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“Yeah. I think he’s going to push for custody. He’s married, and he’s her biological father. Ethan said a smart lawyer can easily make it look as if I’m a womanizing rake.”
To his credit, Alex obviously realizes how upset I am, and he doesn’t laugh. “Sit down,” he says instead.
I lower back into the seat. “If I put Leia up for adoption, there’s a likelihood the court will think her father is the better bet than handing her to a couple of strangers.”
“I get it.”
“I can’t let him get his hands on her, Alex. She’s Maddie’s girl. I can’t let her down again.” I stop, too emotional to carry on.
“I understand,” he says, rising and retrieving a bottle of water from the mini fridge behind him. He slides it across the table toward me. “So what’s the plan?”
I unscrew the lid and have a couple of mouthfuls. “Thanks. We’re going to wait until after the funeral on Friday. It only takes three days to get the license, but I need to organize the celebrant and the location. Apparently you can’t get married in a registry office anymore.”
“I didn’t know that.” He plays with a pen, turning it in his fingers. “So… you’ll just have a basic registry ceremony, not a fancy personalized one?”
“Yes. But I want to be prepared in case Blue’s lawyer tries to prove we only got married to keep Leia. The story is that Aroha is a friend and we’ve been attracted to each other for a long time. The guy on the front desk of the Clarence saw Aroha on the trivia night, so he’d be able to vouch that we started seeing each other then.”
“That was when you fell asleep, right?”
I give him a sarcastic look. “Yeah. The story will be that we’ve been dating since then, and Maddie’s death showed us that life is short, and so we decided to tie the knot.”
“Very romantic.”
“It has to appear to be. So to everyone else, it’s the truth.”
“Even Henry and Tyson?”
“Yeah, for now, although I expect they’ll find out eventually.”
He nods slowly. “Fair enough. And so Aroha knows all this?”
“Yeah.”
“And she’s okay with it?”
I hesitate. “I think she’s a bit shocked, to be honest. You know what girls are like about marriage.”
“Some would say rightly so.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t tell me you think of it as a sacred oath.”
He looks at the pen in his fingers. “I didn’t. Then I was best man at Damon’s wedding. I’d always dismissed it as just words—a legal document. But… I’m not so sure after that. There was something… magical about it.” He looks up then and his lips twist. “But anyway, I understand where you’re coming from. I’m just saying… I get why Aroha might have been taken aback.”
Moodily, I pick at a piece of lint on my suit trousers. “Well, anyway, I want to at least attempt to make it appear genuine. You’re the only one who knows the whole story. So I wanted to ask if you and Missie would be witnesses.”
He meets my eyes, and we study each other for a while.
He’s going to say no. He disagrees with what I’ve done. I’m surprised, and a little bit angry.
“It’s for Leia,” I emphasize.
He drops his gaze. “Missie won’t like it.”
“So don’t tell her the truth.”
That makes him give me an exasperated look. “We don’t have secrets from each other.”
“Oh bullshit.”
