10. Olivia
OLIVIA
The blanket under my butt was damp with evening dew, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I'd been sitting in the same spot for almost an hour, watching families spread across the park’s lawn while pretending my heart wasn't splintering inside my chest.
Music in the Park was a new Friday night summer program with local bands, food trucks, and kids chasing fireflies. Usually, it was my favorite night of the week. Garner and I had even attended a few times. Tonight, it felt like an elaborate form of torture.
“Hey, Olivia. Want some company?”
I looked up to see Riley Sanders holding a basket of mini donuts.
"Sure," I said, forcing a smile.
She sat down next to me and held out the basket. "Sugar therapy?"
I took one, more out of politeness than appetite. "Thanks."
"So," she started, her tone cautious, "I heard you and Garner eloped."
I stared at the tiny donut, my throat tightening. "It's... complicated."
"The secret wedding part or the sudden divorce part?" When I looked up, she gave me an apologetic grimace. "Small town. Nothing stays quiet for long."
I'd spent three days hiding in my apartment, avoiding exactly this…
the questions, the sympathetic looks, the town's collective curiosity about our whirlwind romance and its abrupt end.
Everyone thought Garner and I had secretly married, and now they thought we were breaking up.
Both were technically false, yet the heartbreak was way too real.
"It was all a big mistake,” I said as I picked at the edge of the blanket. "A huge misunderstanding that got way out of hand."
Riley nodded like that made perfect sense, though both of us knew it didn’t. "Well, married or not, I'm sorry things didn't work out. You two always seemed..." She trailed off, searching for the right word.
"Inevitable?" I suggested.
"Exactly."
I'd thought so too, once. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I'd always hoped Garner and I would eventually figure it out.
That one day our friendship would evolve into something more.
But after the resort, after feeling what it was like to be with him only to have him pull away.
.. Maybe some things weren't inevitable after all.
Riley excused herself to go say hi to a friend by the ice cream truck, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the acoustic cover band's rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love." The universe had a sick sense of humor.
I pulled my phone from my purse, checking it for the thousandth time.
No new messages. Garner and I had agreed to meet here tonight for our public "breakup"—a staged argument to put the final nail in the coffin of our failed marriage.
It was supposed to be clean and simple. A way to put this entire fake relationship behind us and get back to normal.
If only I knew what normal was supposed to feel like anymore.
"There you are!" I looked up to see Ruby making her way toward me.
"Hi, Ruby." I shifted to make room on my blanket, but she waved me off.
"Don't get up, honey. I can't stay. Orville got us spots up front." She adjusted her oversized sunglasses, peering down at me with a knowing look. "I wanted to make sure you're planning to stay for the whole show."
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I was supposed to meet Garner, but he hasn't?—"
"Oh, you'll definitely want to stay until the end," she interrupted, a secretive smile playing at her lips. "I hear there's going to be a surprise."
My stomach dropped. "What kind of surprise?"
"The best kind. Trust me." With a wink that contained way too much mischief for a woman her age, she was gone, weaving through the crowd toward the front.
Great. Probably some cheesy public proposal for one of the local couples. Just what I needed tonight… a reminder of other people's happiness while I prepared to publicly end my fake relationship with the man I was actually, deeply and utterly in love with.
I reached for my hair tie, slipping it off my wrist and snapping it once, twice against my skin.
The small sting distracted me from the real pain of a broken heart.
I'd been wearing the same black elastic for days, too numb to care about the tangled strands of hair caught in it or the way it had started to lose its elasticity.
My phone buzzed, and my heart lurched as Garner's name appeared on the screen.
Garner: Are you at the park?
I stared at the message, the first direct communication we'd had in days. My fingers hovered over my phone for a second, unsure how to respond.
Me: Yes. Near the oak tree. You coming?
Garner: On my way. Don't leave.
I frowned at the screen. There was an urgency to his message that seemed out of proportion for our planned fake breakup. Then again, maybe he wanted to get this over with as much as I did.
The band finished their first set to enthusiastic applause, and the singer announced they'd be taking a short break. People began standing, stretching, heading to the food trucks or restrooms. I stayed put, scanning the crowd for Garner's familiar broad shoulders and dark hair.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the lead singer's voice suddenly came through the speakers again. "Before we start our second set, we've got a local who'd like to say a few words."
Great. This was it. The big surprise Ruby mentioned. I braced myself to see some other woman get her happy ever after. Then I saw Garner climb the steps to the small stage. My breath caught.
He looked different. Still unmistakably himself—all tall, broad-shouldered, the sleeves of his button-down rolled up to expose the tattoos curling around his forearms—but there was something in the way he carried himself, a nervous determination I wasn't used to seeing.
The crowd quieted as he approached the microphone. Garner wasn't exactly known for public speaking. He'd rather eat glass than be the center of attention.
"Hey, everyone," he said, his deep voice amplified by the mic. "Sorry to interrupt the music. I promise I'll keep this short."
