Chapter 6

Culver

One pit stop so that I could stretch my legs, and two and a bit hours later, we pull up out the front of a nondescript sandstone building where our civil ceremony will take place.

I don't feel quite right, and it's got nothing to do with the dull, constant pain in my hip. It's more of an unsteady feeling, like when you get off a rollercoaster and it takes you a few seconds to get your bearings once you're back on solid ground.

Except this feeling has lasted for more than a few seconds.

And I can pinpoint the exact moment it started.

Last week.

Hannah's bedroom.

Her wearing my T-shirt.

For some reason, I can't get that image out of my head. It's burrowed its way deep into my subconscious.

Why? I have no idea.

What's the big deal about seeing Hannah wearing my shirt?

And then we had a moment.

Time stood still and it was only her and me in the universe. It might be a cliché, but that's exactly how it felt. I didn't care whether an alarm was going off or whether the whole world was on fire—I was transfixed by Hannah. And judging by the way her eyes lingered on my chest before she looked up and held my gaze, I'd say she felt something, too.

But I'm not an idiot. Whatever moment we had was just that—a moment.

And now it's gone, and here we are, outside a courthouse in Fresno to get married so I can score a ridiculously large amount of money from a man I only ever knew as the man who hurt my mother.

No wonder my thoughts are scrambled. Nothing about this situation is normal.

Hannah's got the right approach to it. She's making it fun. Keeping it simple. Seeing it for what it is—something we're doing for me to get my inheritance.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

I should take a leaf out of her book.

Once my grandfather's money lands in my bank account, we'll get this marriage annulled and go back to how things were before.

That's the plan…so why is that unsteady feeling back?

"You ready?" she asks.

I keep my gaze fixed on the drab building a while longer, then turn to face her. "Let's do it."

We get out of the car and walk inside.

Hannah looks even more incredible than usual today. Her dress clings to her body, accentuating her figure in all the right places. It falls just past her knees, and it moves beautifully as we walk into the building together.

She's wearing a touch of makeup—not that she needs any, in my opinion—and her hair is up and off her shoulders in an intricate bun sort of thing at the back.

She insisted that it was no trouble and that she relished the chance to get dressed up, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to express how much her doing this means to me.

I'm still in low-level shock that in a few minutes, my best friend, the woman I'm closer to than anyone else in the world, is going to be my wife.

My fake wife, sure…but still.

And like a wave rising within me, that unsteady feeling comes crashing into me again.

"So, we're married," Hannah says, once we're back in her Jeep less than half an hour later.

"We are."

The ceremony was brief.

Clinical.

Transactional.

Rather than kissing at the end of the ceremony, as is customary, we hugged instead.

She lifts her hand, inspecting the ring on her ring finger. Nonna gave it to me a few days ago during another one of her daily you need to propose properly lectures. I'm glad she did since it's nice to have something about today that feels special and sentimental.

Hannah starts the engine. "Hey, cheer up. We'll be divorced before you know it."

"That's not funny."

"Oh. I know. This might make you less frowny."

"I am not"—I unfurrow my brow—"frowny."

"What do you call fake spaghetti?"

"I don't know. What do you call fake spaghetti"

She grins. "An impasta."

I can't help but groan. "That's horrendously bad. Even by my own very low standards."

Her grin widens, like she's proud of herself. "Thank you."

The motel we're staying at for the night isn't very far away. The place, like pretty much everything else about today, was Nonna's suggestion. She said she booked it because it's not good for me to be in a car for so long, but I know the real reason. It's not like she's being discreet about it. She's holding out hope that something more will come of this.

I glance over at Hannah.

I'd be an idiot if I didn't consider how amazing it would be to be with someone like Hannah. She's the kind of girl any guy would want. Smart. Funny. Kind. Beautiful. And without a doubt the strongest person I know. To have survived losing her mother so young, then stepped up and taken on an ever-increasing role in raising Chester and Katie, until she was doing it solo for the last seven years?

It blows my mind.

That's the thing about her—she always puts everyone else ahead of herself.

She's even doing it now with me.

I can't put into words how much I owe her, even though she says I don't.

But I do.

This goes way above and beyond the normal call of friendship duty.

Once I get my inheritance, the first thing I'm going to do is make sure Hannah, Chester, and Katie are set up financially for the rest of their lives.

But until then, I'm doubling down on my commitment and making sure we spend the rest of the summer focused on her.

We pull up at a single-story motel.

