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She turned a little red, looking bashful, then finally said, “Billie is my best friend.”
Everyone collectively awwed.
I walked over to give her a big hug. “Thank you, sweetie. That means so much to me.”
“Your turn, Colby.” Deek smiled.
Colby lifted his tequila. “To Billie…” After a pause, he looked into my eyes and said, “The love of my life.”
Short.
Sweet.
Everything.
We kissed, and I’d never felt more cherished.
A few minutes later, when I blew the candles out on my cake, Justine told me to make a wish. I had only one wish this year—to be rid of Maya. I’d somehow managed not to think about her the entire day, until now. When I looked up, Colby’s expression fell a little. It was as though he’d guessed my deepest wish. It was likely the same one he had.
After I finished my slice of cake, I went to throw out my paper plate, and Deek followed me into the kitchen. “Hey, I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” he said.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You seemed a little sad after you blew out the candles.”
“It was that obvious, huh? I think Colby noticed, too.”
“Yeah. Of course, he did. Because anyone who loves you—myself included—has the same wish right now.”
“Yeah.” I looked down at my toes. “Thanks again for covering for me today.”
“I love that you had no idea why he sent you uptown.”
“I was totally surprised.”
“He was all tense, thinking he wasn’t gonna have enough time to set everything up before you guys got back. He really loves you.”
“I know.” I smiled.
“How was the Mommy class thing?”
“The Stepford Wives, you mean? They looked at me like I was Elvira walking in there.” I shook my head. “Bunch of dumb bitches. But it was all worth it when Saylor asked me to paint that sleeve on her arm.”
“Yeah. I saw that. That’s the cutest thing. You’d think she was my daughter and not Colby’s.” He winked.
Later that night, after everyone left and I’d put Saylor to bed, I told Colby I’d help him clean up. But he refused, saying the birthday girl shouldn’t have to clean up after her party.
So, I reluctantly watched as he put everything away. As I leaned against the counter, I spotted an envelope lying there. As soon as I noticed the return address, I felt like I was hyperventilating. Picking it up, I asked, “What’s this, Colby?”
He put down the glass he was drying and exhaled. “I was gonna mention it. But I didn’t want to ruin today.”
I opened it to find a letter announcing a date for the first hearing Colby had to attend with Maya. Our reprieve was about to end. In six days.
CHAPTER 25
Colby
“Did Saylor give you that to sleep with?” I lifted my chin, pointing at the stuffed animal Billie had just set on the coffee table.
“Nope.” Billie plopped down on the couch next to me. “I asked her if I could borrow it. I figured if we literally had one in the room, we wouldn’t be able to ignore it anymore.”
My brows drew together before I realized what she meant: A stuffed elephant.
I frowned. “I guess we have been avoiding a certain subject, haven’t we?”
“If the elephant in the room gets any bigger, there isn’t going to be room for me.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you sooner. I just hate to spend a single minute of our time together discussing anything to do with…her.”
“I know. And so do I. But when I don’t know what’s going on, my brain fills in the blanks, usually while I’m sleeping. The other night I had a dream that immigration officers busted down my door and deported me to Guam.” Billie shook her head. “I don’t even know where Guam is on a map.”
I smiled sadly. “I get it. Our subconscious mind doesn’t take a rest. So we should talk about it. But first let me do something.” I picked up my phone from the coffee table and set a timer for five minutes, along with unlimited snoozes. Billie watched me do it.
“Are we limiting our talk to five minutes?” she asked.
“Nope. We’ll talk however long you need to. But every five minutes, I’m going to stop and tell you something I love about you. I think it’s important to remind ourselves that what we have is real, and what we’re talking about is nothing but fake.”
Billie smiled. “I like that idea.”
I took a deep breath and shifted to give her my full attention. “Okay, so you know the hearing is the day after tomorrow. But what I haven’t mentioned is that Maya called me last night.”
The smile on Billie’s face wilted. “What did she want?”
“We need to prep for the interview with immigration. You and I haven’t really talked about what happens during that, but the officers assigned to our case can basically ask us any questions they want to determine if our marriage is real.”