My pulse spiked. This wasn't part of our plan. We were supposed to have a quiet argument on the edge of the park, just visible enough to satisfy the town gossip mill. Not... whatever this was.
"Most of you probably know me. I'm Garner McCrae. I work at Priest's tattoo shop down on Main." He paused, running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture I'd seen a thousand times. "And some of you might have heard that Olivia Vale and I got married recently."
A murmur of confirmation rippled through the crowd. I froze, feeling dozens of eyes suddenly searching for me. The heat of embarrassment climbed my neck as I realized everyone was about to witness not only our fake breakup, but a very public one.
"The thing is," Garner continued, his voice steadier now. "I was supposed to end something tonight. That was the plan." He took a deep breath. "Instead, I realized I've been feeling things I can’t fake anymore."
Wait. What?
"Olivia and I have been friends since we were kids.
She's the first person I want to tell when something good happens, and the only person I want to see when something bad does.
" His eyes scanned the crowd, searching.
"She's my best friend. The girl who's been in my head, my sketchbook, my life for years.
And I've been too scared to say what I should've said a long time ago. "
Our eyes finally locked across the distance. Everything between us faded into the background. The families, the band, the summer evening… it all disappeared. Everything except Garner who was looking right at me with an intensity that stole my breath.
"I love you, Olivia." His voice cracked slightly on my name. "I've loved you since before I even knew what love was. And if you'll let me, I'm ready to stop pretending and start being yours for real."
A collective gasp swept through the crowd. Someone nearby whispered, "Did he just—?" while another voice hissed, "Shhh!" I barely registered any of it, my entire world narrowed to the man on stage who had laid his heart bare in front of our entire town.
For a moment, I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. The words I'd dreamed about hearing for so long echoed in my head, almost too wonderful to believe. Garner loved me. Not as a friend, not as a convenient fake wife, but truly loved me.
And he'd told everyone.
I stood slowly, my legs unsteady. The crowd parted to create a path between us. Each step I took toward the stage felt momentous, like crossing a threshold I could never return from.
Garner jumped down from the stage as I approached, meeting me halfway. Up close, I could see the vulnerability in his eyes, the slight tremble in his hands. He was terrified, and so was I.
"Did you mean it?" I whispered, needing to be sure.
Instead of answering, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
It was a sketch of me with my hair twisted up on top of my head, my eyes closed in sleep, and a peaceful smile on my lips.
The detail was exquisite, drawn with such care that I could feel the love in every line.
"I've been drawing you for years," he said, his voice low enough that only I could hear him. "Every mood, every moment. I think I've been trying to tell you how I felt the only way I knew how."
My fingers traced the edge of the paper, remembering the sketch I'd found at Miles and Kinley's. "I saw one of these. I thought maybe..."
"It wasn't maybe," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "It was always. It's always been you, Liv. I just didn't think I deserved you."
The tears I'd been holding back for days finally spilled over. "You idiot," I whispered, a watery laugh escaping. "I've been in love with you since I was sixteen."
His eyes widened. "Sixteen? Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"Why didn't you?" I countered.
A slow smile spread across his face. A real smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Fair point."
I didn't wait for him to say more. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to me, pressing my lips against his in a kiss that contained years of longing, days of heartache, and the overwhelming joy of finally being honest.
His arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me slightly as he deepened the kiss. The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles, but I barely heard them. All that mattered was Garner, solid and real against me, his heart hammering in time with mine.
When we finally broke apart, breathless and grinning, I saw Ruby standing off to the side, her lips curled up in a smug smile.
"Finally," she said with an exaggerated eye roll that couldn't hide her genuine delight. "I was beginning to think you two would never figure it out."
Garner laughed, his arm still secure around my waist. "Sorry for the delay, Mrs. Nelson."
"Don't waste any more time," she advised with a maternal pat to his cheek. "Life's too short for pretending."
As the band started up again and the crowd's attention gradually shifted back to the music, Garner led me away from the crowd to a quiet spot underneath the oak tree where I’d abandoned my blanket.
"So," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Still want to go through with that breakup?"
I wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling up at him. "I think we've given the town enough to talk about for one night, don't you?"
"Probably for the whole summer," he said.
"Good," I said, rising on tiptoes to press a soft kiss to his lips. "Because I'm not letting you go now that I've got you."
He tightened his arms around me, his expression turning serious. "I meant what I said, Liv. I love you. Not just as a friend, not just as?—"
"I know," I interrupted. "I love you too. For real. No pretending."
As the music played and the glowing light of fireflies started to appear, I rested my head against Garner's chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. The elastic hair tie that had been digging into my wrist all week suddenly felt unnecessary. I slipped it off and tucked it into his pocket.
"What was that for?" he asked.
I smiled up at him. "I don't think I need it anymore. Turns out what I was anxious about all along was actually the best thing that could have happened to me."
His smile said it all, that he was steady, sure, and mine. And when he kissed me, every doubt faded away. We were inevitable. Just the two of us, exactly where we were always meant to end up.