Page 77 of Their Greatest Strength

“Nothing. I just figured you’d rather talk without Oliver around.”

I snort a laugh. “Fair enough. Outside?”

“Sure.”

We step onto the back porch a couple of minutes later. I take a seat on the long bench beneath the kitchen window, Dad following my lead.

“You’re going to give your mother a heart attack, Jamie” is what he says first.

“Jeez. No easing into it, huh?”

“Is that what you’ve been doing? Easing into it?”

Alright, fair enough. “Mom seems okay now.”

“She’s trying to be polite. We all are.”

I swipe a hand through my hair, messing it up. “You don’t need to pretend with me or with Blakely. Doing that will only make her feel more uncomfortable. She can tell when someone’s putting on an act.”

“Actors recognize actors, Jamie.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I snip, my cool slipping.

Dad’s eyes widen at my outburst, a hand lifting in surrender. “I’m sorry. That’s not how I meant it to come out.”

“How did you mean it? Because I didn’t come here to have Blakely put under a microscope. I came here because as my parents, I figured you deserved to meet my future wife before my wedding day. Please don’t make me regret that.”

“We’re just worried about you, Jamie. You’ve always been an act first and think second type of person, but this? We had a wedding invitation slipped in themailbox. Are you sure that you understand the magnitude of what you’re going to be doing? Marriage isn’t anything to be taken lightly. It’s a forever thing. Have we not shown you that over the years?”

“Of course you have. Shit, Dad. I’ve been surrounded by marriages my entire life. I get it. I do. Your worries aren’t necessary. I’m marrying Blakely because I want to.”

My stomach burns, the lining disintegrating with every half-truth I tell. It’s wrong not to just blurt out the truth to him. He’d understand. Out of everyone in my life, he would get it the most. The pressure to make my team proud and be the guy who can get the job done. I just can’t put him in a position to lie to Mom, and if they both know the truth . . . It’s too big of a risk with the closeness of our family.

He’s not believing a word I’m saying, though. Not even one.

“Your mom won’t let it go. Especially not when you confirmed that Blakely tried to rob you. Want to get into that? Because I’m pretty sure that’s called some shit like Stockholm syndrome,” he mutters.

“That’s when you fall in love with someone who’s kidnapped you or something. I’m not holding her against her will. Sheesh.”

“Fuck, fine. I just think that this is . . . odd.”

“It’s a story to tell. She wasn’t in my house with the purpose of robbing me, anyway. It just happened.”

“She justhappenedto try robbing you?”

“Fuck, Dad. Can you just forget that I even shared that to begin with? Blakely will be mortified if she hears anything about it. She’s still nervous to this day to touch certain things in the house because of what she did.”

He sighs, leaning further against the back of the bench. “Just promise me that you’re at least signing a prenup. Not because I think poorly of her, but because it’s important for everyone to have entering into a marriage. Especially someone like you.”

“Already done. She’s not after my money, though. Just so you know. I think that’s the last thing she’d take from me.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” he asks, not coming off as abrasive, just purely curious.

“How easy was it for you to take money from those in your life when you were my age, Dad?”

He pauses, digesting the question. The memories of his past surface in his gaze before he blinks them away.

“I didn’t want to assume anything about her. I’ve always hated when people did that with me.”

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