Page 54 of The Holiday Fakers
“You must stay for dinner tonight. Both of you,” Mom insists. “You can meet the whole family.”
“We’d love to. Wouldn’t we, Cara?”
She glances nervously between me and her boss.
“Don’t be shy, honey,” Mom says, patting her arm. “I promise we won’t bite.”
There’s a thundering of feet on the stairs, then Brody skids into the kitchen, his hair still a mess and his shirt untucked.
If Brody’s eyes were lasers, then Marv would currently be lying in two pieces on the linoleum floor.
“What are you doing here?” he demands.
Marv, with the confidence of a man who knows he can play chicken with death and win, holds up a cookie. “Partaking of the best breakfast in Hideaway. Want one?”
“No. I said, what are you?—”
“Brody, sweetheart, you and my baby girl must be hungry,” Mom interrupts. “Let me make you some eggs.” She picks a spotless apron from a hook on the wall and puts it on. “Bacon? Pancakes?”
Brody runs a hand through his hair and takes a breath. “Thank you, Mrs L, but I can cook it.”
“Nonsense, honey. You’re my guest. And remember, call me Erica. Piper, you want the same? Mia? You ate this morning?”
Mom doesn’t wait for a reply, bustling around the kitchen with the efficiency of a short-order cook.
“Thank you,” Mia replies. “I’ll take whatever’s on offer. It’s going to be a long day.”
“It certainly is with everything you and Mr De—Marvhave planned.”
“What?” Brody and I say in unison, glancing between Mia and Marv. Meanwhile, Cara is staring at the floor like she wishes a sinkhole would appear and swallow her up.
Mom comes up to us and places a hand on each of our cheeks. “It’s okay. I know your little secret.”
Brody and I exchange a look. How on earth is Mom being so cool about us faking a relationship?
“Mr—Marvtold me you’re having a little hiccup in your career and could use a bit of help landing a very important job.”
Neither Brody nor I say a word. I’m still trying to process the fact she seems so happy about our subterfuge.
“He’s explained everything,” Mom continues. “And it makes perfect sense.”
“It does?” I ask, my voice cracking.
“Yes, of course. The world needs to know who youreallyare. A small-town boy with the sweetest small-town girl on your arm. And where better to show you both off than here, in Hideaway, the town built on true love.”
Oh god. She doesn’t know.
“So, Marv and I are making sure you get seen at all the right places, and Mia will take the photos to share with the world. It’s going to be so exciting!”
I can’t criticize my mom when she’s genuinely this thrilled to help Brody out. She lives for her family, Hideaway Harbor, and true love, so we’re ticking all her boxes. But this also means that Marv just became Mom’s biggest enabler.
Or is it the other way around? All Idoknow is that Brody and I are going to be followed everywhere by at least four people. More, the moment Mom gets on the phone to her friends.
She glances at the wall clock, then claps. “We’ve got just under an hour before your first appointment. Sit down and have some coffee while I whip you up something to eat.”
The moment Mom goes to the refrigerator, Brody pins Marv with a fierce look. “And whatisour first appointment?”
“You’re tearing a page off the calendar,” Mom calls over her shoulder. “Every day was booked months ago, but I made a few calls this morning, pulled some strings, and got you a slot. Saturday mornings usually draw a good crowd, and word’s already out that you’re today’s star. Everyone’s excited to meet you!”
