Page 14 of Tangled in Vows

I choke on the small sip of soda I managed to take, waiting for her to laugh and say, “Just kidding.”

But she never does.

“What do you mean, crazy community? Where are you from? Are you safe?”

She fidgets with her blouse. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’m fine. For now, at least.”

Fuck.

Her words repeat in my head, two words specifically.

Save me.

I take in her ill-fitting clothes again. “So you ran away?”

She nods.

“Do you have a place to stay?”

She averts her gaze. “A motel for one more night.”

Shit.

The bench protests when I lean back against the hard plastic. “So let me get this straight. You ran away to find a husband so you don’t have to marry someone else?”

“I don’t want a real husband, just a fake one.”

“A fake one?” At this point, I’m just a parrot.

She nods like we’re talking about something completely normal, and I’m too dense to get it. “Yeah, just on paper, you know?”

“Of course.” I study her. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen.” She clears her throat and mumbles, “Almost.”

My eyebrows shoot up. I don’t even know why I’m surprised. She seems young, especially without a trace of makeup on her face.

But why would someone her age want a fake husband? She said her community is trying to marry her off, but that shit can’t actually still happen, right? Especially if at least one of the involved parties isn’t willing to do so.

I open my mouth to say something, but she holds up a finger to keep me silent.

“Listen, I only told you all of this because of your truth-for-a-truth game, okay? Don’t stress out about it. It’s not like I just proposed to you. I’ll be eighteen in a few days, hopefully making it easier to find a job. Then I can find a place to stay, and things can only look up from there, right? No biggie.”

“No biggie?”

“Yeah.” She nods and takes another bite of her burger.

My mind is spinning, and I’m still trying to process everything she said. It still sounds absolutely ridiculous. She just made all of that shit up. She must have. “Where exactly are you from?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

I inhale deeply, strangely intrigued by this girl. Is it a coincidence that she slammed into my life on one of the worst days of the year?

The memory of the last time I saw my sister pops into my head. Unwanted, as always. She’d dumped her bag in some guy’s car, ready to leave for an “adventure,” as she called it. I didn’t like him. Even when he smiled at her, it felt wrong. She ran back to me and gave me a tight hug.

I hugged her back, and she winced. I hated that she was hurt—something that happened far too often after one of Mom’s boyfriends visited—but I was also upset because she was leaving me. She was the only person in my life who really mattered. The only person who cared about me. Who would make sure I’d have something to eat and go to school? Who would climb into bed with me when one of Mom’s boyfriends was getting angry again? Who would sing me back to sleep when Mom would cry and scream for hours?

She put her hands on my shoulders and gave me a bright smile—her fake one. “I’m sorry, buddy. I know you don’t understand, but I can’t stay here any longer. I’ll come visit once we’re back from our trip, okay?”

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