“What’s your point?” Noah asked.
“Maybe it’s not all fake.”
Chapter 8
Callie had never had a manicure before. Sitting in the salon, surrounded by all the women in Liv’s wedding party and breathing in the harsh chemical smell of nail polish and removers, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be getting one again. She liked to paint her nails with whatever color caught her eye when she wandered through the drug store to pick up her prescriptions, and she had to admit that the hand massage had been an unexpected treat, but she couldn’t see paying for a temporary splash of color on her nails. Not when she was likely going to chip the polish or break a nail when she did arts and crafts with the kids in the children’s room at the library anyway. You don’t become a championship level friendship bracelet maker without breaking a few nails.
But Liv had wanted a bonding day for all the women that included manicures and pedicures, blow-outs, and makeup before they rejoined the men for dinner. Callie was grateful for an afternoon away from Noah. It had only been twenty-four hours since she’d come up with the ridiculous idea to pretend they were in love and already she needed space to remind herself that none of it was real.
“Have you set a date?” Mrs. Van Aller asked Min. The younger woman’s engagement ring shone on her finger as the technician filed her nails into perfect ovals.
“We’re not in a rush,” Min said. “With the move and starting my master’s, and Liam trying to get his summer program off the ground, it might be a while.”
“Don’t let him put it off too long,” Callie’s mother cautioned.
“If it were up to him, we’d have eloped already,” Min laughed.
“Then why haven’t you?” Pattie asked. “Mags and I eloped, didn’t we, darling?”
“It was the only way it was ever going to happen between Pattie’s performing schedule and my caseload,” Maggie explained as she selected a soft shade of pink for her nails.
“We’ve only been together for… I don’t even know how to count it,” Min said.
“You know, whenever you hear about the downsides of having a secret relationship with a professor, it’s always ‘power dynamics this’ and ‘conflict of interest that’ and never ‘but how will you determine your anniversary date?’” Liv teased.
“If only someone had warned me,” Min joked back.
“What about you, Callie?” Mrs. Van Aller asked. “When might we see a ring on your finger?”
“Oh, I don’t think that will be happening any time soon,” she said, avoiding making eye contact.
Callie’s face was on fire. This was torture, sitting here with these women she loved and lying to them all.
Her mother released a long-suffering sigh. “You’re not getting any younger, Calandria. Why you’re wasting your time with someone who clearly has no interest in commitment—”
“Go easy on the kids, Sue,” Mrs. Van Aller said. “They haven’t been together that long. And dating at all is a big deal for Noah.”
“Precisely,” her mother said. “If it took them this long to date, imagine how long it will be before she gets him to the altar?”
“He doesn’t usually date?” Pattie asked.
“My brother doesn’t do relationships. Until now,” Liv amended, glancing at Callie. “He’s typically been a bit of a rake.”
“This is not regency England,” Callie muttered to herself.
“That’s a polite way of saying he has lots of female friends but nobody he considers special. Until now,” Mrs. Van Aller said with a soft smile.
“All the more reason to be proactive. You can’t leave these things to chance,” her mother said. “A boy like Noah needs someone to insist or he’ll never settle down.”
“It’s not all that, Sue. Clearly, heissettling down or he wouldn’t be throwing around words like ‘girlfriend.’ I’m so glad he’s finally coming to his senses. I’ve been so worried about him.”
“Worried about what?” Liv asked.
“That he’ll end up alone,” Mrs. Van Aller replied. “That it will be all my fault.”
“Mom…”
“No, I know he carries a heavy heart ever since your father died,” the older woman responded, her eyes welling with tears that, Callie knew from years of experience, would not be shed. “He bore the brunt of the burden when he was far too young to have done so.” Then, to Pattie and Maggie, “Noah was barely a teenager when my Jerry passed. And he became the glue of our family. Took care of our Livi-bug. Took care of me.”
