Chapter 1

CHAPTER

ONE

Courtney

Have you ever wanted to escape? Not forever, but for a break from life? That's not too much to ask for, right? That's all that keeps running through my mind as I listen to my mother drone on and on about how I need a date for my sister's upcoming wedding.

"Courtney, are you listening to me?" my mom asks, her tone disapproving.

"I'm listening," I assure her. Thankfully, she can't see me roll my eyes.

"You can't go to your sister's wedding alone. You're not getting any younger, Courtney. I mean, Chloe is two years younger than you and she's getting married." I can hear the displeasure in her tone.

My mom is great. Both of my parents are. My dad is a teacher who's very chill. I guess he has to be working with teenagers all day. He teaches high school math and science. He and my mom are opposites in that way. My mom is... not chill. She's a worrier by nature. She works for the city of Willow River in the water department.

When my mom gets her mind set on something, it consumes her. Hence the reason she feels as though I need a date for Chloe's wedding. The wedding is three months away. I have time. To make matters worse, my sister is starting to agree with her, but for different reasons. Chloe is twenty and is marrying her high school sweetheart. She started dating Rodney when she was fourteen and he was sixteen. Something my mother also stressed over, but here we are, and she couldn't be happier about the union. Anyway, Chloe wants me to find the love and happiness that she has with Rodney. She's half camp Courtney and half camp Mom. Dad, well, he's Switzerland.

That's great for Chloe and Rodney. I'm happy that they know their love is solid, and I know those two are meant for each other. Everyone who knows them will tell you the same thing. They're going to go the distance.

However, at two years older, I'm twenty-two, not forty-two. I don't see the urgency of finding a man and settling down. My mother wants grandkids, and she knows that Chloe and Rodney are taking their time on that front while Rodney starts his career. He's twenty-two, my age, and just graduated from college. Rodney works on computers. I'm not exactly sure what he does, but I know he's going to excel at it because he's a wiz, and his entry pay is nothing to shake a fist at. My sister and her future husband want to be husband and wife for a few years before they have kids.

My mom sees me as complacent. I went to community college and got a two-year associate's degree in arts. It's basically useless. Knowing what you want to do every day for the rest of your life is a big deal. Chloe's a medical assistant and loves it, but needles—no thanks. Besides, I've been working here for Jordyn for a couple of months, and I love it. She's a great boss, and I love helping customers find the perfect gift or outfit when they visit the boutique.

It's not that I don't want to be married and settled down. I just don't see the urgency.

"Mom, there is nothing wrong with me going on my own. I don't have to have a date. Besides, I'm the maid of honor. I'll be too busy taking care of Chloe's every need to entertain a date." I cross my fingers, hoping she finally buys the excuse I've been giving her nonstop.

"Nonsense. Everything will be done. Courtney, you should let me fix you up. Tammy's son, Johnny, is single."

"Isn't Johnny in his thirties and doesn't he still live in her basement?" I shiver at the thought.

"He's finding himself," Mom defends, and it takes everything I have inside me not to burst out laughing.

"I don't need your help finding a date, Mother." I sound like a broken record at this point. I've repeated that very same line to her more times than I can count since Chloe set a wedding date six months ago.

"Oh." The change in her tone is instant. "Does that mean you have someone in mind?" She sounds hopeful. My mother loves me. She's just... a helicopter mom. Something Chloe and I have both vowed never to be when we have children of our own.

"I'm at work," I remind her, avoiding the question we both know the answer to.

"You're on break," she tosses back. "Courtney, you need to take this seriously."

Tears prick my eyes. Not from sadness but from anger. I know she means well, but her constant nagging is tearing me down. It's stressing me the hell out, if I'm being honest. Not only that, it makes me feel like I'm not good enough. Her nagging always does. I know that's not her intention, but knowing doesn't change how it makes me feel.

My eyes land on a picture of my boss, Jordyn, and her family. She married Ryder Kincaid, who is one of nine siblings. They're all in the photo. Even their parents, Raymond and Carol Kincaid, and all of her nieces and nephews. They're all happy and functional. Why can't we be that way? Every family photo we have has a memory of "stand taller girls" or "smile wider girls." Again, I know my mom means well, but it's been twenty-two years of constant hovering, and it's wearing on me.

She's smothering me with her love, and it's only pushing me away as I get older.

I know that's who she is and she's not being mean, but damn, a girl can only take so much. My eyes land on Merrick Kincaid, one of the twins. The twins are the youngest of the nine brothers. He's the only one not married or attached. At least I don't think he's married or attached. I'm certain in this small town if he were, I would have heard about it by now.

In the picture, Merrick has his niece Blakely in his arms, and she's got her arms wrapped around his neck. Every single person is smiling widely, and I'm certain there was no one there whispering to them out of the corner of their mouth to do so.

Guilt washes over me. My mom means well; however, she's just too much. She's taking this whole "Courtney must have a date" campaign too far.

"Courtney, are you there?"

"I'm here, Mom."

"Well, how about I set you up with Johnny? Tammy and I were talking about it last night."

