Canyon To The Rescue
Fiona
Gabe pushes the stroller into our apartment. “Wait here.”
What? I turn to Daria as soon as he walks out of our sightline. “Gabe signs?”
“One of the players on his team is deaf.” Daria sets her bag down on the bench.
Wow. I didn’t picture him as the type of guy to learn to sign. “Impressive.”
“I know, right? He wasn’t the only one at the party who did. There was even this kid who signed. He was a man in a boy’s body.”
That sounds like Sasha Kamenev, but it could be any one of the Vincentis.
Gabe walks back into the living room with a serious face. “The apartment is clear. Can I do anything else for you two before I leave?”
“No, thank you. We appreciate you driving us home.” Daria smiles up at him.
“My pleasure. See you guys at the game.” He walks out, and she locks the door behind him.
“Can you believe Gabriel Vincenti was just in our house?” Daria slides off her shoes.
Not really.
“He might be visiting us more often if Hope has anything to say about it.”
What does that even mean — “She’s playing matchmaker.”
Daria smirks as she walks over to the couch with the book she brought to the party.
“That’s not funny.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“It really isn’t. What in the world is she thinking? Gabriel Vincenti isn’t even in my league.”
Daria chuffs.
“He’s pretty to look at, but still.” No. Just no.
“If she’s anything like Emilia, you’re in trouble. They’re going to mow you over like a freight train.”
A freight train is nothing compared to Emilia when she wants something. I’m in trouble.
Dash lets out a little cry from the stroller.
I check his diaper as his little face gets angrier and angrier. It’s fine. “You woke up hungry, didn’t you?”
A smile forms on his face.
“It’s a good thing I brought all those bottles. Dash must be in a growth spurt.” I settle on the couch with him in my arms.
He grabs at the bottle as it comes close.
“You’re going to be one of those teenage boys that you can’t ever fill up.” I try not to think about how good he feels in my arms. Dash will be gone in a short time. There’s no point in getting attached.
The real problem is a teenager who thinks that she’s a matchmaker from a family of expert matchmakers and meddlers.
My life as I know it is over. I glance over at Daria, but she’s going to just laugh. Why couldn’t life be easy, like reading a book?
A book…
Daria’s book…
It’s brilliant. All I need is a fake boyfriend to make her back off without any questions.
***
“…so, then I stopped scrubbing and went to take care of the baby.” I squeeze my fingers together to avoid reaching back to scratch my hip.
“The baby was able to pull you out—” My therapist jots something in her notebook.
“How could I ignore Dash? He needed me.” It felt instinctual.
She continues writing in that notebook of hers. It’s like a secret codebook. “And all of this was caused by the interesting man pulling away from your touch?”
I nod as shame floods through my body again. “He’s still disgusted by me.”
Her head pops up. “How do you know that?”
“We were at a party yesterday, and he kept glaring at me. I should have found a moment to apologize, but this guy kept interrupting.” Gabriel Vincenti hardly counts as ‘a guy’.
“Was he making a nuisance of himself? We practiced ways to—”
“No. It was actually the ‘interesting’ guy’s daughter.” It’s easier not saying Max’s name out loud. “She’s determined to matchmake me with the interesting guy’s cousin.”
“Do you like that or not?”
“The cousin is nice and all…”
“But you’re not interested—”
Have I ever been interested in a man that way? “No.”
“Then set clear boundaries with the daughter.”
Yeah, right. That would work as well as telling a teenager that they can’t do something they want to.
“Back to the interesting guy, you need to apologize. Waiting on things like that only makes things worse.”
Don’t I know. The drama I’ve seen happen from just a small little issue that went ignored... “I’ll try to do it today.”
“Good. Now I have a question.”
I hate when she has one of those. They never bode well for me. “Shoot.”
“What if, in your guilt, you misinterpreted his response? What if he wasn’t mad?”
“Impossible.”
“Is it though?”
“I’m good at reading people.” My time living on the streets and taking care of all these kids has honed that skill.
“What if you’re wrong?”
***
What if you’re wrong? That question has been playing over and over in my head since I walked out of her office. I can’t be wrong.
Focus. Maddox called you to his office for an important meeting this morning. Something important is wrong. Your silly issue with Max is a trivial matter that can be fixed.
I knock on Maddox’s office door and wait for it to click open.
“Good. You’re here.” He practically runs over to me. “She quit.”
Huh?
“Well, she didn’t quit. She agreed to take a part-time position here and there.”
Huh?
“Mindy and I are going to be able to spend so much more time together.”
Yeah, right, mister workaholic. “That’s wonderful news.”
“So I, um, need to take her on a date.”
Okay?
“Where should I take her?” Maddox starts pacing. “I was thinking about this two-star Michelin restaurant…”
I take a seat and listen to him ramble about date ideas. I should have found this cute, but my therapist’s words keep coming back, blurring with Hope’s desire to matchmake.
***
What I should be thinking about is the wonderful date Maddox just planned for Mindy, but instead dread fills me as I make my way out of Maddox’s office building.
