Say It's Not Fake

“It’s a good thing no one in Southport cares about what you think about anything, isn’t it?” I gave her a wide, put-on smile. “Enjoy your wine. Be careful, though, that stuff will make your face bloat.” I wiggled my fingers in her direction and walked past her down the aisle.

Once I got outside to my car, I sagged in the seat. Then I dug my phone out of my purse and called Kyle. I knew he was finishing up the town square. I was headed back to the office, but I didn’t want to talk about my conversation with Chelsea with his crew watching from a distance.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Whit.” The way he said my name made me shiver. Now was not the time for that foolishness.

“Josie’s heard about our upcoming nuptials,” I informed him breezily.

“Super. Saves me the trouble of having to tell her myself.” He sounded distracted, and I could hear people talking in the background.

“Apparently, she’s suspicious about the timing.”

“Wait. What? Who told you that?” Kyle demanded, his voice hard.

“I ran into Chelsea at the grocery store, and she said—”

“This is according to Chelsea?” Kyle snorted. “Then take it with a grain of salt. She and Josie haven’t talked in years. She doesn’t know how Jos feels about anything.”

“I don’t know; she sounded like she had spoken to her.” I chewed my bottom lip. I saw Chelsea come out of the grocery store so I quickly put my car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot before she could see me.

“Chelsea Sloane is a shit-stirrer. She may have spoken to Josie, but I sincerely doubt Josie would have said anything to her worth sharing. Josie may be a lot of things, but she’s not a complete fool. She knows what kind of person Chelsea is and wouldn’t talk to her about any of this stuff.” He sounded so sure. And it sort of bothered me how he still defended his ex.

“I hate people speculating.” I turned onto Main Street and parked my car. I didn’t get out right away. I could see Kyle from where I sat. He was wearing a baseball cap to keep the sun out of his eyes; the sleeves of his polo shirt were rolled up, revealing his very impressive biceps. He had the phone pressed to his ear, and his head was bent.

I watched as he walked away from his crew. He stopped beneath the giant oak tree and leaned against it, rubbing his temples. He looked stressed and tired. “People are going to talk, Whitney. We can’t stop them. The only thing we can do is make them believe. And we will. Because it’s us.”

He sounded like he meant it. Like he believed it.

That we were truly an ‘us.’

I tried to internalize his confidence. Absorb it into myself. I swallowed all the misgivings that threatened to overwhelm me.

The wedding was sweet and simple. I had never been the kind of girl to fantasize about my big day. I didn’t think about what my dress would look like or what colors my bridesmaids would wear. I had never been fixated on marrying the perfect guy and having the perfect family. Those weren’t my dreams.

But even still, what we threw together in seven days felt pretty perfect. I found a lovely dress that looked pretty good on me. Mom had insisted on taking me to a designer dress outlet to go shopping. “Whatever the reasons for this wedding, it needs to be celebrated. And you should do that with a gorgeous new dress,” Mom exclaimed before dragging me out to go shopping.

I didn’t remember much about the ceremony itself. Judge Tucker had a monotone voice that was better suited to curing insomnia than officiating a wedding. But Katie throwing rose petals injected some joy into the proceedings. Her infectious presence gave it the levity it needed.

My stomach had been in knots the whole time. My palms were sweaty, though thankfully, Kyle didn’t comment on them. I questioned myself a thousand times. Was this the right thing to do? Could I really be the person Kyle and Katie needed me to be? What if I ruined his chance to keep his daughter? I would never forgive myself. It was too much pressure. I would cave. It’s what I did. I’d run, and that would be the end of it.

Then I looked at Kyle, his hazel eyes bright. And at Katie, his beautiful daughter, who I had grown to care deeply about in the short time I had known her.

I had lived a selfish life for so long—closing the doors around me. It was time to fling them open. It felt good to do something that would help two people that had started to matter so much to me.