Page 75 of Seale the Deal

She’s making me a bouquet of hand-sewn flowers.

Remi’s face softens. Oh my God, that’s so sweet.

Remi! She has arthritis. It’s probably incredibly painful for her!

Oh. Remi’s brows knit together. I hadn’t thought of that.

Well, we should. Who else is going to do something incredibly generous, thinking this is a real relationship?

Walter is officiating, she reminds me.

I drop my head to the table. Oh God!

It’s not that bad. It’s just some flowers and an officiant who has officiated plenty of weddings for couples who’ve since split, Remi tries to reassure me.

It doesn’t reassure me. It only makes me feel more guilty.

I turn my head so I’m looking at her. We are terrible people. We should just go to Anchorage, get married, come back, and be like… surprise! Sorry, we just couldn’t wait.

Technically, we could do that here, she says.

Could we? I ask. We couldn’t even get a marriage license quietly.

True.

I heave a sigh.

It’s going to be okay, she says gently. Remember why we’re doing this.

At one point, thinking of that might have helped a little. Back when this was all theoretical and I hadn’t met and liked the people of Alpine Harbor. I still want a chance to kick-start my career again, but now I’m finding myself questioning if the cost is getting too high. I’m no longer just asking Ruger to fake marry me but unknowingly bringing a whole town into it.

I look at her across the table and see absolute belief in me shining in her eyes. It’s the same belief that was in her voice every time we talked about me coming here and gave me the push to make my life what I want it to be. Right now, it doesn’t quite feel like enough.

I just wish things were less complicated, I whisper.

Please cheer up, she says. I’d hate to think a Pinterest board would make you second-guess all we’re fighting for.

In an alternate universe where this wedding was real, all of this would feel sweet, exciting. Romantic even. Instead, everything feels tangled and messy in a way I didn’t plan for.

I’d been so focused on what I would get at the end of this, I failed to take the time to think about what would actually happen if real people started getting emotionally invested. I feel trapped between wanting to tell everyone the truth before they get swept up in this fairy tale and protecting the three of us from the very real legal consequences attached to that truth.

My stomach twists, and I know nothing is getting solved tonight. The wedding isn’t even the only reason my brain feels scrambled.

I shake my head. You didn’t. It’s not just the wedding I’m—

I stop myself, trying to figure out how to explain something I don’t fully understand yet. I’m not entirely sure what’s happening inside my own head, and I certainly don’t know how to explain it to Remi.

Ruger went camping tonight, and the idea of being alone in his house feels… weird.

Well, why didn’t you say something sooner? Stay here! Remi says.

Really?

Yeah! It’ll be fun! Oh! I have these weird mint face masks I’ve been dying to try. Wait here.

Remi darts off, and I take another long drink of wine, wondering when my life became so damn complicated.

Got ’em! Remi announces, waving a couple of plastic-wrapped face masks in the air. Come on! Let’s throw on a bad rom-com and slap these on!