Page 84 of Just (Fake) Married
“Oh, this should be good.”
“You called me sweetness.” He started to laugh. “What?” I cried, laughing with him. “You did.”
“What did you call me?”
“Dumbass.”
He blinked at me and I grinned so hard my face hurt. “It was ironic,” I said. “Because you were so smart. And I did it affectionately.”
“Sure,” he nodded, like it all made sense, and took a bite of his soup. “Dumbass is known as a real affectionate name.”
“We saw each other again at your sister-in-law’s funeral where I comforted you in your grief and you pledged that you’d always loved me and always would.”
“It was an emotional time,” he said, with a sage nod.
“Indeed. But since I had a boyfriend at the time, I had to shoot you down.”
“Of course. I’m sorry I put you in that position,” he said. “But the heart wants what the heart wants.”
I rolled my eyes.
“We continued writing to each other though. So many emails. So when you came back after your dad died and we saw each other again…”
“I thought you looked beautiful,” he said.
“Huh?”
“That day with the alpacas. You had your cute hat on and your wild hair was blowing out from underneath it and I thought, Harmony Calloway grew into a beautiful woman.”
“Oh,” I said, trying not to let his words affect me, but it was impossible. “Anyway, everyone knows the story from there. I got a little tipsy at The Last Stand.”
“I kissed your neck,” he reminded me.
My body chose that moment to rememberexactlyhow that felt. “You proposed that night. I accepted and we eloped the next day.”
“Got it,” he said, taking the last bite of grilled cheese. “I’m fully prepared for the town meeting tonight. What will happen, you think?”
“We will nominate a chairperson to head the committee for festival planning. And we’ll suggest ideas to make the event even bigger. I’m warning you now, some of these suggestions will be a little crazy, but everyone’s heart should be in the right place.”
“And you want to be this chairperson, right?” he asked me.
Of course I wanted to be the chairperson. But every year, that job fell to Leroy McGraw as the de-facto leader of this town.
This year was going to be different.
“I do,” I said. “But I’m sure half the town wants to be chairperson.”
“It should be you,” Ethan continued. “You love this town more than anyone else. And this town loves you.”
Again, it was so strange being seen by him. Admired for things that other people took for granted or didn’t respect. It wasthe kind of support a woman wanted from a partner. A husband. It was heady.
Just then, my bag tipped and more scraps of paper and lip gloss and cap less pens clattered onto the desk. I scooped up the junk and shoved it back in my purse, planning, always planning, to clean it out later.
I looked up from my mess to see that he had a piece of paper that had escaped my purse in his hands.
“What’s this?” he finally asked, and lifted the paper up so I could see it.
Jesus, Mary and Tom Hanks.
