Page 85 of Fake It Till We Fall
I blew out a rough breath, shaking my head.
Wanting had already cost me too much.
And now, there wasn’t anything left to lose.
Chapter 23
Harper
The lunch rush had slowed to a lull, the dining room quiet except for the soft clink of cutlery from the last table of regulars in the corner. It was only our third day of offering lunch again, and already it seemed to be a hit with the locals who, as it turned out, had missed it.
I was stacking menus when the door swung open and Charli breezed in, her cheeks flushed from the cold. My friend looked different, and it took me a minute to realize it was because her baby wasn’t strapped to her chest. Instead, she had a giant tote bag slung over her arm.
“Hey.” She greeted me with a wave, crossing the dining room to give me a big hug. “How are you?”
I tilted my head in question, but the look on her face told me that she’d already heard the news. Not that I was surprised; the whole town had likely heard. Maybe even people in the town over.
“No Poppy today?” I ignored her question.
“She’s hanging out with her Auntie Kat today. I’m doing inventory at the store,” Charli said. “This is a super slow time for me. All the Christmas arrangements are done, and I have a few weeks before the Valentine’s Day rush, so it’s a good time to take stock. So I thought I’d treat myself to a little takeout lunch order.”
Charli’s shop, Alpenglow, offered up a combination of fresh flower arrangements and everlasting dried pieces, too. But the window box and shop displays she’d done for almost every store in the plaza had been the real success, and the reason all our businesses looked so good year-round. She worked hard, especially now that she had a baby.
“I think lunch is the least you deserve,” I told her. “Please tell me you ordered a piece of Grandma’s apple pie for dessert?” When she shrugged, I shook my head. “I’ll pop one in for you. Let me go grab it from the kitchen.”
“Harper, wait.” She stopped me. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“What was that?” I turned.
“How are you?” she asked again. “I heard. About the plaza, the other day.”
My stomach dropped, but I nodded. “Good news travels fast.”
Charli tilted her head. “I think it was pretty hard not to notice,” she said. “From what Kat told me, there was yelling, and you threw a ring at him.”
Wow.I was going to need to remember that there were eyes everywhere in Trickle Creek.I shook my head and blew out a breath.
“She said it looked like more than a little spat,” Charli continued. “I just wanted to check to see…well…”
“I’m fine,” I lied. I did my best to put a bright smile on my face, calling on my years of customer service. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Charli pressed her lips into a thin line and stepped toward me. “Harper. I know we haven’t seen each other much, or at all, in the last few years, but we’re friends. You can talk to me. It’s okay.”
I exhaled slowly, and the all too familiar feel of tears burned in my eyes. When was the last time I’d had a friend to confide in? Agoodfriend? Living and working on charter boats didn’t really lend itself to making long-lasting friendships. It was such a transient career that as soon as you built any kind of relationship with someone, it was time to move on. I’d made a few friends, but none that I would feel comfortable talking to about relationship issues. None as close a friend as I’d been with Charli once upon a time.
“Can I tell you something?”
She nodded. “You know you can.”
I led us both to an empty table at the far end of the dining room. She shrugged out of her coat and dropped her tote bag on the floor. “The thing with Grayson,” I started as soon as we were settled. “It wasn’t real.”
She screwed up her nose. “What do you mean, it wasn’t real? The fight?”
“No.” I shook my head, suddenly feeling awful for lying to everyone. And for having such a stupid idea in the first place. “Oddly enough,thatwas real. In a weird way. Because the thing is, the rest of it, the whole,”I used air quotes, “relationship. It wasn’t real. I asked Grayson to pretend that we were back together again for the holiday. For Grandma.”
Charli shook her head slowly, clearly trying to make sense of what I was saying. I couldn’t blame her. Hearing it out loudmade it sound even more ridiculous than it already was. “So, you’re telling me that you weren’t really dating all this time?”
I shrugged and nodded at the same time. “Grandma told me she was sick, and then once I got home, and she saw me talking to Grayson again, and she was so happy, I don’t know…I just kind of panicked, I guess. It’s dumb, I know. But I wanted her to have a really happy holiday in case it was her last… Well, I just wanted it to be a good one.”
