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Robin looked like she was thinking things over. She was fiddling with one of the rings on her finger. “Why on Earth would you want to do that?” she asked after a beat of silence. “I know you must have better things to be getting up to than pretending to be my boyfriend of all things.”
I just shrugged. “Retirement is nice and all, but it does get pretty dull. This… Well, this could be fun,” I told her with a mischievous smile and a teasing wink. Besides, it would get all those gold-digging socialites off my back that had popped up ever since word spread about my newfound wealth.
Robin shoved my shoulder playfully. “Fine, fine,” she agreed with a shrug. “I can’t think of any better ideas. Why don’t you stop by my house tomorrow for dinner and we can work out the details?”
I nodded. “As you wish, my love.”
Robin pretended to gag and we both burst into fits of inebriated giggles.
2
Rylee
The bright afternoon sun was shining through the window and warming my hands where they were busy chopping onions and peeling potatoes as I prepared dinner for me and my mom. Sunday dinners were usually my favorite night of the week. It was the only day my mom, Jayden, and I were guaranteed to have an evening together, but today Jayden was having a playdate around his new friend’s house, Steven from pre-school. It was weird to not have to prepare a small plate of dinner for him or have to mash up his potatoes for him so he’d actually eat them. Still, spending time with my mom would be lovely. I was looking forward to it, especially since she had been busy last night at her high school reunion.
Just as I’d checked the chicken was cooking nicely, I heard the front door slam. “Hello!” my mom called as she bustled through the house and into the kitchen to greet me. “Oh, darling, you’ve started dinner already? Aren’t you an angel!” She walked straight up to me and hugged me before pulling back and tucking a stray strand of my blonde hair away from my face. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m okay, Mom,” I told her with a shrug. “Just missing Jayden a little.” It was no surprise. I spent every day with my son and even being apart from him for a little while was strange, though I knew it was healthy for both of us. I shook my head and looked back at my mom. “How are you anyway? Did you have a nice time last night?”
“Yes, I did! But I’ll tell you more about it at dinner which actually leads me to my next point… We’re going to be having a guest!” my mom explained, looking cheerier than I’d seen her in a while. I wondered what was going on, but I knew better than to pry it out of her—she’d tell me when she was ready.
“Must be some guest,” I commented, noting her happy mood. “Who is it?”
“Oh, just an old friend from high school, darling,” she said. “He’s going to be back in town for a while and I told him about all that business with Mr. Jenkins and he said he would help me to get him to back off a little. So, I invited him to dinner so we can talk about it and to thank him for helping. You did make too much food like usual, didn’t you, Rylee?”
I nodded before her words caught up with me and I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion. What on Earth did she mean? “Wait, how is he going to get your boss off your back?” I questioned while setting out three plates on the dinner table and then placing cutlery down beside them.
My mom sent me a devilish smile that I knew usually meant she was up to no good and I rolled my eyes kindly. I really hoped she wasn’t going to get herself into any trouble. I wasn’t used to drama and I enjoyed having a nice, peaceful life here in this small town. I didn’t want that to get disrupted.
“The plan is for my friend to pose as my boyfriend for a little while, just long enough to get Mr. Jenkins to think I’m taken and voila, problem solved!” She grinned over at me, her blue eyes sparkling in excitement and I couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about this whole plan.
“Mom, you shouldn’t have to have a fake boyfriend just to get a guy to leave you alone,” I told her, feeling overprotective.
“Oh, baby, I know. But you know how important this job is to me. If I lose it, we might not be able to keep up the repayments on the mortgage and then…” She trailed off and I could tell that the subject was a really difficult one for her, so I decided to let it go even if I was a little skeptical.
