She’d known the entire time? “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I wanted to figure out what you were up to. And then, later, Mary and I decided you two needed a little more time to get to know each other, so we played along.”
“Oh my God.” Emma covered her face with her hands. “Mrs. Kowalski knew you knew?”
“I had to practically drag the truth out of her but, once she realized I already knew you two were lying, she gave up. I must confess, though, I was a little put out that you thought I’d fall for this.”
“By the time I realized how really crazy it was, I was in too deep to back out. I know it sounds dumb, but I did it because I love you, Gram. I wanted you to let me go so you could enjoy being in Florida.”
“I’ll never let you go. But maybe I did give you the impression I was worrying more about you than enjoying myself. But you also wanted the house.”
Emma’s cheeks burned. “Of course I wanted the house. It’s my home. But I wanted you to sell it to me. I never expected you to just give it to me. You have to believe that.”
Gram reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I knew you wouldn’t take it. I told Mary and Russell both you wouldn’t accept it as a wedding gift without telling me the truth and I was right.”
“If you’d said something, we wouldn’t have wasted the entire month playing games.”
“Oh, I don’t think it was a waste,” Gram said, smiling. “I see Sean’s sleeping in this morning. Did you keep him up too late last night?”
When the implication behind her grandmother’s words sunk in, Emma shook her head. “It’s not like that. We’re not…it’s not real.”
“Well, it’s certainly not pretend.”
“No.” Emma really didn’t want to have this conversation. “It’s like friends with benefits, Gram. Once he knows I told you the truth, he’s going to pack up his stuff and go.”
“Maybe he won’t if you ask him to stay.”
“Who says I want him to stay?” she asked, forcing a little attitude into her voice. Maybe if she could convince somebody else she didn’t care, she’d believe it herself.
“I think we’ve had enough lies, Emma.”
“We had a deal, Gram. Love wasn’t part of it.”
“I’ve spent the last month living with you two and I’ve watched your relationship change. Don’t sell him short, honey.”
She got up and rinsed her empty teacup, then walked over to kiss the top of Emma’s head. “I’m going to go have a nice bath and get dressed. I’m still going in to town and I’m still giving you the house.”
“Gram, I—”
“My mind is made up, Emma,” she said as she left the kitchen.
Sean was whistling when he hit the kitchen, hunting for coffee, but he stopped when he saw Emma sitting at the table. Her nose was a little blotchy and her eyes still damp from a cry.
“I told Gram the truth,” she said. “It’s over.”
His lungs deflated in a rush, leaving behind an ache he hoped was a lack of oxygen and not the beginning of a heartache. That would be stupid, since it wasn’t like what they had was real. It was all pretend and he’d known the day would come he’d walk away from her without looking back.
But he thought he had three and a half more days before he had to face that.
“Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded, even though she didn’t look it. “How did she take it?”
“You were right, that day we were working and you said you thought she was on to us. She knew all along.”
That set him back a bit. “She knew?”
“She said she suspected as soon as she saw us together in the airport because we didn’t look like a couple who’d…been intimate. And she and Mrs. Kowalski have been in cahoots since the first barbeque.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t she say anything? And in cahoots with Aunt Mary to what?”
“She didn’t say anything because she wanted to know what we were up to.” Her cheeks flushed and she looked down at the table. “And they were in cahoots to make us a real couple.”
“Oh.” He really didn’t know what to say to that. “They thought we’d make a good couple?”
“Crazy, huh?”
That’s not the direction he’d been heading, but it was probably best she’d said it. It was crazy. They were so different. They were in different places in their lives and wanted different things.
“Where’s Cat now?”
“Taking a bath. Then she’s going to go into town and…” She had to stop because she was tearing up again, and then she took a deep, shuddering breath. “She’s going to talk to a lawyer about giving me the house.”
“That’s good, then.”
“That’s why I told her the truth. She was insisting on giving me the house as a wedding gift, so I had to tell her.”
“But she already knew.”