Chapter 3 #2
He huffs out a laugh. “It’s nothing like that.” Then he shrugs. “Well, not exactly.”
“What is it then?”
He leans forward and props his elbows on his knees, then sits up again, rubbing a hand down his face. “Okay, here’s the deal. You met Sarah last weekend, right? At the team dinner?”
“Sure,” I say, trying to keep my voice casual.
“She has to go back to Canada—her student visa is running out—but we’ve been trying to think of a way for her to stay.”
“Yeah, she said something about that,” I say. “She told me she’s trying to get an O-1 through her artwork.”
Miles shakes his head, almost dismissively. “That’s really a long shot. But I’ve come up with a better idea. If she gets her teaching credential in the state of Georgia, she’d only need to find a school willing to sponsor her employment.”
I lift my eyebrows. I don’t actually think it is a longshot for Sarah to get an O-1, but I’m not sure I’m in any position to argue with her brother. But I can’t keep myself from asking, “Does Sarah want to be a teacher?”
Miles frowns. “Does it matter? She wants to stay, and this is a way she could do it. The only problem is she needs more time than she has to get certified. The program is nine months long, and she only has three.”
I have no idea why Miles thinks this is a problem he needs to discuss with me, but I find myself brainstorming anyway, searching for possible solutions.
“Could she go back to Canada and finish from there? Then come back?”
He nods. “She could, but then she’d miss the baby being born, and…
” His gaze drops to the floor and he’s quiet for a long moment.
When he finally lifts his gaze again, there’s a seriousness in his expression that wasn’t there before.
“I don’t know if we ever talked about Anna’s postpartum depression after Olive was born. ”
I don’t know a lot about postpartum depression, but I can infer that any kind of depression coupled with having a newborn would be tough to handle. “We haven’t,” I say. “I’m sorry she had to go through that.”
“It was pretty rough,” he says. “But she had her mom, so we got through it. I’m not sure we could have otherwise. That’s the biggest reason why I’d really like to find a way to keep my sister here. We’re all the family she’s got, but more than that, Anna’s going to need her.”
They had Anna’s mom—but now they don’t.
I’ve sensed Anna wearing the loss of her mom on her sleeve the past few months, something I recognize from personal experience. Theo and I lost our dad when we were seventeen.
“I’m sure,” I say with a nod. “There isn’t any way for her to extend her current visa? If they know she’s working toward teaching?”
“We’ve looked into every possible avenue.” He pauses for a long moment before adding, “There’s really only one way to keep her here.”
There’s a weight to his words that makes me uneasy. “Okay?”
“She could get married,” Miles says.
“Married,” I repeat. “Is she dating someone?” A weird surge of jealousy flares behind my ribs. I’d like to think a boyfriend would have come up in all our conversations last week, but maybe not.
“For what I have in mind,” Miles says, “she wouldn’t need to be.” He takes a deep breath. “Look. When I thought through all the guys on the team, you were the obvious choice.”
He pauses, and I stare. The obvious choice for what?
“You’re steady, you’re calm, you’re weirdly nice to everyone. And you’re loyal. I’ve seen the way you watch out for your brother. Loyalty is important.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Thank you, I think?”
“You’re also a solid hockey player who really fits with our system, which means you likely won’t be traded anytime soon. That’s important. That you aren’t going anywhere.”
“Still don’t know what we’re talking about here, Miles,” I say.
He takes a deep breath, leveling me with a piercing look, before he finally says, “I was thinking that maybe you could marry Sarah.”
I freeze.
“You what?”
“Just hear me out,” he quickly says. “You get married, but only on paper. We fake a few photos, create an online history of the two of you as a couple, keep up the facade publicly. But privately, you won’t actually be in a relationship.
As soon as she’s licensed to teach, you can quietly get a divorce, and that’s that.
The whole thing would be over in nine months, a year, tops. ”
I shake my head, still struggling to process what he’s asking. He wants me to marry his sister? Like, marry marry her?
“Miles,” I say, not even trying to hide my shock. “If I married your sister just so she could stay in the country, we’d both be committing fraud. Is that honestly what you’re asking me to do here?”
