A tear falls down her cheek, and she brushes it away. “You’re probably right. I . . . well, I’m . . . it was stupid.”
“Don’t say that. Ollie is—” Stella stops talking when she sees my face. “He’s probably right, which isn’t something that happens often.”
Maren attempts a smile, but her eyes are still filled with tears. “It’s fine. I’m going to go back to Devney’s rental and try to figure out what to do. I’m sorry there won’t be a wedding.”
Stella speaks quickly. “Don’t say that. Let’s meet tomorrow and discuss a plan.”
“I wish there were more I could do,” I say, feeling like I’m two feet tall. She looks so goddamn broken. I hate it when girls look like that.
She shrugs. “Me too, but I understand.”
Maren walks back to the car and settles into the passenger seat. Devney gives me a small wave, and I lift my head. As soon as they turn down the drive, my sister glares at me and slaps me in the arm.
“You are a jerk.”
“Maybe so, but at least I’m not fake engaged right now.”
I turn, not wanting to hear her tirade that I’m sure is coming.
“She needs you.”
“She needs a therapist.” I stop, facing her quickly. “Wait, you actually want me to pretend to marry her? You think it’s a good idea to lie to everyone?” I bite back the asshole remark about how lying comes naturally to her, but that would be mean.
“I wanted you to at least not make her cry!”
I shake my head, going back inside where I’m not surrounded by crazy women.
I grab the folder that’s sitting on the front desk, and Stella rips it out of my hands. “What is your issue?”
Stella huffs. “You. What exactly is your brilliant plan now, Oliver? Do you see all the work being done? It cost a fortune to speed up construction for the second wedding you booked. A wedding that is now going to be canceled. Do you know how much we are going to lose now that this event isn’t going to happen?” I have the good sense to look sorry even if I’m not sorry at all. “Your going along with Maren’s suggestion would have saved us thousands of dollars and cost you nothing but a few days of your time.”
“I get that, but . . . are you kidding me, Stella? You want me to just lie to everyone? Say vows to someone who doesn’t love me?”
“Oh, it’s called acting. You can manage it for a few days.”
Little does she know I’m a pro at it.
“I get that you don’t understand the issue, but normal people don’t fake marry people. This isn’t like asking someone to go to prom.”
She covers her face with her hands for a second. “No, it’s not normal, and I do understand your feelings on vows and promises. We all love you for it, but we love money too. I love this resort, and the fact that I am eating rice and beans for the third day because we pulled all the money out of savings proves it. Sacrifice your morals for a few days so that woman can give her dad what she needs and you don’t have to deal with your other siblings.”
“I’ll come up with something. I always do.”
She doesn’t look impressed. “What about all the people who are going to cancel once she calls this off? We already lost half our bookings from the groom’s side. How are you going to come up with the additional funds we owe to get this done on your timeline?”
“I’ll sell my body for sex.”
“But not for a fake wedding? Idiot.”
I scoff. “Not for a week of lies.”
Stella looks to the ceiling and then sighs heavily. “I love you, Oliver, but I’m going to have to kill you.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve threatened it.”
“Why won’t you do this?”
“Why the hell do you think I should?” Of all my siblings, she is the one I thought would be against this. Well, maybe Grayson too. He hates lying more than anyone.
“Because she needs you.” Stella takes both my hands in hers. “She needs you to help her because she loves her dad and doesn’t want him to be sad. The pain in her voice broke my freaking heart, and I know it broke yours too.”
“I don’t have a heart to break,” I say, wishing she would drop this. I don’t want to think about Maren’s eyes and the sadness in them. I don’t want to replay the words and desperation laced in every syllable.
Stella releases my hands. “You’re ridiculous. I don’t get why you won’t at least entertain it.”
“Because it’s crazy, Stella! Pretend to be her fiancé? Fool her family and put on a fake wedding? What happens after when she has to tell everyone it was a lie or that she’s getting a divorce? It’s seriously the most insane shit I’ve ever heard.”
“I mean, yeah, it’s a bit crazy, I’ll agree to that, but it’s also really sweet. You can help her. It’s not like you’re really going to be married and you need to do it so I don’t kill you.”
It just feels fucked up. I have cloaked myself in lies before. I allowed myself to believe relationships were real, convinced myself, and I don’t want to go down that road.
But that’s not this. I guess. It’s all lies, and we know it is.
Then I remember the pain in her voice.
I wanted to help her.
“I know that look,” Stella says.
“What look?”
“The one you use when you don’t want me to see into your bruised soul. You may fool everyone else, Ollie, but you suck at fooling me.”
“You suck at not being annoying.”
She grins. “There it is. The way you deflect with humor. I think something happened that scared you when you saw her and that is why you won’t do it.”
“No, I won’t do it because only an absolutely unhinged person pretends to marry someone for the sake of her dying father.”
“How about for the sake of their business?” she counters.
That’s one part of this that I can’t avoid. If they cancel, we are in some serious trouble. Losing four rooms is bad, but losing the whole wedding event will be a huge issue. It’s the money we needed to push the production schedule up.
“I—”
“Just listen to me,” Stella says with her hand up. “You may not understand her reasons, but they’re valid to a woman. She needs her friend to be her hero, Oliver. You can be that for her. It won’t be like you can’t just walk away at the end of it. You pretend for a bit, give her father the closure he needs, and at the same time, you save the resort from being crushed by financial ruin before we start.” She lifts onto her toes and kisses my cheek. “I love you and know you’ll do the right thing.”
Then she leaves, taking what is left of my self-respect with her.
Six
MAREN
“Oh, honey, stop crying, you’re going to burst a blood vessel,” Devney says as she rubs my back.
“I am just so stupid. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. Not only am I going to crush my father but also I embarrassed myself so badly.”
She keeps handing me tissues and rubbing circles on my back. “It’ll work out, Mare. I know it’s hard, but I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
It doesn’t feel that okay. It feels a lot like devastation. I know that it’s probably not all that bad, but I just keep thinking of how disappointed my father is going to be.