Athena’s mouth hung open. “I don’t discount that you’ve done a lot and you totally deserve to do something for you. But for God’s sake, sleep with him. There’s no reason to go and marry him.”
“Thanks,” Flynn said dryly.
“Sorry. Just calling it like I’m seeing it.”
“That was the original plan,” Pru snapped. “Which was going beautifully, until Ari’s new social worker arrived in time to see me in nothing but Flynn’s shirt.” She hadn’t made a conscious decision to tell Athena the truth, but now that she’d started down that path, she’d see it through.
“New social worker? What happened to Mae?”
“She’s out indefinitely for back surgery, and her caseload has been transferred to a hideously by-the-book woman, who’d like nothing more than to pull Ari out of this house.”
“Pretending to be her fiancé seemed the lesser of available evils,” Flynn said, setting mugs of tea on the table.
Pru’s was doctored with half and half and a spoonful of turbinado sugar, exactly as she liked it.
Athena held up a hand. “Okay, first, good for you.
I didn’t imagine you had it in you. Second, let me get this straight. You’re only pretending to be her fiancé to protect my sister’s reputation with this social worker?”
“That’s the gist of it.” He lifted his own tea and sipped.
“And you don’t think it looks gnarly for you to be engaged to a guy you’ve known two weeks?”
“Two years, according to our story. I met him when I went to visit Kennedy in Ireland, and we’ve had a long-distance relationship ever since.”
“Did you meet him in Ireland?”
“No.”
“So, Kennedy’s gonna know this is bullshit.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re expecting her to lie about it when asked?”
“I’m not expecting any of you to lie. As far as any of you are concerned, you didn’t know anything about our relationship. That’s the truth. We’re the only ones lying here.”
“Well, and Ari’s backing us up,” Flynn added.
“The kid knows?”
“More eavesdropping. It’s becoming a thing,” Pru said. “But I wouldn’t have lied to her about this.”
Athena picked up her tea. “How, exactly, is this gonna work?”
“He’s got to fill out a metric ton of paperwork, go through background checks, reference checks. He got fingerprinted this morning. And it’ll be sixty days before they can even think about scheduling the home visit now.”
Athena shifted her attention to Flynn. “Wait, so you have to be here through all that?”
He nodded.
She pinned him with a look. “How serious are you about sticking this out?”
He didn’t bat an eye. “I bought her a ring. I’m calling my mother tomorrow. I’m in this one hundred percent. As long as it takes.”
Athena divided a look between them that Pru couldn’t interpret. “Fine. I’ll back up the story.”
“You will?”