Page 74 of Just (Fake) Married
“You’ve been hiding from me,” I said.
“I haven’t been hiding,” she muttered. “I’ve just been…busy.”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I insisted. “Is it because of what happened on our wedding night?”
“I wish you wouldn’t call it that. Wedding night feels so…so…real.”
“Well, our wedding night felt very real.”
“We shouldn’t talk about it,” she said, and continued walking.
“Yeah, I’m sort of leaning the other way,” I said, following her.
“Why?” She stopped just before she reached the door of the café.
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to talk about it?”
“Because…” Her question caught me off guard.
Why did I keep bringing it up? I knew the situation we were in was temporary. I was going back to Seattle in a couple of months. What was the point rehashing something she clearly wanted to put behind us?
But the truth just hit me so hard, I had to say it.
“Because I want to do it again.”
SEVENTEEN
ETHAN
Harmony’s mouth opened,closed, then opened again. Clearly, I’d left her speechless with my declaration. Instead of responding, she opened the door of the café and a blast of heat, and the smell of garlic and fresh baked bread, greeted us.
“Harmony!” Amity cried, coming out from behind the counter. “And my new, fabulous brother-in-law, Ethan!”
The entire café turned in their seats to stare at us. There were booths that were full along the wall of windows with pretty checkered curtains. The different tables in the middle of the restaurant with mismatched chairs and candles were quirky, and also full. The only empty seats were at the bar and there weren’t very many of them.
Staff in red aprons and t-shirts that said, “it’s your last meal, get the special,” carried trays full of food back and forth from the bustling kitchen.
The place was hopping.
“See?” I muttered through a smile. “We’re not hiding. And don’t forget to pretend you love me.”
She muttered back, her lips also stretched into a smile. “That might be hard when I want to punch you in the face.”
“I think we both know when you say punch, you mean kiss,” I said, and took her hand. “Anywhere okay to sit, Amity?”
“You bet,” Amity said, maybe a little too cheerfully? “I’ll be over in a second to take your order.”
Mayor Gallup, sitting in one of the far booths, got to his feet and came over to shake my hand.
“Well, let me be the first person in town to congratulate you, Ethan,” Mayor Gallup said. Swear to God, the man should have a piece of straw in his mouth. “I feel like a Calloway and a McGraw getting married might be a sign that hell is about to freeze over, but your bride told me you two have been a thing for a while.”
“Sure have,” I said, and curled my arm around Harmony’s waist. “After Dad died, we didn’t want to waste another minute.”
Mayor Gallup was quickly joined by a woman I didn’t recognize.
“Sandra Blackfeather,” she introduced herself. She had silver in her long, jet black hair and her dark eyes were sharp and probing behind a pair of red glasses. “I run the health clinic in town and I heard you’re a doctor?”
