Page 38 of Gracefully Yours

“Damn. Quite a kiss, darling. Still going to insist we’rejustbest friends?”

“I—We should probably go inside,” she mumbled, but she didn’t move to get out of her seat.

“Mmm. Yeah. I bet my dad is waiting for us for dinner.”

Hopefully, he’d remembered my request to make Charlotte something gluten-free. I hated it when she could only eat meat and vegetables, because Charlotte loved all things bread and pasta. She would normally sneak sourdough, because it didn’t make her sick, but most other things she tried to be good.

I got out of the car, and when I moved around to open up her door, she was still sitting there, staring at my dad’s house.

“You don’t think he saw us kissing, do you?” She whispered the question, and I held back my chuckle. She was so serious, her brow furrowed in worry, even though I knew it wasn’t something that would phase my dad in the slightest.

I shrugged. “What does it matter? Wearegetting married, Charlotte.”

And my dad had been married twice. I was sure two adults making out in a car wasn’t anything new to him.

But I also sensed Charlotte’s uneasiness with the situation, and I knew there was more going through her head. Reassuring her was my priority, but the second was her comfort. She’d met my dad before, but this time would be different. Because we were faking this entire relationship, and we were going to get married.

“Right.” She looked away, still flushed. “Besides, that was just practice. It didn’t… mean anything.”

“Mm.”

I didn’t know quite what to say. She thought that was fake, and all I wanted to do was fix that. So… Whatever she needed to tell herself, because I was going to prove to her that this was real.

Holding her hand, we walked up to the door, side by side.

“If you need to make an escape, just squeeze my hand. I’ve got you, darling.”

* * *

“It’sgood to see you again, Mr. Bradford,” Charlotte said, tucking her hair behind her ear as she gave a small wave to my father.

I tucked her in close to me as we sat on the couch in the living room.

“Dinner’s almost ready!” My step-mom hollered from the kitchen as I looked around the room.

This house was nothing like the one I’d grown up in. My parents had both worked full-time jobs, but I couldn’t imagine us living somewhere like this compared to our four-bedroom house. I hadn’t come here much because of that. Because part of me wished I’d had this growing up. Two happy parents who never fought, where the family vacations hadn’t stopped because of the grueling divorce.

A photo of Dad, Angelina and I from Disneyland sat on the mantle of their fireplace, and there was something about its placement that made me feel like an asshole for ever feeling that way.

Dad had tried his best, and no matter what, I knew he loved us in the best way that he could. For Angelina, maybe it wasn’t enough. But for me…

All it did was solidify my need to give that to my future child.Our future child.I pressed my thigh against Char’s, as if I needed the reminder that she was there. Maybe she was nervous, but I needed her too.

We were doing this together. We were doinglifetogether.

Not because we’d had no other options, but because we’d both made the choice together. Hadn’t we? Our marriage pact said nothing aboutlove,but it certainly was a declaration to stand by each other through thick and thin.

I might not have known everything, but I was pretty sure that was the exact foundation you’d need for a successful marriage.

I just hoped that ours would be one of those.

“After dinner, Tea and I will show you around outside. We have a few ideas for the ceremony location, and we’ve got a contact who can do heated tents if you want to have the reception outside, too.”

“Thank you, Mr. Bradford.” Charlotte’s eyes sparkled.

“You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart.”

“No, I do.” She looked over at me. “We do. If it wasn’t for you, we might have gone to the courthouse.” Charlotte gave a rough laugh, and I didn’t know why I hated that thought.

---