Джеки Браун – A Pretend Proposal: The Fiancée Fiasco / Faking It to Making It / The Wedding Must Go On (страница 8)
“Why don’t you tell me a little bit about her,” she suggested, folding her hands in her lap.
“Nana Jo?”
“She’s a pistol.” His expression turned fond. “She has an opinion on everything and offers it freely, whether you want to hear it or not.”
“My mother’s that way, too.” Elizabeth had little doubt her expression was one hundred and eighty degrees from fond. She shook off all thoughts of Delphine. “And right now Nana Jo’s opinion is that you should be married.”
“Actually, that’s been her opinion since I graduated from college.” He shrugged.
“But you’re not marriage-minded. Commitment’s not your thing. You prefer to keep your options open and continue to play the field.” She paraphrased his earlier comment.
His frown came as a surprise. She got the feeling he wasn’t happy with her assessment, though he didn’t try to correct her.
“About a year ago, my grandmother started telling me she didn’t have long for this life and that the only way she could leave this world peacefully was to know I was settled and happy.”
“That’s because she loves you.”
“And I love her. I’d do anything for her. As I said, she raised me.”
Elizabeth tamped down the questions begging to be asked. Chief among them: Where were his parents when he was growing up? Was he, like Mel, the product of a broken home? She pitied him if that were true. Skeet and Delphine might not believe in the institution of marriage, so their exchange of vows was unrecognized by the state as legally binding, but they were committed to one another in their own way. As counterculture and plain old wacky as they could be, at least Elizabeth had the luxury of an intact family. Or she had until her brother decided to drop out of high school and then drop out of sight.
Thomas was saying, “I told her I was seeing someone special mostly to give her something positive to occupy her thoughts. It worked a little too well and spiraled out of control. From that simple statement she extrapolated my impending nuptials.”
“And you didn’t do anything to stop her?”
“I didn’t have the heart. It made her so happy. She went from telling me which outfit she wanted to be buried in to what she planned to wear to my wedding. A pink organdy gown, by the way. She sent me a magazine clipping of it, as well as suggestions for my tuxedo. Black tails. Very formal and timeless, in her opinion.”
One corner of his mouth lifted in a bemused smile that tugged at Elizabeth’s heart. Oh, he’d dug himself a deep hole all right.
“Why not tell her the truth now? They say honesty is the best policy for a reason.”
“I’ve thought about it. Believe me. But I’m afraid Nana Jo will just go back to fretting over her health and my future, and dropping brochures for headstones in the mail to me.”
“But you actually don’t plan to get married to me or anyone,” she pointed out. “Eventually, your grandmother is going to figure that out.”
“I know.” He rubbed his chin. “Which is why I was thinking that, after a reasonable length of time, I would tell her that things between you and I had ended.”
“My doing, of course.”
He smiled guiltily. “She’d be upset. But I think she also would be a little relieved that I almost made it to the altar.”
“Commitment phobia cured?”
With one eye closed, he squinted at her with the other. “You don’t pull any punches,”
he said wryly. “I had you pegged as practical, but not quite so blunt.”
“That’s my professional persona,” she reminded him. “I can hardly afford to insult someone who is about to cut my agency a check.”
“Present company excluded, of course.”
“Your check—”
“Checks. One from my business. One from me.”
“Whether one check or two, they are coming with a lot of strings,” she reminded him.
“I want to make one thing clear. The check from Waverly Enterprises will be forthcoming regardless. I believe in your cause, and I respect what you’re doing.”
Slightly mollified, she said, “Thank you.”
“As for the other check, the one from me personally, yes, it does have strings as you called them. But I prefer to think of them as conditions, in which case they would serve to keep what would go on between us a business transaction as well, just with the funds coming from my personal bank account rather than my company’s.”
That made some sense, but … “I’m not saying I agree, but let’s discuss that business transaction. What exactly would it entail?”
“Some of your time, for starters. We would need to get up to speed on each other in short order. We’re supposed to have been dating for several months. Beyond knowing that you have a dog named Howie and started your nonprofit just after college graduation, I don’t know anything about you.”
“I could write up some notes.”
“Crib sheets, you mean?” His smile was engaging.
“I never had to resort to them myself.” She regretted the chiding comment when his lips flattened into a thin line.
“For the record, I’m not a fan of cheating, or lying, although I can understand where you might find that hard to believe right now. See, this is exactly the reason we need to spend time together before this weekend.”
“Assuming I agree.”
“Assuming that. Yes.”
“So, I would meet your grandmother and visit with her over the weekend?”
“That’s right. She’s incredibly easy to talk to and fun to be around. She plays a mean game of cribbage. Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself,” he said.
“Assuming I agree to do this,” she repeated.
“Assuming.”
But they both seemed to know she was leaning in that direction.
“I won’t lie to her, Thomas.” This time, his given name slipped easily from Elizabeth’s lips. It was important they were clear on this point. She might be willing to bend her principles, but she would not break them. “For her to assume is one thing, but if she flat-out asks me a question that requires me to lie, I won’t do it.”
“This is assuming you agree.” He beat her to it this time.
“Let me make something else clear. The only reason I am even entertaining the possibility of doing this is because Literacy Liaisons means so much to me.”
“I know that.”
Of course he did. He was banking on it, she realized.
“So, is that a yes?”
She exhaled slowly, knowing her life was about to take a huge and unexpected turn. “Yes.”
Once Elizabeth agreed, the rest of dinner passed in a blur for Thomas. When it came time for the check, he didn’t remember eating, possibly because more than half of his steak remained untouched on his plate, as did the side of risotto and steamed vegetables.
He was relieved that she’d said yes, of course. Her agreement was what he’d hoped for. Still, he couldn’t quite shake his apprehension. Now, he had a fiancée—a woman who was also a stranger. He needed to remedy their unfamiliarity and fast.
As he walked her to her car a little later, he said, “So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She stopped, blinked. “Tomorrow?”
“We only have a few days to get to know one another as well as two people who have been dating for several months would,” he reminded her.
“Oh, is that all?” He appreciated her attempt at humor, even if her smile was forced. “So, where and what time?”
“Does nine o’clock work for you?”
Her brow crinkled. “It’s a little late,” she began. “I’m an early riser, which means I tend to turn in not long after the sun sets.”
“In the morning,” he clarified.
“Oh. Well, I have to work.”
“Yes. I realize that. I was hoping maybe I could come by your offices, see what you do. You can tell anyone who asks that I’m a potential contributor, which is true,” he added, in case she was going to remind him that she wasn’t willing to lie outright about their relationship.
“Hmm.” He watched as Elizabeth mentally flipped through her morning’s schedule. “I think that will work.”