Page 111 of Things We Fake
“Yep. She was Cam’s fiancée. Left him for his rich best friend—back when Cam was poor.”
Mom wrinkled her nose. “I never liked that girl. Now, she must be eating her heart out that she left Cam.”
“You have no idea. She’s the reason why Cam accepted to fake a relationship with me.”
My mom gave me a sideways glance. “What? Cameron didn’t even mention her. And believe me, he wants to see Neil skinned alive, and that’s not just because he hates cheaters. That man cares about you. He wilted like a flower when he reached for the ring and put it in his pocket. If he had a dagger sticking out of his heart it couldn’t have been more obvious.”
I scoffed, but my heart did a funny flip. “He was probably embarrassed. It was awful of me to lose my temper as I did. I’m sorry for what I said to you, Mom.”
Her face became serious again. “You had every right to say what you said. I deserved it. I know it’s too soon to ask for forgiveness, Susanne. But I will make you a promise: I will spend the rest of my days trying to make up for my mistakes and be a better mother to you. If you’ll let me.”
Our eyes held for a few long seconds. Then I did what I wanted to do for so many years. I curled up into her arms, letting her cradle my head against her chest, in that place where I started and that would never get too small for me, no matter how old I was. She rocked me gently, stroking my hair, whispering words of comfort while I closed my eyes and finally let down my guard.
How could I not forgive her when this was all I’d wanted all along? To strengthen the bond with the woman I admired and was proud to be a part of. If we had just talked sooner, we wouldn’t have wasted years apart. But regret was pointless. All that was left now was to renew our relationship and make it better than ever.
We sat in silence for a while, comfortable in each other’s company, listening to the ticking of the wall clock.
“He loves you, you know.” Mom continued to stroke my hair softly.
I sat up slowly, confused. “Who? Neil?”
She shook her head, amused. “No, silly. Cameron.”
I guffawed. “Right. We met less than two weeks ago.”
Mom looked genuinely puzzled. “So what’s that have to do with the price of wine? I fell in love with your father the moment we met. When we shook hands for the first time, we stared at each other for so long our friends had to separate us. They felt awkward, but we didn’t. We knew we’d met our soulmate. Two days later he asked me to marry him, and here we are after thirty-four years. He is still the love of my life.”
“Yeah, but Dad’s Italian. Romance runs in his blood. Most men don’t fall in love so quickly, especially in our days.”
She watched me shrewdly. “Those who know what they want do, and Cameron strikes me as a man who knows what he wants.”
He was that, I couldn’t deny it. But from that to love it was a long way.
Hoping to distract my mother, I reached for the bag of cannoli and carried them to the kitchen, where I set them on plates. I returned with the plates and napkins, handing one of each to my mom.
She thanked me and I sat next to her again, biting into the delicious pastry. The combination of butterydough and sweet ricotta cheese was a Band-aid of dopamine that seemed to shrink all my problems.
“So.” My mom took a tiny lady-like bite of her cannoli. “What exactly is the story of this fake engagement? I heard Cameron’s version, short as it was, but I also want to hear yours.”
I chewed and swallowed, blotting my mouth with the napkin. “It’s quite a short story actually. After you told me you guys were coming over here and wanted to invite Neil to join us, I decided I needed a fake boyfriend. As it happens, Cam and I had our first date soon after, and after hearing my pitiful story and being ambushed by his ex, we decided we’d help each other out and fake a relationship. But his ex sent pictures of us to the New York Weekender and Cam suggested we fake an engagement to save my reputation and my job. The end.”
“Is it the end? Was everything between you two fake? I mean, you seemed very comfortable with each other. As if you spend quite a lot of time together.”
I blushed to the roots of my hair and stuffed the rest of my cannoli in my mouth.
Mom raised an elegant eyebrow—patience personified. “You have to swallow at some point. I’ll wait.”
She was right. Eventually I did have to swallow. I decided to shrug as casually as I could.
“We did spend a lot of time together preparing for tonight,” I said vaguely. “Speaking of which, where is Dad and everyone else?”
She shot me a look that meant she wasn’t going to be distracted, but she was letting it go for now.
“Your father, Paul and Michelle went to the hotel. I asked them to give me some time alone with you. Cam drove Helen and Becky to their hotel.”
Guilt took another nip from my heart. “I’m really sorry I ruined everyone’s evening. I like Helen and Becky so much. I wish I had a chance to apologize. And poor Papa… He must be so disappointed.”
Mom patted my hand. “Don’t worry about your father; he will understand once we explain everything. Actually, there is a way to make it up to him.”