His jaw tightens. “I’m not necessarily asking, just…
suggesting. I’ve done a lot of research—all the research—and I’ve got a solid plan mapped out.
How long the marriage will have to last. How we’ll convince everyone it’s real.
Convince Immigration it’s real. It’s completely airtight. It’s not going to look like fraud.”
“We just met for the first time,” I say, “and multiple people were there when it happened.”
Miles waves this away like it’s no concern at all. “Trust me, it didn’t look like it. The way you two were talking at dinner, you seemed like you were close. Close enough that I think people would buy you having some sort of secret relationship.”
I lean back into my seat, suddenly uncomfortable with the fact that Miles did notice my interest in Sarah. Is that why he’s asking me?
Either way, it doesn’t change anything. “Look, man. I like you, but this is—”
“I’m all she’s got,” he repeats. “Our mother is dead, and our father was a complete deadbeat we’ve fortunately been able to avoid since we live down here and he’s still in Winnipeg.
We don’t have any other family up there.
” He pauses and takes a deep breath, his jaw tightening.
“If she goes back to Canada, she won’t know a soul.
What’s more, if she does go back, I’m not sure our father won’t try to make contact. And that’s the last thing she needs.”
The thought of anything happening to Sarah forms a knot low in my gut. Even though I just met her, I would still hate for her to be at risk. I’ve heard bits and pieces of Miles’s history, and a time or two, he’s said something that’s made me wonder about his dad.
But fraud is still fraud. Miles is asking me to put myself at a guaranteed risk—and her, too—just to avoid the potential of a different one. I’m just not sure the end justifies the means.
Miles leans forward in his chair, and his eyes turn pleading. “Just let me walk you through the plan, all right? Ten minutes of your time. And if you still believe it’s something you can’t do, you can walk. No questions asked.”
I have seen a lot of expressions on my captain’s face over the years. I’ve seen him determined, annoyed, angry. I’ve seen him relaxed and happy after a rewarding win and discouraged after a disappointing loss.
But I’ve never seen him like this.
I’ve never seen him look desperate.
Something tightens in the deepest corner of my heart, and I breathe out a sigh. “Fine. Ten minutes.”
It’s more like twenty minutes. But when Miles finishes outlining his admittedly thorough plan, I have to hand it to him.
He really did think of everything.
He has a social media plan for how we would soft launch the relationship, then a plan to appear in public together over the next couple of weeks.
He has a place for us to live—or at least appear to be living—so it looks like our marriage is the real deal.
He has a list of sample questions we’d have to answer in an immigration interview, with practical tips about how to prepare.
Most importantly, he has a precise timeline regarding the steps Sarah would take to establish her own legal status.
If everything goes as planned, it really shouldn’t take more than nine months.
“I realize the one piece we haven’t discussed is what’s in this for you,” Miles says, once he’s talked me through everything. “But I don’t want you to worry about that part. You won’t spend a dime of your own money. And you’ll be compensated for however much time all of this takes.”
I raise an eyebrow. Neither one of us is hurting for money, but I know as well as he does that my contract is double what his is.
He took less so he could stay in Atlanta, play out his career with the same team.
Anna is from Atlanta. A higher contract wouldn’t be worth uprooting his family, especially now that they have kids.
Not that it matters either way. Even if I felt like I could say yes, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting Miles pay me to do it.
I sigh and lean back in my chair. The one thing Miles hasn’t said is that he noticed my interest and thought I might be a good match for Sarah, that maybe we would hit it off and find out we actually like each other.
He seems to think this will be all business, no real feelings involved. And that might be the biggest reason for me to say no. It feels like playing with fire to fake a relationship with someone I could see myself actually starting to like.
I suddenly wonder if this is why she seemed so interested in talking to me. Had she and Miles already hatched a plan, and she was just trying to soften me up?
“What does Sarah think?” I ask, suddenly desperate to know how she feels. If she had any clue this would happen when we met.
His jaw twitches. “She doesn’t know yet.”
My eyes widen even as relief courses through me.
