Page 68 of The Fiancé Hoax

It would be easy to get used to this.

Of course, we had to sleep in separate beds. But I would’ve preferred to have her sleep in my arms all night. Every time I had to say goodbye to Felicity, it hurt a little.

Down the hall, I caught a glimpse of a woman with long brown hair wearing a flowery dress as she walked toward the first-grade area. My heart picked up speed.

“Felicity?”

She turned around at the sound of her name. A smile brightened her face as she saw me, and I approached her at the end of the hall.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, grinning at the pleasant surprise.

Felicity’s eyes sparkled. “Lily's showing her Mother's Day art today. She asked me to be here.”

“Oh, right. I forgot that was today.”

Felicity watched as several women filed inside the first-grade classroom after the students. They were the kids' mothers, no doubt.

“I think it's starting now,” Felicity said. “I better get in there. Are you about to leave for the field trip?”

“Eva's teacher said it would be another half hour, so I have time. I'll go in with you to watch.”

“Great!”

I held the door to the classroom open for her, and we entered.

The kids sat at their desks. When Lily saw us, she smiled and waved excitedly. At the front of the classroom, the student art projects were on display. At the back of the room, several mothers and a few dads sat in chairs that were lined up in rows.

“Let's take those two over there,” Felicity said. She pointed at the only two empty seats that were together. Then her hand fell and she took a step backward in surprise. “Oh, I didn't know…”

Gen sat right next to the empty seats. When she saw us, she plastered a saccharine smile on her face and patted the empty seat beside her.

Why the hell was she here? She never came to class events for the girls. I was surprised she even knew which school they attended.

With a sigh, I took the seat beside Gen. Felicity sat in the chair on my other side.

Lily's teacher, Mrs. Goldstein, cleared her throat at the front of the classroom.

“Welcome, parents, to this very special art show, brought to you by our first-grade class!”

As the parents politely applauded, I spoke in a low voice to Gen. “Surprised to see you here. Why did you bother showing up?”

Gen sniffed. “I'm Lily's mother, Cooper.” She flicked her eyes toward Felicity. “I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

I snorted. “I bet your attorney advised you to come here and play the part, didn't he?”

Gen ignored the question and focused on the first child to display his art—a rather misshapen ashtray. His mother, who I figured was not a smoker, looked thrilled.

I put my arm around Felicity's chair, and she moved a bit closer toward me. Gen rolled her eyes.

We listened as the next few kids said a few words about their art projects. Finally, it was Lily's turn, and she walked to the front of the classroom to stand beside her project. I could tell she was nervous. I tried to meet her eyes to give her strength and encouragement.

“Tell us what you made, Lily,” the teacher prompted.

“I made a picture…a collage,” Lily said in a clear voice. “I cut up magazine pictures to make it. It's of a calico cat sniffing a flower.”

Everyone applauded, and Lily smiled at us as she returned to her seat. She had spent a lot of time on her project, flipping through endless magazines to find the perfect images of a cat, a daffodil, a sun, and a blue sky.

My chest filled with pride. Not just because of her art project, but because she spoke up in front of a large crowd. I knew that was difficult for her. Beside me, Felicity beamed.

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