Page 25 of Love in Tandem
“I know what the word parents means.”
“Well, did you know they were here for the wedding? Did you know they’re on their way to the reception?” The church custodian, who had started to clean up the sanctuary, sent them a concerned look. Charlotte lowered her voice and pretended she was swiping lint off Zach’s suit. “Your mom invited my parents. Now they think we’re together. What are we going to do, huh? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?”
“First, we’re going to stop repeating the same question over and over.” Zach’s palm slid around her back, giving her a gentle push to the door. “Next, we’re going to drive out to the railroad tracks, smile, and finish getting photos for Ben and Shannon. Then, last but not least, we’ll wait for a train to run over us before we have to explain anything.”
Charlotte elbowed Zach in the gut. “I’m serious. After everything my mom and dad have been through, especially this past year with Will, they don’t deserve another disappointment.”
Zach stiffened. “What’s going on with your brother? I heard he was out of prison.”
“He is. But you wouldn’t know it based on the distance he keeps from us.” Charlotte sighed, not wanting to go into the problems with her brother at this minute. Especially since it was no secret Zach and her brother had never gotten along. They stepped outside the church and made their way to her vehicle. “My parents aside, your mom is so happy. I don’t want to ruin this day for her.”
“Don’t worry about my mom. When we get to the reception, just pull your parents aside and explain. They’ve always been reasonable people. I don’t think they’re going to get upset over a little misunderstanding. Shoot, they’ll probably be relieved we’re not really together. Want me to drive?”
She handed him her keys, then allowed him to open the passenger’s side door for her, so she could maneuver into her seat without messing up her dress.
Zach was right. Her parents were reasonable people.
Which is why she had no earthly idea how to explain to them why she was serving as the maid of honor in her ex-fiancé’s wedding and pretending to date his brother.
Because what reasonable explanation did she have?
Zach had never served as best man before, but he had the feeling hiding behind a dumpster as he prayed for the redemption of his soul was not on his list of wedding duties.
He swatted a fly away from his head, the stench of spoiled garbage ripe despite the cooled evening temps.
How had he gotten here? He paced back and forth. Well, he knew how he’d gotten here. He’d burst out the back exit of the reception hall and hooked an immediate right. But how had he gotten here? To this moment? When his liar liar pants should have been on fire.
Not his lips.
TWENTY MINUTES EARLIER
Zach scooped a spoonful of peanuts into his hand, then reached for a cup of punch. He’d shed his tuxedo jacket as soon as they’d arrived from their photo session on the tracks, but the packed reception hall was heated with dancing guests to a point that no amount of shedding could compensate for.
Oh well. Zach had made it through his speech, the dinner, and the bridal party dance. The rest of the reception could take place in a sauna for all he cared. The worst was over. Right?
Zach wolfed the peanuts, then chugged the punch, making up for lost calories. Between nerves wound tighter than the organ player’s perm and the sight of his glowing mother seated next to Charlotte’s parents throughout the entire reception, he’d struggled to clean half his dinner plate.
He gulped down another cup of punch, hoping Charlotte had set her parents straight by now. He’d deal with his own mom later.
A Michael Bublé song started up as he reached for a piece of wedding cake.
“How do you have an appetite?” Charlotte appeared next to his side, talking low. “My stomach has been in knots all day.”
“Did you get a chance to talk to your parents?”
She shook her head as she grabbed a fork and helped herself to a bite of his cake. “Every time I get near them,” she said around a mouthful, “your mother swoops in and goes on and on about how thrilled she is we’re together.”
She started for another bite, and Zach lifted his plate out of reach. “I thought your stomach was in knots.”
“I’m stress eating.”
“Stress eat your own cake.”
“My stomach is in too many knots to stress eat my own cake. Will you do it?”
“Do what? Speak to your parents? No way.” He gave up on keeping his plate out of reach. They dueled for the last bites of cake until it was finished.
“Well, somebody’s got to tell them.”