On the one hand, I’m so glad she isn’t behind this conversation.
On the other, I can’t believe Miles is asking without her knowledge.
“She doesn’t know you’re currently trying to arrange a marriage on her behalf?
Did we just go back in time two hundred years? ”
“It didn’t feel worth mentioning if you weren’t willing to do it,” he says. “I didn’t want to get her hopes up. She’s really having a hard time with this whole thing.”
I sensed a heaviness in Sarah when I met her, so this doesn’t surprise me. And if there were an easier way to help her, I’d be all over it. But to marry her, to commit a felony and tie my reputation to a marriage and then a divorce…even if it only lasts nine months?
It’s a lot to ask.
Too much to ask.
I shake my head one last time. “I’m really sorry, man.
It sucks what your family is going through.
I appreciate you trusting me enough to even ask.
But there’s too much at stake. My career—your career, if word got out you put me up to this.
If there were anything else I could do to help, I’d do it. But I can’t do this.”
“Just take some time to think about it,” he says. “You don’t have to decide right now.”
“I don’t need time to think,” I say, pushing myself to my feet. “It’s fraud.”
He’s quiet for a long moment, but then he finally nods. “Okay. I understand, and I respect your decision. I was hoping you’d say yes, but you aren’t the only guy on the list, so I’m at least grateful you made your decision quickly. The faster I can get something worked out, the better.”
I pause, a twinge of discomfort making my gut feel tight. “You’re going to ask someone else?”
“Of course I am,” Miles says. “I’m out of options. Actually, Theo’s on the list. Do you think he’d be willing?”
The discomfort in my gut turns into full-on nausea at the thought of Sarah and Theo. The most annoying thing is, he probably would do it. This is exactly the kind of impulsive thing he’d think was fun.
“I doubt it,” I say, hoping Miles doesn’t sense the uneasiness in my voice. “He’s got a pretty active dating life. I don’t think a marriage would really help with that.”
He nods. “All right, well, let me know if you change your mind.” Despite what I told him, it’s not lost on me that Miles doesn’t say whether he will or won’t ask Theo.
He stands and follows me out of Coach Kimzey’s office, and we fall into an awkward silence as we head toward the exit.
I suddenly wish I had my own car or had made Theo wait for me. After the conversation I just had with Miles, the thought of riding home with him feels painful.
I pull out my phone just as we reach the door. “You know what? I’m just gonna have Theo come back for me. No reason to make you drive into Midtown when you’re heading the opposite direction.”
Miles shrugs. “Fine by me. You’re still living in Midtown? I’d hate all that traffic.”
“It’s worth it. I like the view.”
He seems to consider this. “Are you still living with your brother?”
“Not with him,” I say. “We’re in the same building.”
“So, sort of with him,” Miles says.
“Nah, it’s not like that. He’s got his place, and I’ve got mine.”
It’s mostly not like that.
I don’t often talk about the fact that when my dad was killed in an accident, Theo was the one who was driving the car.
It wasn’t his fault—a drunk driver blew through an intersection and t-boned him—but that didn’t matter to Theo.
He spiraled hard, and it was left to me to make sure he didn’t completely fall apart.
He only went to practice if I made him go to practice, only got out of bed if I was there to demand it.
If not for me, I’m not even sure he’d still be playing hockey.
Logically, I know he’s fine now. An adult who takes care of himself.
But there’s a part of me that still thinks I have to stay close.
Keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t crash out again and throw everything away.
I’m not sure how to break the habit of feeling like it’s my job to look out for us both.
“Whatever you say, man,” Miles says as he pulls out his keys. “You sure you don’t need a ride?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Thanks.”
“Cool. Hey, don’t say anything to Theo, all right? If I do ask him, I want to make sure he hears it from me.” Miles pushes through the door without waiting for my reply, which is good, because I will absolutely be telling Theo about our conversation.
And making sure he understands that if Miles asks, he will not, under any circumstances, be marrying Sarah Stone.
If anyone’s going to do it, it’s me.
But I can’t do it. And I have no idea where that leaves me.