know they’ll blame me instead of Spruce Hill’s prodigal son.”
That bugged me in more ways than one, the thought that people would assume she did something wrong instead of me, but I was increasingly convinced this would work.
“You can tell them whatever you want,” I said, my tone bordering on cajoling. “I’ll be the asshole. Tell one person that I had a rabid scabies infection and you sent my ass packing, and I assure you the entire town will know soon enough.”
With a choked laugh, she nodded. “It might work.”
“Okay, maybe the plan’s notperfect, but admit it, it’s not half bad. I saw how Mrs. Meyers was, and we’re only getting closer to Thanksgiving. Eventually, someone’s going to try to set you up with their cousin’s nephew’s stepbrother. Don’t tell me nobody else in town tries to convince you to join them for a holiday meal?”
“Only your parents,” she muttered, then added reluctantly, “And Sofia. Everyone else tends to hint at it instead of asking outright.”
I gave her my most convincing smile. “Just think about it, okay? If we spend the holidays together, we can turn down everybody else.”
For a moment, I thought she was going to tell me to go straight to hell, but then she nodded. “Fine. But there will be rules.”
Shock rocketed through me—no matter how confidently I’d pitched the idea, I didn’t expect her to agree. Fuck, I hadn’t been this excited about anything in a long time. A smile split my face as I nodded like a fool.
“Rules, yes. Anything you say. You’re the boss.”
“No Christmas gifts,” she said, frowning like I’d argue.
I inclined my head graciously. “No gifts. What else?”
“We only attend social occasions of my choosing,” she added. “I haven’t done a whole lot of socializing in recent years and I don’t know how much I can handle.”
“Esther, I hope it goes without saying that I have no desire to make you uncomfortable in any way. You absolutely get final say on anything we agree to go to.”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t want to discuss my marriage.”
“I’d rather not talk about why I left town,” I countered. “I’m happy to shut down anyone who tries to bring up either topic, okay?”
“Okay.” The word was quiet, but firm.