"I'm dating someone. I have a date," I blurt and cringe when I realize what I've done.

"What?" she screeches with excitement. "Why didn't you tell me? Who is he? Do we know him? Is he from Willow River? Oh, I bet he's handsome. Is he good to you?" she rattles off what feels like a million questions.

"Mom," I say loudly to get her attention. "Take a breath."

She takes an audible breath and blows it out. "Tell me more." Her voice is calm and her tone even, but it does nothing to hide her excitement. "Who is he?"

Panic hits me. I open my mouth to tell her I lied, just to get her to be quiet, but her words stop me.

"I'm proud of you, Courtney. I just worry, is all. I want you to find the happiness your father and I have. I want you to have what Chloe and Rodney have."

Guilt. It sits heavily on my chest like an elephant. My mind races with how to break the news to her. She's going to be hurt and pissed all at the same time. If I thought her nagging was bad before, it's going to be brutal once I make my confession.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Courtney? Honey, are you still there? Did I lose you?"

"I—I'm here." Although I wish I wasn't. I should have sent her call to voicemail.

"Oh, I thought we lost connection. I can hear you clearly. Now, tell me everything." I can picture her in my mind, doing a little victory dance as she prepares to hear about my fake dating life.

She sounds happy, and I'm about to smash that feeling to bits. After months of her nagging me to find a date, and pressuring me to put myself out there more, I lift her up with news to only shoot her back down.

I'm never going to hear the end of this. My eyes go back to the picture of Jordyn's family and the word vomit is flowing over the line before I even understand what I've just said.

"Merrick Kincaid."

My mother gasps, and I curse under my breath, slapping my hand over my mouth.

What have I done? I've officially lost my mind. She's driven me to tell lies about an innocent man just to get her to stop her insistent nagging about me finding a date.

I'm going to hell.

This lie is just getting deeper.

"Mom, I need to get back to work."

"Oh, honey. I'm so thrilled for you. I'll call you later and you can tell me everything. Including why you've kept this to yourself." The line goes dead before I can agree. I drop my phone on the counter and bury my face in my hands.

"Fuck my life," I mutter. Tears burn my eyes. I've royally screwed this up, and I'm not looking forward to admitting that to my helicopter mother. Why, oh why, did I have to open my big mouth? This is going to suck. Maybe I can just get in my car and drive? Take a few days to decompress and figure out how to break my mother's heart and admit that her oldest daughter is a liar.

"Courtney?"

I lift my head and give a half smile to my boss, Jordyn. "Hey." I exhale a heavy breath and square my shoulders. So much for disappearing. It's time to face the music. I might as well start with my boss. It's her brother-in-law I attached myself to.

"What's going on?" Her tone is guarded, yet there's concern there as well.

"Oh, you know, just me spitting out lies to shut my mother up, and me trying to figure out how I'm going to tell her about it when she calls me back tonight after work, wanting more details."

"I know it's none of my business, but I heard you talking about Merrick. He's my family, so I need to know what's going on. You look stressed, and if Merrick is in trouble, I need to know. Our family needs to know. We need to be there for him. And for you," she adds.

I smile at her. It's genuine because the Kincaids stand behind one another as if it's their job to do so. "Merrick isn't in trouble. That's all me."

Jordyn tilts her head to the side to study me. I groan because I know she's not going to leave this conversation with that simple explanation.

"You want to talk about it?" Her gentle tone has me wanting to tell her, even though she's probably going to be pissed, but it's the right thing to do. Especially if this lie makes its way back to Merrick or anyone else in their family. Jordyn will be able to explain what happened while I hide under a rock with shame.

"No, but I feel as though I need to explain myself."

"I'm all ears." Jordyn leans her hip against the counter, giving me her full attention.

I'm grateful we don't have any customers. "Okay, so you know that my sister, Chloe, is getting married in a few months, right?"

"I do." Jordyn nods.

"And you know how my mom has been pressuring me to bring a date."

"You've mentioned that a time or fifty." She chuckles.

Her reply helps me relax a little. Jordyn is an incredible boss, and maybe she can give me some advice on how to handle this with my mom. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll understand and won't be mad at me or, even worse, fire my lying ass.

"Right. Well, she called me just now, and I was on break, so I answered. That was my first mistake. She was hounding me about meeting someone and insisted I needed a date for Chloe's wedding. I was standing here looking at a picture of your family, and I just blurted out that I had a date."

"That explains the sour look on your face."

"It gets worse." So much worse.

"I'm listening."

"I was ready to tell her it was a lie just to get her off my back. Then she went and used her soft mom voice and told me she was proud of me, and I panicked."

"I can understand that." Jordyn nods again.

"Yeah, well, she was insistent I give her a name. I scanned the picture again, and Merrick's name was out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying." I cover my face with my hands because I can feel my face heating from embarrassment.

"Courtney." Her tone is soft, but also firm enough for me to know she's not going to let me hide from this.

I spread my fingers to look at her. She's smiling. "Is that all?"

