Chapter 14

Adam

"I

'm really fine, Evie." I take a sip of my cinnamon-laced coffee.

"Are you sure you don't want something stronger?" Evie asks. "It's on me."

We're seated in a mom-and-pop café in El Portal, just outside the park. The place is decorated to appeal to tourists with park memorabilia everywhere the eye looks. Old road signs, photos from the 1800s, carved walking sticks.

"Maybe we should have those scrapes looked at."

"Still in mom mode?" I tease her.

She blushes a bit and looks down at her mug. It makes my heart beat faster.

"Okay, I'll stop now."

Truth is, if things had been different, I would have gone straight home, fixed myself a double whiskey on the rocks, taken a shower, and slept it off.

I do my best to make it seem like I'm fine, but that near miss at the top of Cloud's Rest shook me up, badly. Other than the near disaster with Zane on Angel's Landing, this was the closest I've ever come to biting the big one, and that says something given my years in the mountains.

But seeing how upset Evie was, I played it down, suggesting we grab coffee and talk about my proposition.

Fine, maybe "proposition" sounds sketchy, but when she said she would do anything to make it up to me, things quickly took shape in my otherwise foggy mind.

"Come with me to the wedding," was all I told her when we reached the trailhead parking lot after the eventful hike.

Now seated across from her, Evie's face morphs from concern to curiosity. "Fine, tell me about your sister's wedding."

"You'll come as my fiancée, Ronna."

The soft wrinkles around Evie's eyes lift upward, her fabulous lashes fanning wider with amusement. It occurs to me I've never met a woman with such expressive eyes.

She pauses for a beat, tilts her head. "Are you serious?"

"As much as a guy who cheated death a few hours ago."

Thankfully, she doesn't react to the crass comment. Instead, a storm brews across her fine features, and then she nods. "Okay, I'm in."

My heart flutters in my chest once again. This woman is different. She's not only beautiful but confident, decisive, and caring. I want to get to know her better.

Which is why I'm sitting in The Rocky Roastery nursing a bitter Americano when I should be at home recuperating with a bottle of Jim Beam.

Evie finally drinks from her mug. "Tell me more about this scam."

Rather than defend myself, I leave the word "scam" on the table. It's accurate enough. "My sister, Steph, is getting married in five days. My parents believe that I will be attending with my fiancée, Ronna, whom, of course, they've never met."

Evie leans in as if we're hatching a bank heist.

I say, "All we have to do is act believable so they think I'm in a committed relationship."

"What will you do when they realize that is not the case?"

"I'll give it a couple of weeks after the wedding and then tell them it didn't work out and that I'm devastated. It will buy me several more months of peace."

Evie whispers. "I have a few questions."

"Go ahead."

"This ruse where we play googly-eyed lovers is for just one night, right?"

I look away. "So here's the thing…"

Evie seems to brace herself. "Spit it out, Adam," she says, though there's a measure of amusement in her tone.

"It's a weekend affair. Starts on Thursday night and goes through Sunday evening. People are coming from all over to participate. I'll completely understand if it's asking too much of you."

"I guess she's marrying well."

I do not share that I am essentially funding the wedding. Instead, I say, "Brad's a good guy."

"Where is the wedding? Is it a long drive from here?"

When I don't immediately reply, Evie says, "This caper is getting curiouser and curiouser."

"Well, that's the other thing?—"

A small chuckle escapes her lips. "Where is this fabulous weekend wedding?" she repeats.

"In Breckenridge."

"Colorado."

"Yep."

"I may not be great at geography of the American West, but I'm pretty sure that's really far from here."

I nod.

"So, your family lives in Breckenridge?"

"Nope. They're in Denver, about an hour-and-a-half away."

She is quiet for a moment. Then, "If the affair is over an entire weekend, I don't think we can get away with just a few cutesy interactions. We will need to learn a lot about each other."

Maybe it's me but I'd swear Evie is enjoying this.

"With my family, think of it like prepping for an interrogation," I say, meaning every word. My sister just completed her FBI training. For now, I leave out that nugget of information.

Evie laughs. It's like music to my ears.

She asks, "Have you ever heard of The Newlywed Game?"

"No. What is that?"

"It was a TV program back in the ‘60s. They would bring in newlyweds and ask them questions to see if they really knew the person they had just married. It was very funny, but often contestants got irritated when their partner didn't know some of the basics. We can't let that happen."

"My sister is already suspicious. We need to learn every detail about each other."

"Every detail?"

"Okay," I say. "We can keep some things closer to the vest, but you get the idea. My sister is an FBI investigator." So much for holding back.

"Literally?"

"Unfortunately, yes. She passed her exams a week ago."

"Amazing."

"Gets better. Steph inherited the ‘I can smell a rat a mile away' powers from my mom, so if we're not consistent, we're going to be caught."

Maybe I should ask the waiter to spike my coffee.

Evie says, "For arguments sake, what happens if you are caught?"

"Embarrassment, arguing, being called a liar. And worst of all, being subjected once again to a never-ending list of potential but completely incompatible women who?—"

She holds up a hand. "Wow. Sounds intense." She yawns. Loudly. "Sorry. Long day."

"Are you going to be all right driving all the way back to Merced?"

"I should be fine," she says, yawning again.

I have an idea. "Listen, I know we just met, but close calls like the one on Cloud's Nest tend to change things." I know I'm coming off as sketchy. "Stay at my place," I blurt out.

I must have hit my head on that cliff.

Evie chews the inside of her cheek. "Just for the night, right?"

"For as long as you want.," I say, incredulous that she's even entertaining the offer.

"I don't know if that's such a wise idea." She yawns again. Heartily.

"The roads are dark. It's at least forty minutes to your hotel." For good measure, I add, "You'll have your own space. I swear."

She pauses, unsure.

"It will give us a chance to get the details down."

"Okay, but if I stay longer I'll need to get my things from the hotel."

I try to hold in my excitement. "Sounds like a plan."

We leave her car parked in The Rocky Roastery's lot. Five minutes later, Evie is sound asleep in my car.