Page 12 of Eligible Best Friend

“If I say no, does that change anything?”

“It’ll be fun. It’s only stepsiblings I’ve never been close to and their mom who detests my mom.”

“What could go wrong?” She tilts her head to the left, the movement so tiny only I would notice. “Is Mrs. Rosenthal spying on us?”

“Do Arnesh’s hands still shake during an IV start?”

Her lips quirk and my attention hooks on them. She’s wearing lip gloss. Is it the high-end kind that tastes like sanitizer? Or the berry-flavored cheap stuff that would make her lips even more lickable than they already are? “She was telling me yesterday that she has a grandson who’s never had a serious girlfriend and we’d get along great.”

I shoot Mrs. Rosenthal’s condo a hard look. Her grandson had better live across the country and be afraid of flying. He doesn’t need to come anywhere near Fargo. Lia starts down the walk and I jog a few steps to keep up. “And you told her you’re taken?”

“She’s been trying to set me up with him since I was fifteen.” She pauses and turns back. “But how far are we taking this?”

“It has to be believable.”

“Believable enough that I have to lie to everyone around me?”

We’re both stopped halfway between her front door and the street where I’m parked. “That’s kind of how it goes. We don’t know who she’s talking to.” Lia probably does, but my lame excuse is out there.

“She gets her groceries delivered and I think the mice living in her eighties Cadillac will learn to drive it before she ever fires up the engine again.”

“Maybe that grandson of hers should fix it for her,” I joke, but crankiness has set in since hearing she’s known this mysterious single guy for ten years.

She gives me a funny look and keeps walking.

I let out a quiet breath. I might’ve overreacted, but I have more to lose than she does. “Look, if Cass catches wind that we’re pretending, she’ll never leave Jayden with me again.” I don’t make enough to fight a long legal battle and her parents will throw everything they have behind it.

“I get it, Ford.” She stops at the passenger door and I automatically open it for her. She lifts a dark brow, her gaze jumping between the door and me.

“I have manners, Wescott.”

“I never said you didn’t. Don’t start opening the ambulance door for me.” Getting in, she arranges her dress. “All right. According to everyone from here on out, I’m taken.”

“Thank you.” I mean it. She’s no longer just a sounding board about Cass’s unfairness. Now, she’s my lifeline, a way to show the world that I’m stable father material.

I close the door and jog around to the other side. The drive to the wedding venue is quiet. As I pull into the lot, I spot Mom’s car. She’s sitting inside as if she can’t bring herself to go in alone. I’m glad I agreed to come. Even more grateful to Lia. Between the both of us, this might be a nice day for Mom.

I park as close as I can and lead Lia to Mom. When I knock on the window, Mom jumps, her guilty gaze flicking to the window. She opens the door and clambers out.

“Oh,” she says, adjusting her own floral dress and smoothing it down. “I was just, uh… I was waiting for you.”

“Safety in numbers?” I mutter, and she scowls, but it quickly disappears. Lia’s hand slips into mine and I give it a squeeze, grateful for the support.

Mom begrudgingly nods. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Or they’ll ignore us and it’ll be painfully awkward.”

“Ford Monroe,” Mom huffs, but she knows I’m right. Trying not to be assholes when they cross paths at the grocery store is different than not giving Mom the time of day at a big family event. She glances at Lia. “Thank you for coming.”

The change in Mom is subtle, but it’s there. Pride. A woman of Lia’s caliber is here with me, and now Mom can show us off here, among people she’s forever failed to impress.

“It’s my pleasure,” Lia says warmly. “What’s dating if there aren’t awkward wedding dances involved?”

Mom’s laugh surprises her as much as me and she starts for the door of the venue, her feet lighter than a minute ago. I give Lia a grateful smile and ignore the spark in my chest. Cass would’ve said something vaguely insulting and bitched to me about the wedding all night if she even talked to me again the rest of the night.

It’s quiet in the event center, but an usher waits for us and leads us through to the courtyard behind the building. The sun is out with a few fluffy clouds in the sky as if one of the guests ordered perfect weather for an outdoor wedding as a gift to the bride and groom. A white canopy stretches over several rows of chairs with an elegant floral archway on one end. People I don’t recognize mill around, all dressed similarly to me in my casual blue suit and Lia in her soft dress.

Mom’s steps falter when she sees the mother of the bride flitting around the crowd, happier than a hummingbird guzzling nectar. Lia and I fall in step next to her, pillars of support. During her marriage, Mom was vilified by my stepsiblings. All they knew was that their dad had left their mom and moved on to another woman. All they saw was me living with him full time while they only got him part of the time. They didn’t know he ignored me most of my life—if I was lucky. The unlucky times, he needled and picked at all my insecurities. He was good at that.

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