Page 10 of Misadventures With My Fake Fiancé

“Oh, look.” Mike pointed to a big black suitcase as Mrs. O came to stand next to us. “Is that one yours?”

Wow. Mike was unbelievably good at deflection, because that was definitely not my bag. A suitcase was one thing. An engagement was something else entirely. There was a reason he'd upped the ante since he'd called me at Goldilocks. I had little doubt the reason stood beside us. I had to wait to get him alone to find out why he was going to such lengths to protect his mom.

Miraculously,it only took us a few more minutes to collect my luggage, exit the parking garage and get on the way through the darkness to...somewhere. The air was cool and damp, as if it had rained earlier in the day. It was colder than Montana at night, but not by much. The streets were quiet, businesses closed.

“I thought it was light here all the time,” I said.

“Almost, it's dark for just a few hours. It'll be light by four,” Mike commented.

“Are you all right back there?” Mrs. O asked. “I could have sat in the back.”

As if.Mike's rental car had to be the smallest car ever made. It was a two-door hatchback that was close in size to the kid's ride-on toy cars my school had on the preschool playground. A little cardboard pine tree dangled from the rear-view mirror emitting enough woodsy scent to distract a bloodhound.

It was almost comical how we were wedged in.

“I had no idea you'd bring two suitcases. Are you sure you have enough room?” Mike asked. His head actually touched the ceiling of the car, his shoulders hunched, with his knees up under the steering wheel even with the seat pushed back as far asit would go. Behind it was my second suitcase, since only one fit in the very back with the hatch closed. My carry-on was in my lap and my knees were jammed into the back of the passenger seat. I was getting claustrophobic just thinking about it.

There was no way I’d ask Mrs. O to sit back here.

“Sweetheart, I thought you were getting this car replaced,” Mrs. O said to Mike.

Mike's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, his face green from the glow of the dash. “We got to the airport early with the hopes of trading it in,” he told me. “No luck. There aren't any rentals left in the area that are bigger. I've tried two other times in the week I've been here. I'm stuck with this clown car.”

“You might be stuckinthis clown car,” I replied. It was an apt description and extremely funny. Mrs. O thought so.

“Violet, you're going to have so much fun up here. It's a full house, but that's to be expected. My brother Bob's retiring from the Air Force. He's been stationed up here at Elmendorf for years.”

“Yeah,” Mike added. “Mom decided we should celebrate and make a family reunion out of it. My uncle divorced when I was a kid, never remarried, never had kids, but he's got a big house, so we're piled in there.”

“So at the house for the reunion is your uncle, your mom...” I started, but didn't know more.

“My dad, who said he'd see you in the morning, by the way. He goes to bed at nine and doesn't do late nights.”

I nodded my head. Good thing, the car was too small to fit him, anyway.

“My cousin, Banks, is here, along with his wife, Trish, their son, Alex, and Uncle Bob's ex-wife's nephews, Jean-Luc and Marc.”

What had I gotten myself into? It was a circus and I was going to be performing in the center ring in about six hours. Maybe the clown car would come in handy.

“That's a lot of people.”

“Then there's Susan next door, who's such a sweetheart,” Mrs. O tagged on.

Mike arched an eyebrow at me in the mirror.

“Susan?” I asked, playing naïve.

“Bob's neighbor. Recently divorced. A lovely woman. I thought she might be a great match for Mike, but before I could invite her to more than one dinner, Mike surprised me with your engagement. I had no idea.”

Clearly, Mike hadn't told his mom about Susan's nocturnal bedroom visits.

“I told you, Mom, we were going to surprise you when we got home. But you forced my hand by pushing Susan on me. I'm a one-woman guy.”

Mrs. O lifted a hand and waved at Mike, as if wiping away his comment. “I think it's sweet, and so considerate of you to bring Violet up because she missed you so much.”

I arched an eyebrow.Missed him?What on earth had he said to his mom? That I was sitting around waiting for him to call? This wasn't high school. Mrs. O thought little enough of me as it was. I didn't need her to think me desperate and clingy before we even got to the house. Two could play this game.

I leaned forward as best I could, my stomach pressed into my carry-on. “Between us girls, Mrs. O, you know how men are. Blaming their loneliness on us. I could hear how he pined for me when we talked on the phone every day, all but begging me to come since he was all alone. And it's only been a week!”

---