What if Max was repulsed by my touch because he thought I was hitting on him? What if Hope won’t stop with her machinations?
Why can’t I just be transported to another planet where I can live forever in peace? Or take up Knight on his offer?
If that were actually possible—
Don’t dream about impossible things. At least I’m not dreaming about having a family like the Vincentis; another planet is in the realm of possibility.
If only I had someone to fake date, like in Daria’s book. That would take away all the issues with Max and Hope.
“You look awfully deep in thought.”
Canyon’s voice makes me jump. “Hey, Canyon. How are you today?”
He always has a happy smile on his face. “Good. Did you make any mint-chocolate cupcakes today?”
“Sure did. You should—” Canyon would be perfect. He’s sweet and kind…and understanding. Better than that, he’s always up for a prank. This is sort of a prank, but more like a secret.
“What should I do?”
Could I ask him to do this? “You should come in for one today.” Do it. “Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure, Fea. What do you need?”
“A fake boyfriend?”
He starts to cough. “Excuse me,” Canyon chokes out. “I thought you said you need a fake boyfriend.”
“I did.”
“But…” He looks me up and down. “But…” He clears his throat. “But…any guy would give their left arm to date you for real.”
Like I want to date any guy for real. It’s hard not to roll my eyes. “I don’t want a real boyfriend.”
“Then why do you—Is someone harassing you? I can have a ‘conversation’ with them. If need be, the Adders can have a discussion with them. But I can be pretty convincing myself.”
Oh no. This conversation isn’t going the way I hoped. “No. No one is harassing me. I just, um, want to fake date someone.”
“You, Fiona Shaw, after twenty years of not even letting a man look at you, wants to fake date someone just because?” Canyon’s eyebrow goes sky high.
It sounds so wrong when you say it that way. But it’s still better than I want to thwart some teenager who thinks she’s a matchmaker like her grandmother…and she very well might be. “Yes.”
“No.”
What? Canyon never says ‘no’. He went snowboarding during a blizzard because someone asked him. “Why not?”
“Because I’m going to kill the guy, not pretend to be your boyfriend.”
“There’s no guy.”
“Don’t believe you.”
“I swear to you, Canyon, there isn’t a guy. I just need you to pretend to date me for a few weeks. Then we can publicly break up. There won’t be any issues.”
He shakes his head.
“Please?”
“Fiona.”
“Pretty please?”
“Fea.”
I’m winning. He’s going to cave. “Pretty please with sugar on top. And I’ll make your favorite cupcakes every day for the next two months.”
“Fine. But they better be the best cupcakes you’ve ever made. What do you want me to do?”
Yes! “All you have to do is come to the bakery on occasion and talk about us going on a date. Pretend to be my boyfriend.” Wait. No one will believe us if we don’t actually touch. “You can put your arm around me.”
“Fea?”
“It’s fine. Please.”
“I’ll do it. But if I find out you’re lying, I’m going to kill him painfully.”
Since I’m not worried about a guy, that shouldn’t be as scary as it sounds. “Deal.”
“When do you want to start?”
“Now. Today.”
“Are you sure about this?”
No, absolutely, positively not. “Definitely. I’m heading to the bakery. If you want to meet me there in like five to ten minutes, we can get started.”
“Fine. But this is going to end badly…”
What could go wrong?
I walk over to the bakery with a bit more pep to my step. Everything is going to be just fine. You’ll apologize to Max, then introduce Hope to your boyfriend, and the world will be back on its axis again.
Max is in his favorite seat with his nose tucked into his laptop and that same lock of hair in his face. That man is too good-looking.
You can do this. All you need to do is walk up and apologize.
You tell the kids to do it all the time.
Practice what you preach and all that nonsense. I take a deep, steadying breath and walk over. “Morning, Max.”
He looks up, brushing back that lock, and smiles. “Morning, Fiona.”
I slide into the seat across from him.
“Where’s Dash? Did Hope already grab him?”
Huh? “Dash is in daycare.”
“What? Why?”
Huh? Why does Max care where Dash is? “Because I had to work. They didn’t have room for him until today.”
“Go get him back. Hope and I will take care of him while you work.”
What? “Dash isn’t your responsibility.”
“I know that.”
Is he afraid someone at the daycare might hurt the baby? “The daycare here is really nice.”
“I know that.”
Do you? Because you really don’t sound like you do. “Dash will be just fine in daycare.”
“I know that, Fea. Go get him anyway. We can practice more coding today.”
Deep breath in and out. Men rarely make sense. “Max, babies don’t code.”
“This one will. Well, not until he learns fine motor skills, but I can see it in his eyes. He’s a born computer geek, like me. So go get my little buddy. If something happens that I need to leave early, I’ll arrange for someone to come watch him here.”
Watch him here? “Dash is a baby. This is a bakery.”
“You’re awfully cute when you’re confused.”
“Hey, Beautiful.”
An arm comes around my shoulders, and my entire body locks up.