Fake Marriage Box Set

I shook my head. “Not really. I think we both have been avoiding it. I mean, I remember you talking about a few women of his, but I don’t even think there’s been a single woman in his life.” I considered how close he was about himself. Maybe he was the type to keep his intimate relationships a secret.

Milo’s head perched on my lap, and I looked down as his giant puppy eyes stared at me.

“There was one,” Ron said. “A woman, in his life. He wanted to marry her, and we all felt the same way. They were together for three years until his mom was first diagnosed.”

“And then she dumped him,” I said, remembering the story. Ron had called me one night to complain about the awful woman, and share his concern over Gavin’s sudden increase in his whiskey intake. “Do you think he’s afraid of commitment because of her?”

Ron shifted in his seat. “To be honest, Maddie? I think having a woman break up with you because your mother was diagnosed with cancer would be enough for anyone to develop commitment issues,” he said. “Why? Is something going on with you two?”

I wasn’t sure if Gavin would kill me for talking to Ron about our relationship. He was my cousin, sure, but he was also Gavin’s best friend. Ron didn’t know about our relationship, and I wanted to keep it that way. Still, there was some sort of relief in talking to him about Gavin.

“There’s nothing wrong,” I said. “We both decided to take things slow, for everyone’s sake.”

“Good,” Ron said with a whistle. “It was bad enough having to deal with both of your broken hearts within the same year. I don’t think I could handle both of them at the same time.”

I remembered that I was dumped by an asshole the same year Gavin’s girlfriend had dumped him, resulting in a poor Ron dealing with both of our problems. I never thought that he would deal with us together. I wondered what our eventual story would be after we decided to end things together. I assumed it would be a mutual decision, but someone would still take the blame in Ron’s eyes.

“I just feel like I’m really starting to like him,” I said. Our lunch was finished, and Ron began clearing the table. I checked my phone and saw that Martin had asked for a meeting later on in the day. I started getting my stuff together as I spoke. “I’m a little surprised, to be honest. I didn’t think I would like him so much.”

“I honestly didn’t think you two would ever end up like this,” Ron said from the kitchen. “I think it surprised all of us.”

“A lot of surprises,” I said. “I’m falling for him, Ron. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

I stood in the doorway, my purse clutched in my arms as Ron cleaned his house. He glanced at me and smiled.

“Just be honest,” he said. “With yourself, and with Gavin. No one can get hurt if you’re honest.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” I said and opened the front door. “I’ll see you later, thanks for lunch.” I kneeled and said goodbye to Milo.

Ron exchanged a goodbye and closed the door behind me. I walked to my car with his words still in my head.

Just be honest. It seemed I was lying to everyone except myself. And the hardest realization of all was that I wasn’t lying when I said I was falling for him. In fact, it might have been the first time I hadn’t lied when talking to someone else about Gavin.

Be honest? I shook my head as I started my car. There was no way I could ever be honest with Gavin, not when he was constantly making it clear that there wasn’t anything going on between the both of us.

I was falling for Gavin, I realized. And that was going to make things much more complicated than necessary.

Chapter Twenty-One

Gavin

The weekend flew by quickly, with nights spent at the bar beside Ron and afternoons by Mom’s side. I didn’t want her to spend a single day alone, despite her constant assurance that she was fine, and it seemed that Karen felt the same way. There was always someone within a foot of Mom, waiting for her to fall or to choke on pudding or throw a shake at the wall as she grew angry and tired. Karen wanted her comfortable, and I wanted her healthy, and it was obvious that Mom was annoyed at our constant presence.

I woke at my normal time the following Monday with no plans in particular other than visiting Mom. I briefly wondered if she would give me a disappointed stare and slam the door in my face, or if she even had the energy for it. We spent Saturday afternoon discussing my writing over lunch, and she convinced me to write a short story. It would be a detective caper with a happy ending, and I wanted to finish it within the next month at the latest.

I mulled over the plot as I stepped into my gym and spent an hour lifting weights in between cardio. I had the entire first half finished by the time I was done, and I used a voice recording app on my voice to detail the book as I hopped into the shower and washed off the sweat. Mom would like the idea; I was sure of that at least.

I clothed myself and walked toward the kitchen with the intent of making a protein shake before leaving for Mom’s house. Something caught my eye on the couch, and I walked in front of it.

The gray blanket that I had covered Maddie’s sleeping body still remained on the couch, and I gently picked it up and folded it in my arms. I sniffed it, expecting it to smell like her hair, but it didn’t smell any differently than the rest of my house. I was disappointed for some reason and shoved back into the storage that I removed it from. Of course, it wouldn’t smell like her.

I grabbed a notebook full of story ideas and walked over to Moms. The volume on the TV was loud, and I had to cover my ears as I looked for the remote to turn it off.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were here,” Mom said as she left the bathroom. I peeked around the corner to find Karen standing in the kitchen wiping the inside of the microwave.

“You wouldn’t hear the apocalypse with that volume,” I said and hugged her. “Is it really necessary to listen to Days of Our Lives with the volume all the way up?”

“You know my hearing is shit,” she said. We both took a seat on the couch. “And before you say anything, no, I am not going to get a hearing aide.”