I drop my hands. "Is that all? Jordyn! I lied to her, and you don't know my mother. She's going to have the entire town thinking that I'm dating Merrick, and it's a lie, and he's going to find out, and I'm going to look like a fool." My heart is thumping wildly in my chest at the thought of Merrick finding out.

He was two years older than me in school. I was the quiet bookworm, and he and his twin brother, Maverick, were both at the top of the high school popularity food chain. How could they not be? They're both gorgeous, and they were sweethearts. They weren't the cocky guys who treated people differently. They were nice to everyone and friendly, and after working for Jordyn and meeting some of their older brothers, including Jordyn's husband, Ryder, I know that their entire family is the same way. I'm mortified to think they're going to know that I made up lies about Merrick and me just to appease my mother.

What the hell was I thinking?

Oh, right, I wasn't.

"I understand that you lied to her, but I also understand why you lied to her." She shrugs as if it's not a big deal.

It's a big damn deal. How can she not see that?

"She's going to tell the entire town," I groan, making Jordyn laugh.

"It's not the end of the world."

"It really is. Merrick doesn't need me telling lies about him. What if he's seeing someone? She could hear about this and it could cause problems for him. My mom has probably already alerted the local media to put out a bulletin."

"Come on now, she's not that bad. Merrick is as laid-back as can be. He's probably going to laugh his ass off about this if it gets back to him. We don't know that it will. You're speculating that your mother is going to tell the entire town."

"Oh, she's going to. Trust me. I know my mom. She's going to be singing like a damn canary."

Jordyn chuckles. "Fine. Even if she does, it's all going to be fine."

"Fine? How is it going to be fine? Merrick is going to find out. Not only will I look like a fool in front of him, but your entire family, and all of Willow River. I can't believe I just blurted that out. Who does that?"

"What am I going to find out?" a deep voice says from behind me.

I freeze, my eyes wide as I stare at Jordyn. We both turn to see Merrick standing behind us. "Dad finished fixing the legs on the small entry table for you. I was there and told him I'd drop it off on my way home," Merrick explains to his sister-in-law before his eyes find mine. "Courtney."

He flashes me a grin, and I want to burst into tears because I'm sure that grin will turn to a leer once he hears what I did.

"What am I going to find out about?" He leans his hip against the other side of the counter as his intense gaze holds mine.

"Uh—" He's so damn sexy and having his full attention on me makes my head fuzzy. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. I have to confess my sins. "I did something," I say, my eyes still closed.

"Open your eyes, Court."

The sound of him shortening my name does something to me. The only other person who calls me Court is my sister. My mom claims if she wanted to call me Court, she would have named me Court, not Courtney, and well, you already know my dad is even-keeled and just goes along with it. Instead, he calls me and my sister both sweetheart. That's his workaround, and Mom lets him get away with it.

Slowly, I open my eyes as he requested. "I'm sorry."

Merrick tilts his head to the side. "What are you sorry for?"

I quickly rush through my explanation of my call with my mother, making sure to hit on the backstory of her hounding me for a date. I'm not even sure I take a breath the entire time. I'm talking so fast. I'm making an even bigger fool of myself in front of him, but I can't seem to stop this train from racing off the tracks.

"So, you told your mom that we're dating?" he asks. His tone of voice hasn't changed, so I can't get a read on him.

"Yes." I nod because maybe he needs a visual to my answer as well.

"She's worried her mom is going to tell the entire town," Jordyn explains helpfully.

"I know she will. I'm so sorry, Merrick."

He shrugs. "So, I'll be your date." He pulls his phone out of his pocket. "When is the wedding?"

My mouth falls open in shock. He glances up at me and winks. My stomach twists. Is this really happening? "It's more than just a date to the wedding. I told her we were dating." I hang my head in shame. "I'm sorry. I was looking at the picture, and your name is the first one I thought of. I'm going to tell her the truth tonight, but it might be too late. I'd be happy to talk to your family or your girlfriend and tell them it was all me." I'm talking to the counter because I can't make myself look at him.

His hand appears in my line of vision, and with his index finger beneath my chin, he lifts my head so that I'm looking at him. "I don't have a girlfriend. I'm unattached. This isn't a big deal. We'll hang out a few times, go to the wedding together, and all is good."

"Yes!" Jordyn says, clapping her hands in excitement, breaking through the Merrick Kincaid haze I seem to have found myself in. He drops his hand and how is it that I miss his touch?

"It's a win-win. No harm, no foul." Merrick shrugs.

"I can't ask you to do that," I say, finding my voice.

"You didn't ask me to. I volunteered. It's not a big deal, Courtney. Just tell me the date of the wedding. We'll exchange numbers and hang out a few times. It's all going to be fine."

Hope and gratitude well in my chest. "I don't know what to say."

"Say thank you, Merrick," Jordyn teases.

I nod. "Thank you, Merrick. Truly. You're saving me, and you don't have to."

He waves me off. "It's all good. Now, about that date."

I rattle off my sister's wedding date, and we exchange numbers just as a customer walks in. I stand to my full height, plaster a smile on my face that feels less forced than a few seconds ago, and the heavy weight sitting on my chest eases.

It's all going to be okay.

Merrick Kincaid just saved my ass.