Chapter 20

20

Lila blew out a breath before picking up the mascara and applying it.

Yesterday, after the volatile discussion in the kitchen, the rest of the day had been strained. Between everyone. Even her and Aster. Of course, all of them put on a show, not letting anyone see the tension building everywhere.

The evening had been one of the worst she’d ever experienced. Sure, she and Bryce ate a meal together, but not much was said. When they went to bed, they didn’t touch each other. Not even a kiss good night. She hated the strain one discussion put between them.

How did she fix it?

Short of asking the marriage to be real, she didn’t think anything would fix it. Bryce had pulled away from her, and she had to accept that. She didn’t expect him to want a real marriage. Not so soon after his last one just ended—brutally.

She didn’t even know if she was ready for that sort of commitment either. Marriage was a huge step. A very big deal. Her parents, while she knew they had their ups and downs, had a solid marriage. She wanted what they had. Right now they were spending their retirement traveling the world. Seeing new places. Enjoying their lives together. She wouldn’t accept anything less than what they had.

She and Bryce were compatible. In bed, for sure. But tying the knot compatible? She couldn’t positively say yes.

They had relayed their plan to Griffin, who didn’t voice his opinion about it. At least, not in front of her.

Today, she’d leave the house wearing an engagement ring. A ring Bryce had retrieved from Griffin last night.

She set the mascara brush down on the sink, turning her hand to and fro, watching as the light hit the diamond.

It was a gorgeous ring. Simple, but elegant. At least a karat, and the band pure gold.

It had been their grandmother’s. Bryce didn’t explain why Eve didn’t receive it—or why Denise never had.

She felt like a fraud wearing it. The ring itself was light on her finger. But she felt the weight of their actions. It was massive and she wasn’t sure she’d survive this farce.

They didn’t intend to purposely announce anything. They’d pretend to want to keep it quiet. But it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to notice the ring on her finger.

She had been right.

She and Bryce ate a silent breakfast and left right after for City Hall. Becca honed in on their farce right away.

“What is that?” Becca’s eyes lit up with pleasure, rounding her desk and grabbing her left hand before she could respond. “This wasn’t here yesterday.”

Bryce chuckled, the sweet tune sounding real, and placed a hand around her waist. “We were trying to keep it quiet.”

Becca didn’t raise her head, but her eyes tilted up at him. “Good luck with that. This ring will say everything your lips will not.”

Becca wrapped her arms around her, dislodging Bryce’s hand. She missed his touch. She’d missed it all night long. Everything that happened yesterday angered her. From Gregory’s visit to their discussion to the wide gap that emerged between them. She couldn’t even pinpoint why they were barely even speaking to each other.

She assumed he was angry for her part with Gregory, but she wasn’t going to apologize for it. So if he was waiting for one, he’d be waiting forever.

“I’m so happy. You are perfect for Bryce. You two complement each other so much. Denise never deserved him,” Becca whispered in her ear before pulling away, the happiness beaming from ear to ear. It wasn’t hard to smile herself. Plus, she had to, to keep up pretenses.

“We know it’ll get out, but let’s not shout it to the rooftops. It’ll be a long engagement anyway.”

The longest one in the history of the world because the marriage would never happen. But she didn’t add that.

Becca made a gesture as if twisting a key in front of her lips. “They won’t hear it from me.”

Several hours later when her phone pinged with a billion congratulations, she decided it wasn’t worth it to figure out where the leak came from. Their plan was in motion.

For the objective to go without a hitch, Duke had eyes on Melody. Discreetly, of course. When she decided to send another threatening message, he’d catch her in the act.

Hopefully, anyway.

That was their brilliant plan.

For lunch, she and Bryce ate at the cafe. To keep up appearances. They both wore smiles that she knew were fake. But to everyone else, they believed it. That they were in love. Desperately, madly, and deeply.

When they returned to his office, Becca was waiting for them.

“I know you wanted to keep it quiet.” Her eyes laughed at that notion as if it would’ve never happened. “And I understand why. Denise hasn’t…” She cleared her throat. “She hasn’t been gone long.”

Lila didn’t know what to say to that, so she remained silent. It was true.

Bryce wasn’t devoid of words. “I let her put my life on hold for a very long time. I refuse to let her continue to control it.”

If only the engagement were real…

“Of course, Bryce.” Becca placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding. “I agree. But you know how some of the townsfolk can be. This might be a good time for one of your calming speeches.”

Ummm….what?

“Why?” The one-word question came out more forceful than she intended.

Becca smiled. “He’s the mayor. It might not seem fair, but his life is under a microscope. He can’t do whatever he wants without the public having an opinion. To avoid the negative parts, he should address the issue. I promise you, Bryce will say the right thing and have everyone swooning and wanting an invite to the wedding of the year.”

Oh geez.

Wedding of the year?

Even if it were real, she didn’t want that kind of pressure on her. A low-key ceremony would be more her style.

“We haven’t set a date.”

Because it was fake!

Becca waved her comment away as if it didn’t matter. “We’ll have a town meeting at four o’clock. That should give you enough time to write something up.”

Bryce nodded, smiling as if he couldn’t wait to make a grand speech about their upcoming nuptials.

How had this plan gotten so out of hand so fast? And how would everyone react when they learned it was all made up?

“Well, if we’re having a town meeting, I want to set up a table for social media awareness. The stores need to start having a heavier presence online. We can kill two birds with one stone at this meeting.”

