“I’d get that in writing, if I were you,” her dad said with a grin.
Sawyer walked over, and there was a manly handshake from her dad—well, as manly as he could make it considering he was lying in a hospital bed wearing a gown that didn’t close all the way in the back—and a hug from her mom. That’s when her younger brother Bobby came in, a coffee cup in one hand and a half-eaten bag of Corn Nuts in the other. She’d barely had time to introduce him to Sawyer when a nurse came in, announced visiting hours were over, and hustled them out of the room and into the hall.
“Well, we might as well head home,” her mom said as they rode the elevator down. “You two will be staying with us, of course. Now we can finally have that family lunch that hasn’t fit into your busy schedules.”
Clover’s conscience jabbed her right in the heart. If they left without staying for lunch, it would hurt everyone. If they stayed and she had to lie to her family’s face about the non-existent wedding planning, it would hurt everyone. Jesus. It was just supposed to be a fun adventure that would get her some financial freedom. It wasn’t supposed to get so damn complicated.
“Family lunch?” Sawyer asked while she stood there silent like an idiot.
“Oh yes, it’s a family tradition, and I won’t take no for an answer,” her mom said. “Plus, if you’re there, it will distract Phillip from the fact that I’m hiding the remote to the TV as soon as we get home.”
Oh God. There was no getting out of this for her, but she couldn’t force Sawyer to go through with it. He’d already done enough. The smart thing was to get him out of Sparksville before her family got attached and walking away from him became even more complicated.
…
Sawyer kept a car and a half’s distance between the rental and Mrs. Lee’s back bumper as he followed her through downtown Sparksville. After years of having Linus drive him around, it was nice to get behind the wheel again and feel the motor purr—even if it was an anemic four cylinder. In the passenger seat, Clover was twisting the hem of her Keep It Weird hoodie around her fingers and gnawing her bottom lip. He wished like hell that he knew what to do right now, but he hadn’t planned out past getting her here. The details—as usual—were lost to him.
They made it through the second stoplight and past The Sugar Palace Donut House before she broke the silence. “I really appreciate everything, but you don’t have to stay. We can tell my mom a work emergency came up.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing when they’ve invited us to the family lunch?” He left the part about her not even bothering to ask him to himself because he couldn’t understand why that bugged him. It just did.
Her cheeks turned pink enough to be visible in the light coming in from the street lamps. “Yes.”
“Why?” There it was. That twisted squeeze of his lungs, the annoyance bubbling up. Not that he cared. After all, their relationship was just a sham. It wasn’t real. Whether he met her family or not didn’t matter.
Keep telling yourself that, Carlyle.
“Lying to them on the phone is one thing,” she said, a slight tremble coming through in her voice. “Doing it face-to-face is something else, especially after what just happened with my dad.”
“I understand.” In half a breath, he was back in the hospital room with his father; the beeping of the heart monitor had been so loud before it went silent. “When my dad died three years ago, it was a massive heart attack that came right out of the blue. It’s why sidetracking my mom’s campaign to marry me off has been so difficult. She took my dad’s death hard. I mean we all did, but Mom lost herself for a while. I guess Hudson and I got used to dealing with her with kid gloves.”
Clover reached out and put her hand on his leg. “I’m so sorry.”
They’d taken turns talking her into going out to lunch, into seeing her friends again, and into rejoining the events and charities she’d always been a part of. She’d fought. The woman was as stubborn as anyone he’d ever known, but she’d made it to the other side so it had been worth it. She was definitely back to her old fighting weight.
“Thanks, but since you’ve met Helene Carlyle you know she’s a tough old bird—don’t you ever tell her that I called her that. What happened to your dad, it’s made me realize just how far she’s come from the dark days. It’s probably past time that Hudson and I reined in the whole treat her like she’s made of glass thing.”
She withdrew her hand and turned so she faced the window instead of him. “You’re going to tell her the truth about us and the whole Marry Off Sawyer campaign?”
He followed Clover’s mom’s car onto Caller Court, concentrating on the road instead of the way his lungs had tightened or the fact that he could still feel the imprint of her fingers on his leg. “It’s probably past time, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, but kept her face averted. “So let’s go with a business emergency cover story. You can head back to Harbor City, and I’ll figure out how to tell them the truth in the morning.”
Gut tight, he turned into the driveway of number forty-three Caller Court while Clover’s mom pulled into the garage.
He should be relieved. It was an uncomplicated solution to a messy problem. All he needed to do was say thank you, but that’s not what came out. “I can stay, have your back when you tell them the truth.”
This time she did turn to face him. The porch light shining in through the window highlighted the gold of her hair. One side of her mouth was curled up in a semblance of a smile but not quite making it, as if she just couldn’t fake it anymore tonight. The lies had taken a toll.
“I appreciate that,” she said, “but you’re not the only one who’s facing up to the realization that how you’ve been handling family up until now may not have been the best option.”