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“You mean you would be coming with me as my boyfriend?”
He shoveled in more food and nodded. “It’s perfect. I’ll get inside the circle and no one will be suspicious.”
She smiled like she was humoring him. “Oh, they’ll be suspicious, all right. And they won’t accept you as easily as you think. I should know. I’ve known them all for close to a decade and they never accepted me.”
There was defeat and sadness in her tone that felt like a kick in the gut. It pissed him off that those people would ever make her feel this way. “RSVP to whoever you need to. Let them know we’ll arrive… When does the party get started?”
“Everyone usually arrives Friday afternoon.”
He nodded. “Tell them you wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world, and we’ll see them that Friday.”
The doubt on her face only fueled his determination. One way or another, Waverley Abbott was going to come away from this experience knowing her worth.
Chapter 10
Twenty-four hours.
That’s all it had taken from the time she changed her status to in a relationship for the comments and likes to start rolling in from people who knew Waverley in what felt like another lifetime. The ladies from the foundation, the sorority sisters from Northwestern—some of them also invited to Ronnie’s party next weekend—and acquaintances she knew only through her father.
It hadn’t occurred to her that news of this new relationship was going to get back to people in her father’s circle and, inevitably, back to her father. She only hoped that the news would reach him after the charade was over and she could explain everything.
Waverley read former sorority sister Laurie Roberts’s post congratulating her on finding such a cute guy and so fast. Was she implying that the possibility would have been far-fetched?
Okay, she was being overly sensitive.
At least one positive thing had come from her relationship update. Just this morning, Tracie Jackson had liked and commented on the photo, saying how she and Ronnie couldn’t wait to catch up with her and the new boyfriend next weekend in the Keys.
Meaning their RSVP had officially been accepted.
She was still reading the comments when the bell above the door rang and a pretty blonde walked in wearing a Colorado Rockies jersey, with a handsome golden retriever at her side.
“Hi,” Waverley said and smiled. “Can I help you?”
The woman tilted her head to the side as she assessed her. “You must be Waverley. I’m Poppy, Reynolds’s sister and his former receptionist.”
“Oh, right. Nice to meet you. But Reynolds isn’t here right now…”
Poppy grinned. “I know. I wouldn’t have risked bringing Jasper here otherwise. They have kind of a love-hate relationship.”
“He seems to have the same thing with my cat,” she said and came around the desk to pet the dog, who whined in excitement as she drew near.
Poppy nodded, as if tucking that tidbit away. “I’m heading to Denver for the rest of the weekend, but I wanted to stop and say hello and welcome you to town. Reynolds mentioned you’re not from around here, so you probably don’t know many people yet.”
Reynolds had mentioned her to his family? What had he said? She prayed he hadn’t mentioned her recent notoriety in the press.
“That’s right,” she said cautiously. “I’m from the Denver area.”
“Must be a bit of a culture shock living in a small town like Blue Haven compared to Denver,” Poppy said, not seeming to give any indication she knew Waverley’s past.
“It is but in a good way,” Waverley said, rubbing the dog’s ear one last time before returning to the desk.
“Well, when I get back in town next week, you have to come and have coffee with me and the girls. We’ll catch you up on anything you need to know about Reynolds and the town.”
“I’d like that,” Waverley said even as she wondered if that invitation would be extended if Poppy knew who she was. She hoped not. Because in just the brief time they’d spoken, she could sense a real sincerity in Poppy’s requests, not the whole let’s do lunch some people said but had no intention of ever following up on.
“Until then, if you’re looking for some things to do on the weekends, you should check out the community center. They have a few adult art and dance classes and the odd theatre production. They update the website pretty regularly so you can see if anything interests you. I also teach yoga a few nights a week here in town. You should totally come by and meet some of the girls.”
“Thank you. That’s kind of you to mention it.” She’d always thought about taking a yoga class but somehow never found the time.