The motel sign is old, its rusted metal frame illuminating the buzzing neon lights. The exterior walls are a sun-bleached peach, and the whole place is giving off a we've seen better days vibe.

I try to remain optimistic.

Hannah smiles and takes out her phone, opening the shared doc I created.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Checking off Road trip and Stay at a motel. They're both on the list."

I feel somewhat better knowing that this unexpected wedding hasn't totally derailed her hot girl summer plans, that a road trip to Fresno and staying at a roadside motel were actually things she wanted to do before my sudden need to get married became a thing.

"Nonna knows the owner of this motel," I explain as we get out of the car. "I get the impression it's nothing fancy, so you might want to adjust your expectations accordingly."

"And here I was thinking we'd spend our first night as husband and wife in the Taj Mahal."

I grab our luggage from the back seat. "Lots of things about our first night as husband and wife are going to be unconventional. It's not like we're not going to be consummating the marriage, right?"

Hannah remains quiet, so I glance over to see if she got my joke. When she notices my eyes land on her, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and smiles. "No. Of course not."

Her cheeks seem a little redder than usual.

"You okay?" I ask as we make our way to the entrance.

"Uh-huh."

I put the bags down and stop walking. "I'm sorry this isn't exactly five-star luxury."

From when she was a little girl, Hannah has always wanted to travel. She got a globe for Christmas one year, and for the longest time after that, she'd excitedly point out new places she wanted to visit someday.

I want that for her. I want her to see the world, stay at the nicest hotels, eat the most delicious food. Instead, here we are in a small town outside of Fresno, staying at a run-down motel having passed a diner with an Eat here or we both starve! sign on its front window.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I wanted to do a road trip, and I wanted to stay in a motel. Check and check."

I go to pick up the luggage, then stop. Straighten. Look her square in the eye. "If you were able to go anywhere in the world, if money and time and responsibilities didn't factor into it, where would you want to go and why?"

She throws her head back and stretches her neck. When she looks up at me, a wistful smile rises on her lips. "My number one all-time travel destination isn't a place, it's a thing."

"What sort of thing?"

"I want to see the Northern Lights. They're just…breathtaking." I've only ever seen images or videos of them, but the way the sky is lit up in hues of pinks and purples and greens, it's an incredible sight. I can understand why she wants to see them in person. "But apart from that, I'd be happy to go anywhere."

"Really?"

She nods. "Yeah. A big part of me wants to jump on a plane and see where life takes me. I might make a new friend or meet someone who recommends somewhere I've never even heard of, and that might be the coolest place I ever go to."

"That sounds great."

"My whole life has been about being responsible and organized and planning everything down to the last detail. I want to flip the switch and see where life takes me."

"Well, so far, it's led you to The Sunset Haven Inn."

"And I love that, Culver." She hooks her pinky around mine. "I know you have mixed feelings about this whole fake wedding to score an inheritance thing. I get that, and I respect that."

"You do?"

She rolls her eyes and giggles. "I'm going to start thinking you're obsessed with hearing me say the words I do."

Now that she mentions it, they did have a nice ring to them back in the courthouse.

But I'm getting off-track here.

"I respect it because I know getting married means something to you," she says, her eyes focused and unwavering. "It's not something you take lightly. Neither do I. But this is a huge opportunity for you, and as your best friend, it makes me so happy to be able to help you out with that."

"Thank you." I swap hand positions so my giant paws now encase her soft, tender fingers. "And as your best friend, I am recommitting to making sure that once we get this shenanigan over and done with today, you are going to have the hottest hot girl summer ever."

She smiles. "Great. Are we ready to check in?"

"Let's do it."

We step into the lobby of the motel, and we're immediately transported to a bygone era. The place has a retro eighties vibe—I'm not sure if it's intentional or not—with its wood-paneled walls, fluorescent lighting, faux marble counter, and potted ferns.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hannah asks, keeping her voice low.

"That this place never left the '80s?"

She giggles. "Exactly."

We walk over to the reception desk and are greeted by an elderly gentleman with a weathered yet kind face. He's dressed in a plaid shirt with rolled-up sleeves, his silver hair is swept back, and a pair of old-fashioned glasses are perched on the bridge of his nose.

"You must be Jenny's grandson," he says, taking me in with a friendly smile. "I'm Jerry."

"That's right. Culver Palladino. Nice to meet you, Jerry."

