Page 130 of Just (Fake) Married
“Yes,” I finally agreed with them.
Because that’s what we Calloway women did. We survived. The four of us grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed.
“I love you,” I breathed.
“We love you, too,” Amity said. “And we can do this. We can do all of this. We don’t need a single McGraw to help us do what we do best.”
“Fuck shit up,” Bliss said and Amity punched her.
“No,” Amity said. “Solve problems. Help people. Organize shit. Be amazing.”
Be amazing. I could do that. Kind of. Maybe. I could fake it. I’d gotten very good at faking it.
“Okay, sisters,” I said, getting out of bed. As far as pep talks went, that had been amazing. My heart was still broken and there were going to be a lot of tears and pints of ice cream in my future. But today, we had to be Calloways. “Let’s move. Today, we ride.”
The festival was an incredible success,beyond even my wildest daydream. Chuck was selling BBQ faster than he could make it. The 5K run went off without a hitch, though there had been a number of folks who had attempted it wearing cowboy boots, which lead to a host of nasty blisters that Dr. Blackfeather was treating.
Everyone in town came out, and according to the ticket sellers at the games and food trucks, we had almost a thousand tourists. A thousand!
Everyone was playing games. There were a lot of Calloway and McGraw t-shirts (more Calloways than McGraws, I was happy to see) and everyone was using the QR codes posted around town to reveal maps on their phones.
Maps that lead them to…well, me.
I was dressed up in the 1880’s corset and dress with straw poking out the buttons. I had straw in my hair and dirt smudged all over my face to show that I’d already been pushed down Widow’s Peak and I had climbed back up to exact my revenge.
Darryl J., playing Duncan McGraw, was a very enthusiastic scene partner and every time people walked by he shook his fist in my face and said, “Marry me or die!”
We stood by the statue of the gallows where Widow Calloway had once awaited her fate after she’d pushed Duncan McGraw off the peak to his untimely death.
And yes, there was yet another poster on the community board. Unavoidable, I suppose. It was Ethan’s picture – not a very good one - with the tagline underneath:
Wanted: Ethan McGraw
Fortunately, the tourists had no idea what that meant. Unfortunately, everybody else in town did.
“What do you mean Ethan left before the festival?” Mrs. McCormick asked, as soon as she spotted me by the gallows. She wore a long skirt and a bonnet. She wasn’t in any of the re-enactments, but she liked to dress the part.
“There was an emergency,” I said vaguely.
“What kind of emergency is more important than Feud Day?” Marion wanted to know. She was enraged by Ethan’s absence. She’d been wearing a McGraw shirt and had changed to a Calloway. “This messes up our entire finale.”
“It doesn’t,” I insisted. “Darryl J. will be Ethan and we’ll get fake married and it won’t make a bit of difference.”
Darryl H. popped up behind Marion. “I really don’t know how I feel about my husband marrying another woman.”
“It’s pretend,” I hissed. “Now if we just stay cool, the tourists will never know.”
“I’ll know,” Ida Strunk said, approaching the crowd that was starting to gather around us. She looked like a black cloud on a sunny day. “I want to know the truth. Was this marriage ever real at all?”
“Ida,” Irma scolded her sister. Irma wore a linen dress the color of a tangerine, that was surprisingly low cut. She told me when she’d first arrived that she was looking for a handsome tourist to take home. “Of course it was real. It was clear how those two kids felt about each other. All you had to do was look at them.”
Oh, God, I was sick to my stomach with guilt and regret and heartbreak. It had all been fake. All the kisses and hand-holding. All the touches and pet names. Maybe now was the time to come clean. This was my home, and these people were my neighbors and I’d been lying to them for months. Now Ethan was gone and all of this seemed so pointless.
“You’re right, Ida,” I nodded, the straw catching against my chin for the very last time as I yanked it free. Marion made a low sound of disapproval. “Maybe it is time for the truth. And the truth is…”
“Hold up!”
Everyone surrounding me startled at the sound of Ethan McGraw’s voice.