Becca clapped her hands with merriment. “I love how you think. I’ll help you.”

Lila turned to Bryce. “I’ll leave you to your speech.”

She walked away with his bright smile engrained in her mind. His phony smile that would be imprinted forever.

He scribbled out the words he’d written—again—then crumbled the paper and threw it toward the waste basket. Missing it—again. There was a small pile of paper building that he kept throwing away.

Becca wanted him to write a speech that wasn’t coming from the heart. He hated to deceive the town this way. Although he didn’t doubt it would reveal Melody for the black heart she had. It didn’t mean he enjoyed any part of this.

A light knock on his doorframe had him looking up. Aster stood in the threshold with a tentative grin.

“Can we have a word?”

He gestured for him to take a seat.

Aster closed the door and sat down. His gaze glided to the notepad. “A town meeting?” He cocked a brow. “About your engagement?”

“It was my secretary’s idea. One I can’t discredit. She’s right when she says that as the mayor, my life isn’t my own. I live under a microscope, even if I’m only a small-town mayor.”

“And what does your speech entail so far?”

Bryce lifted his notepad, showing Aster the blank page.

That had Aster laughing.

“Are you here to yell at me?”

Aster shook his head. “I can admit when my sister is right. What she does is none of my business. It doesn’t mean I don’t like to make things my business. I worry about all my sisters.”

He understood that sentiment well. He worried about Juliet.

“Juliet and I had a long talk last night when we got to her place.”

That made Bryce jealous. He wished he’d had a long talk with Lila. Not much had been said between them. It killed him not to pull her into his arms last night. But he’d felt the paws-off vibe from her and didn’t want to risk her wrath. Since he’d come to the conclusion nothing would keep her in Sleighville, he’d given up the fight. He let the silence remain. He held himself back by not touching her. He kept how he really felt about her to himself.

Because the moment he realized she’d never stay, was the moment it hit him how much he loved her.

“And?” Bryce prompted when Aster didn’t continue. He wasn’t about to confess he and Lila had done the same thing. Because it would be a lie.

Aster chuckled, propping a leg over his opposite knee. “I apologized again for my outburst. I’ve always been honest to her about my feelings toward relationships. I didn’t mean for it to come out so vehemently as it did.”

Bryce had no idea why Aster was sharing any of this. “You don’t need to be telling me all of this.”

“I know. But I wanted you to know I’ve never had any intention whatsoever to hurt Juliet. Her feelings are always the utmost importance to me.” Aster set his foot down and leaned forward. “I know you care about my sister.”

More than cared. But that would remain his secret alone.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to a relationship between you two. I know you make her happy.”

Holy shit. Was he getting Aster’s blessing?

“Since we’re being honest here, Lila and I did not have a long talk last night. In fact, we barely spoke.”

Aster nodded as if he already knew. Had he spoken to Lila? What had she said?

“What do you want to happen, Bryce?”

“Relating to what?”

“Lilac, you idiot. That is what we’re talking about here.”

He’d ignore the insult. “Why do you suddenly care?”

“Because the entire town thinks you’re getting married and the fallout will be insane when they realize it’s not real.”

Bryce slumped in his chair. “And Lila will be back in California, so she won’t have to deal with it. She’ll be okay.”

“She’ll still feel the effects of it all. She’ll worry about you even if you think she won’t. This will gut her.”

“Why do I have your sudden approval? Did you talk with Lila? What did she say?”

“I haven’t spoken to her since yesterday at the cafe.” Aster grinned. “Your marriage proposal, while for a specific reason, sounded real. In those few seconds before you added it would be fake, you meant it. You asked Lilac to marry you for real. Are you going to deny that?”

He should.

Nothing good would come from Aster knowing the truth. At best, he’d tell Lila and maybe she’d change her attitude toward him. At worst, Aster would beat him to a pulp and Lila would continue to want to leave.

“It would be insane to marry so soon again.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“What do you want from me, Aster? A confession that I love your sister. That I never wanted her to leave in the beginning. That a part of me will die when she does leave me. Is that what you’re looking for? A reason to gloat that I will be viscously gutted. That I can’t have the one thing that has made me happy in the longest time. So long I can’t even remember the last time I felt this much joy in my life.”

Aster sat back. “Why isn’t that shit on your piece of paper?”

“What?”

The man was confusing him left and right. Did Aster hate him or not?

“No man will ever be good enough for my sister. Unless he proves he is.” Aster gestured at his notepad. “You want Lilac to believe it’s real, then tell her how real it is. Tell the whole damn town. Nothing’s stopping you but yourself.”

He stood up and opened the door.

“What about you and Juliet?”

Aster turned slightly. “There never was a me and Juliet. She and I understood that. If your friend Duke wants her so badly, maybe he needs to man up and tell her. Don’t be blaming me for his own faults.”

Yeah, he was not going to share that with Duke. Though Aster had a point. Duke had all the chances in the world with Juliet after her divorce and he never took one.

Bryce looked at the clock on the wall, noting he had another hour until the speech needed to be ready. He stared at the blank page.

To be honest or not to be honest?

According to the man who he thought hated him, he should be so honest that Lila would know his true feelings.

Wouldn’t keeping those feelings to himself be the same as Duke had done? Land him in a position he didn’t like. On the sidelines.

He picked up the pencil and started writing. This time the words kept flowing.