"The family resemblance is striking." He shifts his attention to Hannah. "And you must be the bride."

An awkward silence.

I bring my hand to my face and speak out of the corner of my mouth so the old man can't hear me say, "I'm killing Nonna when we get back."

Because of course she couldn't help herself and had to mention the wedding.

"You can't kill anyone with as cute a name as Nonna," Hannah whispers back.

"We've put you two young lovebirds into our honeymoon suite," Jerry says, grabbing a brightly-colored keychain from the pegboard behind the desk.

"Thank you," I say, as he passes the key to me.

He hands us a flier describing local attractions, we say goodbye, and I carry our suitcases over to the honeymoon suite.

The suite is stuck in the same eighties time warp as the rest of this place, with plush red carpet, floral print wallpaper in vibrant shades of pink, purple, and teal, and a large bed in the middle of the room that features a dramatic mirrored headboard which reflects the soft glow of bedside lamps shaped like disco balls.

"Whoa."

"Double whoa," Hannah says, slowly making her way toward the center of the room, taking it all in. "I need to take these heels off. My feet are killing me."

Someone's getting an extra-long foot rub tonight.

She sits down on the bed, and the next thing I know, she's letting out an almighty shriek. She scrambles to her feet so fast, I think that something must have bitten her.

I race over. "What's wrong?"

She points at the bed. "It's a…it's a…waterbed."

"A what?" I press down on it a few times, and sure enough, the mattress isn't firm. It's squishy. "Yikes." I step back. "I didn't think they existed in real life."

"I didn't think they survived past the eighties." She grabs the sides of my face and sucks in a breath. "Do you know what this means?"

She looks so serious, my heart starts to beat faster.

"No. What?"

Her chest is heaving, her eyes are fixed on me, and I have no idea what's going on. "We may have just discovered one of the last remaining waterbeds in existence."

I stare at her.

She looks back at me.

And then…

We both burst out laughing.

And we keep laughing until my sides hurt.

As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I stumble over my feet and crash onto the bed, bouncing up and down on it, which sets Hannah off again.

"Oh, you think this is funny, do you?"

I yank her by the arm, and she joins me, giggling and bouncing on this should-be-extinct bed, and I honestly can't remember the last time I had this much fun.

As we begin to calm down, the movement of the mattress eases, too. We're on our backs, staring up at the ceiling.

"I'm scared to move," I mutter.

Which makes Hannah chuckle.

Which makes the mattress jiggle.

"Don't laugh. Don't move," I say, trying to keep as still as I can. "Or we'll get seasick."

That sets Hannah off on another laughing fit, and we're back to bobbing up and down like we're on a tiny life raft out at sea.

After a while, she regains her composure.

Steadies her breathing.

And then lifts her hand into the air.

The one with the ring on it.

The modest diamond catches in the light. "This is a really pretty ring," she says.

"It's beautiful. One of Nonna's favorites."

"I'll give it back, of course."

A slight pang twists in my gut.

I've been feeling unsteady since seeing Hannah wearing my shirt last week, but now, lying on a waterbed with her, when that feeling should be stronger than ever because we're lying on a freaking waterbed, the unsteadiness is completely gone.

"Of course," I say through a tight smile.

"So. How do we do this?"

"You mean get up?"

She nods, and the bed moves. "Oops. Sorry."

"I'll stand first," I suggest. "I'll do it quickly, then I'll grab you and lift you up."

She smiles. "Sounds good."

It's not the most graceful move, but I manage to climb out of the bed in one relatively swift motion, before spinning around and scooping Hannah into my arms.

I must have over-exerted because I end up pulling her right into me. She crashes into my chest, but it doesn't hurt at all. In fact, it's the nicest feeling ever. I wrap my hands around her waist and inhale her coconutty scent.

She looks up at me. "Hi, husband."

I smile down on her. "Hi, wife."

It's happening again.

Time stops, and everything fades away. She may not be wearing my shirt this time, but she is wearing my ring, and damn if that doesn't do something to me.

We stay frozen like that for, I don't know, fifteen seconds? Minutes? A week? I honestly can't say.

Eventually, I create a bit of space between us. "What do you feel like doing?"

She takes a few breaths and runs her hand along my shoulders. "I know," she says, looking up at me with a smile. "Let's go for a hike."

"Sounds good." I glance over at the bed. "A hike, and then I'm going to speak with Jerry and see if we can get moved to a non-waterbed room when we get back."

She grins up at me. "Deal."