Page 39 of The Wedding Hoax

“Mom, you know Eileen is in a wheelchair,” I reminded her. “Would she even be able to come over to the house? I don’t think she’d be able to navigate the steps—”

“Don’t worry about any of that, honey!” Mom assured me. “We’ve already taken care of it. We’ve had ramps put in and we had the house looked over for accessibility.”

My heart dropped to my stomach.

They’re revamping the house? Just for Eileen?

For a marriage that’s not even real?

“Mom, you shouldn’t have done that,” I said, trying to backtrack. “I mean, you shouldn’t have made any permanent changes to the house. I’m sure that was an unexpected cost—”

“What are you talking about, Harry? Eileen’s family now. We care about her needs, too.”

No, she’s not. Eileen’s not part of the family, and she never will be.

The words were threatening to come out of my mouth just as Simone stepped into my bedroom.

“Is that your mom?” She pointed at my phone. “What’s going on?”

“Simone! There you are!” My mom’s voice lit up as she shouted to be heard by Simone. “I was just inviting you and Harry over for brunch. Your mother should come, too!”

I tried to signal to Simone that we shouldn’t go. I quickly shook my head, even mouthing the word “no” with a desperate flair.

“That sounds wonderful!” Simone said into the mouthpiece. “We’ll be right over.” She beamed at me and offered a thumbs-up, as if we were on the same page.

“Yeah. Yep. We’ll be right over,” I said into the phone, my heart still firmly in my stomach.

I ended the call and pocketed my cell, following Simone out of the room.

“I’m sorry, does shaking my head mean something different to you than the rest of humanity?” I said to her in the hallway. “Is today Opposite Day? Do I need to check my calendar?”

“No, but you need to think about how things look. A happy couple turning down a brunch invitation? That doesn’t seem so happy to me.”

“We could’ve said we already had plans.”

“And what if your mother wanted to come over and drop off some food from brunch?” Simone pressed. “And she found us here, just hanging out on the couch?”

“That would’ve broken her heart,” I admitted.

“Exactly. And it makes us liars, which is a pretty bad look if we’re trying to convince people that we’re happily married.”

“Fine.” I sighed. “You’re right.”

“Always am.” Simone grinned as she stepped into the kitchen.

“So modest, too,” I chimed behind her. Eileen was already sitting behind a table, her hands folded in front of her.

“Good morning,” she said, noticing Simone’s smile. “You look like you got good news, Simi.”

“I just found out that we’re all going to Harry’s family’s place for brunch.”

“Ooh. An invite to the mansion.” Eileen smiled even wider. “I never thought I’d get the chance to go to the ball.”

“Just let me make your protein shake, and then we’ll get ready to go, okay?”

“Do I really need my protein shake if we’re going to brunch?”

“You need your protein shake every day, Mom. Doctor’s orders.”

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