Page 63 of That First Moment

“Okay listen.” Jillian closed the door to the family room, still in her winter coat and untied boots. She was starting to scare me. “I have to ask you something, and I don't want you to get all defensive and angry with me, I just want the truth.”

I inhaled, holding my breath. “Okay,” I stammered.

“Who the hell is Daxton? Because he’s clearly not your boyfriend.”

I blinked.What?“What? Of course he is . . .”

“Jamie. You two have been so stiff around each other. Your stories on how you met don’t match up, he claims to be an architect, but I looked, there is no Daxton Whittaker in Portland working as an architect. There's a Graham Whittaker, who looks an awful lot like Daxton, but clearly is way older than him. At first I thought it could be his dad, but nowhere in his bio does it mention kids, so that I’m at a loss on. And that kiss last night . . .” She slapped her thighs, her eyebrows pinched. “If that wasn’t the most uncomfortable kiss I had ever seen.Daxton,”she air quoted his name, “I could tell, was not into it. It’s like you saw us on the sidewalk and told him to kiss you to make it look more believable. And this morning, he had to have seen me coming.”

I was frozen, completely unsure as to how to react here. I thought we had done a pretty good job the past few days playing the roles of boyfriend and girlfriend, and our kiss last night was anything but uncomfortable. I twisted my lips and looked down, thinking to myself that if only she had seen us after the show last night she would know it wasn’t fake. But then again, up until last night it was.

“His name is Elliot,” I stammered.

“I knew it. You found some random guy on the internet and begged him to be your boyfriend for this trip, didn't you?”

I dropped my jaw and furrowed my brow at her. She knew me too well to have guessed my original plan.

“Oh, Jamie you didn’t.”

“No, that's not what I did. I actually did meet Elliot through Madeline and Milo; he sang at their wedding. We met a few times before, but just as friends.”

“So, he’s a friend that you begged to come here?”

“I didn’t beg.” I folded my arms over my chest. “He offered.”

Jillian raised her eyebrows like she didn’t believe a word I said. Folding her arms over her chest she gave me the ultimate mom look. The one I knew would send her twins into the spiral, the exact same one that mom would give us.

“He did,” I reiterated.

No answer, her eyebrows just went higher, if that was at all possible.

“It gets funnier.”

“I really don't know if I believe you.”

Clenching my teeth, I plopped on the sofa.

Here we go.

“You and mom are always so concerned with me being alone in Portland, always fixating on my heart and how I have no one there to take care of me, even though I’m surrounded by my friends and people who love me.” I glanced up at her. Her face relaxed as she listened, her shoulders easing as the reality hit her. When she didn't respond, I continued, “So to get you two off my back, I created Daxton, and it worked, until you invited him here. So yes, my first plan was to find someone online, but that date went wrong and guess who just happened to be at the Piano Bar performing and saved my ass from catfishing Rick? And then, when I told him the story, he offered. He laughed and said it was meant to be because his full name is ElliotDaxtonWhittaker.”

That got her response. She let out a small chuckle, covering her lips with her fingers before she composed herself, clearing her throat and coming to sit next to me on the couch.

“So, what does Elliot really do?” she finally asked.

“He really does own an architecture firm. His dad is Graham Whittaker, but Elliot’s not an architect. He just owns it. He’d rather sing and be on stage.”

“That was pretty obvious last night. That's where he belongs.”

“He has a band; you should look them up.” I turned and looked up at her, the mom glare completely gone. “Savaged Whittakers.”

“I think you and I need to have a sister’s day, listen to them in the car on the way? Screw the family plan.”

She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I leaned into her and nodded. “That sounds great.”

“Oh, and don’t worry,” she rubbed my bicep, “I’m the only one who’s figured it out and I won’t tell anyone.”

Tilting my body away I pinched my brow. “According to you it was obvious . . .”

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