Page 29 of Love in Tandem
“I’m being ridiculous? I’m being ridiculous? If anyone is to blame for being ridiculous, it’s you and your pathetic sleuthing skills. You’re to blame for all this.” Charlotte altered her voice into a high-pitched squeal. “‘Oh, what if she’s meeting the love of her life? What if he’s the Frankie to her Annette?’ Bah. You know why Melba said ‘Cake, cake, cake’? It’s because she loved cake, cake, cake. That’s it. She didn’t even have an invitation to the wedding. And now look at the mess you’ve put me in.”
Charlotte attempted to get into her car, but Sophia blocked the door. “Oh, I’m sorry. Remind me again of the part where I told you to be Zach’s date. Remind me how I coerced you into being the maid of honor in this wedding. Maybe you can jog my memory about when I told you two to make out in front of our parents, because I’m drawing a blank.”
Charlotte’s shoulders drooped. “Okay, fine. So maybe it’s not completely your fault. Zach is obviously to blame as well.”
“Charlotte . . .”
“Stop saying Charlotte like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like Dad does when he thinks I’m being unreasonable.”
Sophia’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Charlotte . . .” she said again, bringing an unwanted smile to Charlotte’s lips. Her sister really did sound just like their dad. Charlotte sighed, leaning against her car next to her sister. The back of her dress would probably get dirty, but that was the least of her worries at this point.
“I don’t have time for this. I’m supposed to be figuring out how to keep my job, not dealing with—” she flapped a hand at the reception hall— “that.”
Sophia’s shoulder bumped against hers. “You can’t tell me the idea of you and Zach being a couple isn’t a tiny bit appealing. He’s the epitome of ruggedly handsome, even without the man bun.”
“You mean especially without the man bun. But it’s not real. Our relationship, I mean.” His good looks were unfortunately all too real.
“But think of Mom and Dad. North Carolina. The time-share. You saw them. They won’t accept this opportunity if they don’t think you and Zach are an actual couple. What if this is their only chance?”
“For a vacation?”
“To save their marriage. Remember? Issues? They need this time away. And they made it pretty clear they’re not going to accept a gift like this from us. Not while we’re still struggling to make ends meet.”
“I was thinking of picking up a second job.”
“With what time? Sounds to me like you’ll be too busy working on fundraisers for anything else.”
“Ugh. You’re right. Two days into summer vacation and it’s already a disaster.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Don’t you see? Date Zach a little while longer, and you’ll kill thirty birds with one stone. Think about it.”
“I am, and now I feel guilty about all these dead birds.”
Sophia squeezed Charlotte’s wrist. “Stick with me a second. You’ve been wanting to find a way to repay Mom and Dad, even though it wasn’t your fault your wedding got cancelled and they’ve been trying to tell you for two years that it wasn’t your fault.”
“I knew going into the week of our wedding that something wasn’t right between us. I should have pushed harder for answers. Made him talk.”
“None of that matters at this point. What matters is Mom and Dad won’t let you repay them, and their marriage is in trouble. This might be our only opportunity to get them away for a while so they can focus on fixing it. Isn’t dating a hunky guy worth it for them?”
“Not if I have to go camping for two days. Do you know how long two days is out in the wild?”
“I’m guessing around forty-eight hours.”
“An eternity. That’s how long it is. I hate camping. There’s never a toilet when you need one, and if you do come across one, there’s a thousand daddy longlegs waiting to crawl inside your underwear. What if we get lost? What if we run out of water? What if we have to drink urine out of a sack made from snakeskin? I saw that on an episode of one of those Survivorman shows. I wanted to gag, vomit, and die all at the same time.”
“So see? Everything is going to be fine.”
“How did you get ‘everything is going to be fine’ from anything I just said?”
“Hey, you’re the one always telling me to keep the faith, remember?” Sophia slung her arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.
Sophia was right. Where was Charlotte’s faith? It’d clearly gone out the window along with her honesty. “I don’t like that this idea involves lying to Mom and Dad. You know I’ve never been a good liar. They’re going to see through me before they even pack their first bag.”
Sophia grabbed Charlotte’s hand. “Who says you have to lie? Date Zach. Be a couple. Nobody’s saying you have to marry the guy. Just keep dating him until Mom and Dad get down to North Carolina. Surely you can handle being in a casual relationship for that long.”
