Fake Marriage Box Set

“No worries, Will,” I assured him. “I’m doing a lot better, really. Don’t feel like you have to stick by my side. You have a whole slew of guests to entertain.”

“No way, you’re my VIP. Let’s go say hi to Tara. She’s going to be very excited you actually showed up,” he said, leading the way towards the patio doors.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want to invade her kitchen,” I said, very concerned for my health.

He grinned. “She isn’t going to kill the man she loves.”

I wasn’t so sure about that but followed him anyway. He knocked once and then twice in rapid motion.

“You have a secret knock?” I asked in shock.

He laughed. “Hell yeah. I don’t want to take the chance of her thinking I’m one of the guests and throwing a cleaver at my head or something.”

“What is it with a cleaver? Jake said something similar,” I asked out of curiosity.

He lowered his voice and leaned in. “A while back, one of our drunken guests kept harassing her in the kitchen. She threw her knife at the wall—next to his head. No one has dared step foot in the kitchen ever since.”

“Holy hell, man. Why are we going in here?” I asked again.

“She’ll be fine. I promise.”

I prayed she was. I was not interested in getting cleaved, or was it cleavered? Whatever.

“Tara?” he called out in a tentative voice.

“William, why are you in my kitchen?”

He stepped to the side, revealing me. I wanted to run in the opposite direction when I saw the little woman holding a giant knife and chopping vegetables.

“Ian!” she screamed, running towards me, knife still in hand.

I looked to William for help, but he only smiled. A split second before Tara threw her arms around my neck, William deftly pulled the knife out of her hand. I don’t think she even knew she was still holding it. I accepted her hug and even hugged her back.

She pulled back after a good ten seconds and put my face between her hands. “It’s so good to see you. I can’t believe you’re actually here. Standing in my kitchen,” she said with a change in tone, lowering her gaze at William. “But I’ll forgive it just this once.”

“How are you, Tara? Still working at the same place or have you opened your own restaurant yet?” I asked, genuinely interested.

She rolled her eyes, reclaimed her knife and went back to chopping veggies. “Not yet. I’m still working for that putz. I hope to have enough money set aside within the next year to take the plunge on my own.”

“That’s great. Good to hear,” I said, suddenly out of things to talk about.

“We better get back out there,” William said, walking over and giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek.

“See you in a few, Ian. Don’t you dare try and sneak out of here. Grab a beer and get ready for the best barbecue you’ve ever had.” She winked.

“Can’t wait,” I said, heading out of the kitchen.

When we emerged onto the patio, a few heads turned, staring at us as if we were gods. We had just left the kitchen which wasn’t something mere mortals were allowed to do. I smiled, feeling a little better.

William clapped me on the shoulder. “Is this going to be a regular thing or did Jake make some deal with you to get you out of the house?”

I shrugged. “I’m hoping a regular thing. It’s time,” I said in a lower voice.

“Damn straight it is. You know how sorry I was about everything, but I’m gla

d to see you crawling back. I can’t even imagine what you went through,” he said in a somber tone.

I grimaced. Nobody could. No one knew that this guilt is what drove me to pull away from everything I loved and enjoyed in life. Grief, sure, but mostly, it was guilt. No one knew the real reason behind our marriage or what the marriage had been like. My grief was solely the result of Ally’s loss. She was the little girl who had brought light into my life. Ally was an innocent party in my sham of a marriage. She didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her mother’s deception.