LITMIR.BIZ

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her. She held her breath and hoped the panic she felt wasn’t visible. “My turn?”

      He tossed a hand in the air.

      “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, Brant.” He straightened slightly. “But you’re not the type of person I want to present to my family as my fiancé.”

      He edged away from the truck, and she backed off so he couldn’t get too close. Since last night when they’d become “engaged,” he had begun to take up too much of her space. And that casual touching of his when he got near her played havoc with her sense of well-being.

      “As an actor, I can make myself into anything you want. A Texas billionaire?” he twanged. “How about an English count related to the royal family?” he asked, switching to a British inflection.

      The accents rankled. Unable to think rationally, she attacked an obvious fact to distract him from the truth: that his very presence had begun to mess with her comfort level.

      “You don’t have the wardrobe to carry it off. I doubt either the billionaire or the member of the royal family shops for clothes at the local Goodwill.” When he looked as though he might continue to argue, she said, “My taxi’s here,” and motioned to the yellow cab pulling to the curb nearby.

      Brant shook his head, rolled the luggage to the cab and put the bags in the trunk once the cabbie had flipped the lid. When Brant opened the cab door for her, he said, “It’d be fun, and you’d be saving me from a week of boredom.”

      “No way, mister.” She got into the cab, grabbed the door handle and shut the door. The last thing she wanted to do was provide him with entertainment.

      “I have other clothes,” he shouted as the cab took off.

      It was only when Marley was on board her plane for Pittsburgh that she realized she’d forgotten her guitar.

      The one thing she could rely on to get her through this pending wedding.

CHAPTER THREE

      MARLEY SAT BACK AND WATCHED the young women, relatives and friends, gathered for Lindy’s shower on Sunday. She had intended to remain nonchalant and not mention her engagement. And she managed it, right up until Chloe, the sister closest to Marley in age, noticed her ring.

      “You’re engaged!” Chloe grabbed Marley’s hand and nearly pulled her arm out of the socket.

      Questions flew at her from her other sisters. “What does he look like?” from Jen. “How long have you known him?” asked Morgan. “When do you plan to get married?” squealed Franny. “How come you never said anything before?” The last from Lindy, who looked very upset. Marley managed to answer questions by showing Brant’s picture on her cell phone. Her well-rehearsed lies seemed to satisfy everyone and eventually, when the spotlight returned to Lindy, Marley thought she could finally relax.

      No such luck. Lindy took her hand and examined it. “Your nails are so...so stubby.” She looked up. “People will notice it, Marley, when they look at the ring.”

      Marley glanced down at her left hand. Had Brant noticed her fingers when he’d held her hand a few nights ago? “I play the guitar, remember? I can’t have nails touching the strings.” Her hands never matched, the right one having longer nails because she used them as picks.

      “Well, you’ll need to do something about them for my wedding. Maybe some fake nails.”

      Once Lindy finished with the examination, her focus turned to the ring. “He must be very rich.”

      The large cubic zirconia that served as Marley’s engagement ring overshadowed the half karat wrapped in a Tiffany setting on Lindy’s hand. Marley cringed from the comparison and slowly pulled her hand out of her sister’s grasp. If only she could soothe Lindy’s pride and tell her the obnoxious stone had no value compared with her genuine diamond.

      Why had she created this bogus engagement? Why? She never meant to hurt Lindy. Marley tried to remain inconspicuous and concentrated on crafting a bouquet of all the ribbons from the gifts for the wedding rehearsal.

      With Chloe’s help Marley took the many presents from the bridal shower and placed them in her rental car. Keeping the gifts dry had turned into a nightmare, thanks to the unending rain. It would have been welcomed back in Arizona, but since she had arrived in Pennsylvania the previous day, it had become nonstop depressing.

      “Why have you been so secretive?” Chloe asked. She added another group of packages to the collection. “When did he ask you to marry him?” Chloe’s short blond hair had lost its stylishness and now hung limply because of all the rain, whereas Marley’s hair had begun to curl, a problem she always had in high humidity. Marley pulled her sister under the protection of her umbrella.

      “It just happened.” Marley really wanted to avoid the subject, fearful she might not be able to keep her false story straight.

      “Well, I expect a great deal more explanation.” Chloe dragged Marley into the open garage. “We talk, email, text nearly every day, and Brant’s name never came up.”

      Marley crossed her fingers. “I don’t have secrets, honest.” She hoped this would end the discussion.

      “Well, I do.” A warm glow brightened Chloe’s features. “I’m pregnant.” She clutched Marley’s arm. “Now, don’t go saying anything. We want to be sure before...” Chloe paused and a shadow crossed her face. Two years ago, into her second month, Chloe had lost her baby. Marley empathized, remembering the struggle her sister had gone through.

      “A baby! That’s so exciting.” Marley drew her into a hug. “Does Al know?” A small part of Marley wished she was the one having a child. No chance of that when she’d had to create a fiancé and her biological clock was running out.

      “Of course. I don’t show, yet, and Lindy will absolutely kill me if I can’t fit into that form fitting bridesmaid dress.” She paused. “But we haven’t mentioned it to Michelle. She’s been dying for a sister, so once I start to show, we’ll tell her.”

      “When’s the baby due?”

      “In seven months.” Chloe pressed her lips together. “And I have a favor to ask.”

      “Sure, what?”

      “Could you watch Michelle?” When Marley hesitated, Chloe added, “Not all the time. Just on those days I have morning sickness. Which has been a freaky misnomer this pregnancy. I spend more time with nausea at night. We end up exhausted, and Michelle tires us out even more during the day.”

      “Of course. I’d love to.”

      “Wonderful.” Chloe gave Marley a quick kiss on her cheek. “Michelle adores you. I’ll bring her over tomorrow and tell everyone...tell them you want a chance to...I don’t know, see what it’s like to have kids. Since you’re getting married and you want the practice.”

      Great. Another lie. Only this one had some truth. She really would love to have children.

      * * *

      AFTER SEVERAL TRIPS carrying the shower presents through the living room of her family’s house, Marley met her grandfather. “You haven’t even given a decent hello to your poppy. When you plan on doing that?”

      Marley smiled. “Soon as I get these gifts upstairs. Want to join me?”

      “Can I help?” he asked, following her.

      “Thanks, but this is the last of it and this one’s lightweight.”

      Once she deposited the package on the stacks collected in the large playroom, she turned to her grandfather and threw open her arms. She welcomed his strong squeeze.

      Although his thin white hair gave away his age, he still had the trim shape and posture of a much younger man. She grasped Poppy’s arm. “Come with me to my

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