“With or without you?”
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. When he approached me about partnering with him, he made me feel like he needed me, but … I have no idea if he meant what he said.”
“Oh, I think he did. I heard the way he went on about you last night. And I saw the way he looked at you. That wasn’t acting. But let me ask you this.” Gran regarded me thoughtfully. “If he had the money to buy the land, would you still partner with him?”
My eyes filled, and I shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I said, my throat catching.
“Because you can’t trust him?”
“That, and … because I love him,” I whispered, unable to speak.
She nodded once. “Well, you’ve given me a lot to think about. I’ll leave you now and take my siesta as well.” She rose to her feet with such ease that I almost wondered if the cane was for show.
Gran was one sharp cookie.
At the door, she turned around. “You’ll be at dinner tonight?”
“Yes. I wanted to leave today, but my mother refused. She doesn’t know …” I trailed off.
“What’s the plan for that?” she asked.
“I told Oliver I’d keep up the act while we were here, but that he had to come clean to you all once I’d left.”
“Awfully generous of you. More generous than he deserves.”
I lifted my shoulders, feeling my throat tighten again.
“I know,” she sighed. “He’s a donkey’s ass, but he’s the donkey’s ass you love. I’ll see you this evening.”
She pulled the door shut behind her, and I was alone again.
I lay back, but I was restless and fidgety, my thoughts a jumbled mess and my feelings even more tangled up. Finally, I gave up, dug my phone from my purse, and called April.
“Hey, Chloe,” she said when she answered.
“Hey. You busy?”
“Not too bad. We’re in sort of that afternoon lull. What’s up?”
I groaned and flopped onto my back. “I don’t even know where to start.”
She laughed. “Beginning?”
“That’s too far back—like the day I was born. It’s fucking Oliver.”
As quickly as I could, I got her up to speed on the last couple days, sparing no details. By the time I finished, I imagined her on the floor at the reception desk, open-mouthed in shock.
“Oh my God,” she said when I’d finished telling her about the conversation with Gran. “I can’t believe she knew he was faking it. And she still gave him the ring!”
“I know.” I sat up and looked at it on the dresser, sort of surprised she hadn’t taken it when she left. “I guess I have to keep wearing it too. At least for one more night. It just feels so wrong.”
“I’m so sorry, honey.”
“You know what the worst thing is?” The ceiling became blurry as tears filled my eyes. “I keep wondering if that stupid fake proposal is the only one I’ll ever get.”
“It’s not, Chloe.”
“Like, I’ve never even cared,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I’ve never been that girl obsessed about getting married. But I was standing there looking down at him on one knee, listening to him say these sweet words in front of an audience, and it really sucks that I don’t even know if he meant them.”
“I bet he did, deep down. Think of all the things he said to you without an audience. He meant those, don’t you think?”
“I have no clue.” I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to quit crying. “But whatever. I guess I’ll never have any clue.”
“So there’s no way to salvage it?” she asked. “Even though you still have feelings for him?”
“I don’t see how.” I took a deep, shuddering breath, and faced the truth by saying it out loud. “He wants that money more than he wants me, April. Otherwise, he’d have told the truth already.”
She had no reply.
“I’m sorry, sis. This is hard.” She sighed. “And we’re starting to get busy in here so I better go.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for listening.”
We hung up, and I curled back into a ball on my side, wondering how I was going to get through the night.
24
Chloe
NOW
“I just don’t understand why he’s so late,” Aunt Nell complained. “He knows what time dinner is. Why didn’t he come back sooner?”
We were in the library having cocktails and Oliver still hadn’t shown up yet. I’d have been worried about him sailing alone except that he’d texted me that he was running late because he had to run an errand.
That was not sitting well with his mother.
“Honestly, that boy has no sense of urgency about anything at all,” she went on, sitting down next to me on the couch. “I should have taught him better. He’ll probably be late to his own wedding.”
I tried to smile, but it was difficult. I’d been sitting there sipping some scotch and staring at the ring on my hand, getting more and more despondent by the minute. Tomorrow it would be returned to Gran, and I’d go home alone.
It was what I wanted. So why did it hurt so much?
I was about to excuse myself from the room because I was afraid of bursting into tears again, when I heard Oliver’s voice behind me
“Sorry I’m late,” he said loudly.
I looked at him over my shoulder—he was dressed in the same clothing he’d been wearing all day, appearing suntanned and windblown and gorgeous.
“Oliver, what on earth are you wearing?” his mother asked. “Go change for dinner, please. And good grief, run a comb through your hair.”
“No.” He strode further into the room, all the way to the fireplace, and stood in front of it. All eyes were on him. “Sorry I’m late, Mom, and I know your rule about T-shirts at the dinner table, but what I have to say is more important than how I look saying it.”
I blinked at him in surprise.
“In fact, I owe all of you an apology,” he said. “I lied to you. And what’s worse is that I forced Chloe to lie too.” He met my eyes. “I’m sorry, Chloe.”
Chills swept across my skin. My jaw dropped.
“I don’t understand,” said Aunt Nell.
“Let me explain.” Oliver took a breath. “I needed money to buy that land I told you about yesterday, and I was too proud to admit I didn’t have it on my own and ask for a loan.”
“Why would you need a loan?” Hughie asked from behind me somewhere.
Oliver grimaced. “That’s kind of another story. Suffice it to say, my bank account isn’t as big as it would be if I’d made better decisions in my twenties. So my plan was to ask Chloe to agree to a fake engagement so I could inherit the remainder of my trust fund from Gran.”
“Oh my God.” Aunt Nell covered her mouth with her hand. “Oliver Ford Pemberton, you didn’t.”
Oliver nodded, his mouth set in a line. “I did. But Chloe didn’t know about it. Before I could explain things to her, the situation got away from me. So she was totally in the dark when I asked her to marry me last night.”