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“Well then, tell me the engagement story. How did he do it?”
Sid stood. “That’s my cue to leave. I’ll see you later.” He bent down and kissed me on the forehead again, then followed Frank out the back door.
“So tell me,” Mindy said.
I had to think up a story quickly, and then I needed to make sure Sid knew so we could keep up our charade. This fake relationship was quickly becoming the most stressful thing in my life. It was worse than all the other shit I had gotten myself into because now I was lying to my close friends that I considered family.
Chapter 12
KAT
“THANKS FOR MAKING DINNER. It was delicious,” Sid said. He brought his plate over to the sink. “And for doing the dishes. I feel like I should help. Especially since this is my house.”
Before Sid left the farm earlier, he asked if we could have dinner to get our stories straight. I offered to cook, and Sid met me at Wicker’s Market to get groceries before we headed back to his house.
We had to come up with a backstory of how we’d started dating. The timing of everything needed to be flawless. There were so many lies, I felt like I needed a notepad.
“That’s okay. I don’t mind helping.”
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.
“You can start the coffee.”
“Consider it done. Shiloh, outside.”
After the dishes were done, we took our coffee to the back porch. Sid had a beautiful view. There was a field behind his house that stretched as far as I could see, and behind it were the rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The sun was setting, and it painted the sky with beautiful purples and pinks. Sid had an amazing view of the sunset from his back porch. I wanted to watch the sunrise from his front porch swing. Maybe one day.
“I could get used to this.” I sighed as I took a seat in one of the Adirondack chairs. They were a gorgeous red wood that went nicely with his finished back deck.
Sid grunted as he sat, and I bit my lip to hold back a laugh. He was hard to read since most of his expressions were frowns and his responses were grunts and growls, but it never bothered me. I found it funny.
“Okay, let’s talk timeline,” Sid said.
“All right. We already agreed on when we started dating. I told Mindy the same story.”
He nodded. “What about our engagement story? What did you tell her?”
I curled my lip in and held my coffee close. I hoped he wouldn’t be angry with me.
“I told her we were taking a walk in the park early in the morning, so no one was around. We got to the river near Frosty Mug Tavern, and you surprised me by getting down on one knee. You said a bunch of wonderful things, which I kept private, and then asked me to marry you. I was surprised and wasn’t sure if you were serious, but I could tell by your eyes that you were.”
I locked eyes with him, held captive by the gorgeous pools of chocolate. After a minute, he cleared his throat and frowned again.
“That sounds good. Did she ask any other questions?”
“She asked how we fell in love when you seemed so closed off and I’m so…me.”
He glanced at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “I think everyone thinks you’re unhappy all the time, and I’m more outgoing and…” I paused, trying to find the word, and then shrugged, “flirty.”
He grunted, and I chuckled. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
Sid sighed and sat back in his chair. “Maybe I am unhappy, but it has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s something I have to work through.”
“Anything I can help with?” I asked, tucking my leg beneath me. There was a chill in the air, and any time the wind blew, it made me shiver, but it was so peaceful that I didn’t want to move.
“No.”
