Chapter 5 #2
She shakes my hand. “Why do you have a wedding ring on?”
I take a deep breath. “I kind of… got married.”
Her jaw drops open as she releases my wrist like a hot potato. “You don’t have a girlfriend. You have flings. Now you’re telling me that you went to Vegas and got married?”
I can’t answer. Instead, I notice that she quickly glances to my cousin, reminding us all that we need to keep our words appropriate. My cousin’s three-year-old brain is like a little sponge, it’s crazy.
“What the duck, Connor!”
“Duck it,” the parrot volleys.
Nope. Still not sure what to say.
“And who might the lucky bride be?” my uncle asks, even though I can tell he is already brushed up on the info.
I take a deep inhale. “Hadley.”
“What the duck!” my aunt repeats her earlier sentiment.
Uncle Declan, or Declan in this situation because I know he is in business mode, puts my cousin down then walks to me and places his hands on my shoulders. Shit, he is in super-serious mode.
“The team publicist called me just now. You have exactly three hours before this hits the media.” He waves his long finger at me. “You tell your parents. Now.”
“I am. Hence the need for a bouquet of flowers.” I raise a brow at him.
“You’re going to need the entire bucket of sunflowers. A bouquet isn’t going to cut it.” My aunt sounds panicked.
I flash her a grin. “You’re right. I need a bouquet for my new mother-in-law too, so whatever April likes.”
Declan blows out a breath. “What happened?”
I shrug out of his hold. “Don’t worry. We’re staying married, at least for the off-season. I’m sure this will be positive press.”
Declan pauses for a second and seems to be thinking.
“You’re right. We can work this angle to our advantage.
Maybe you two can have a photoshoot, make this somewhat believable.
But you’re right. Baseball royalty marries hockey royalty, throw in the Spinners a few times in the interview, and it could be good.
You’re settling down.” He’s trying to convince himself it’s a grand idea, but really, that’s the angle I was going for.
“See? The bachelor settles down.” I grimace and turn all my attention to my aunt, because Declan can stew in his plans without me. “So, about those flowers. Let’s just go all out, shall we?”
She points the stem of a sunflower at me. “Your dad and mom are going to lose it.”
My lips quirk out as I think about it. “No, they won’t. Or at least they’ll get over it fast. They love Hadley, they’ve been shipping us for years. It’s their dream come true.”
She shakes her head at me. “No, not like this. They will be heartbroken that they missed your wedding, didn’t get to do all of that traditional stuff.
” She growls to herself. “Duck it, Violet, do not speak like this is a real marriage.” Scolding herself seems to bring her into a more focused mode.
“Connor, don’t be stupid. I don’t know what you and Hadley are playing at, but don’t break her heart. ”
“Trust me. It’s cold as can be for me,” I promise.
“Then how are you going to explain this to your parents? They won’t be on board with a fake marriage,” she adds softly.
I sigh. “You’re right. That’s why Hadley and I are kind of going all in on this. We have a story, can fake it for a few hours in their presence, so I’m going to need those flowers.”
She turns sharply to her husband. “Do something,” she instructs.
Declan raises his hands in surrender. “No can do. The last thing I want is a quickie wedding and divorce in the press for my star player. Besides...” He snorts a laugh. “These two kids will come to realize they have a good thing underneath those angsty jabs.”
“I mean…” My aunt’s face softens. “You have a point.” Her eyes whip back in my direction. “Fine. I’ll go along with this, but I mean it… don’t break her heart,” she warns again.
A little late for that. I already did long ago.
I swallow. “Sure.”
My aunt begins to grab flowers. “Okay, so most expensive flowers, no family discount—”
“Whoa, why no family discount?” I protest.
She raises her brows at me. “You’re in the doghouse. Now let’s just get these flowers to impress gathered.”
The bell to the shop rings, and I turn to see my wife walk in with a bag from the general store.
“I got supplies,” Hadley announces.
“I’m getting the flowers,” I explain.
Hadley gives me a glare. “At least one of us is smart. Flowers won’t be enough.” She turns to my aunt. “No offense, we need bigger guns.” Her attention returns to me. “I got wine for the moms. Open it as soon as we arrive.”
“Genius.” I snap my fingers.
My aunt walks around her table and straight to Hadley to give her a hug. “Mazel tov. Welcome to the family.” I shake my head since my family doesn’t have a single Jewish relative.
Hadley nervously laughs once as she accepts the hug. “Thanks.”
My aunt steps back and looks affectionately at Hadley. “I should have known if my nephew ever decided to elope that it would be with you, only you.” Now she’s just being dramatic.
“Uh,” Hadley’s voice cracks. “Okay.”
Checking my watch, I know we have to get moving. The clock is rolling. “Flowers, Aunt Vi, please. Our parents were having dinner together anyway, so they will be blindsided when we show up together, and we have to knock this off the list.”
“Wine, flowers, and a damn good story is what you two need,” my uncle says with a cheeky grin. “Good luck walking into the lions’ den.”
We stand outside Hadley’s home, since it’s her parents hosting tonight’s dinner. She’s fanning a hand in her face to calm herself down while a bottle of wine hangs from her other hand. I’m holding an armful of flowers.
“Ugh, this is not the conversation to be having while hungover. Or am I still slightly drunk? I don’t know, but here we are.” Hadley groans again.
I scrub a hand across my face. “This day is almost done.”
“Just, we ease them into this. When you pour the second glass of wine, then we break the news. Just keep topping up their glasses,” she explains.
I have to laugh. “Our moms are easy. Remember your sweet sixteenth?”
She looks at me, and after a second, a smile cracks. “God, they were tipsy on cosmos, then did karaoke. It was so embarrassing.”
“But they really belted out Taylor Swift to perfection,” I add.
We take a moment to look at one another. Maybe it’s the first time today that we really sink into the fact that we are husband and wife. For a second, I could swear her smile is for me or the fact that we share memories.
Hadley clears her throat. “Okay, in we go. I’ll pack a bag to take to your house between dinner and dessert or something.”
I whistle a breath. “I love the confidence that we’ll make it to dessert.”
She nods in acknowledgment before opening the door. Right away we hear our moms in the kitchen area. We slowly make our way to the kitchen where our moms are busy with a glass of wine in hand and nibbling on the cheese board.
Immediately, their eyes light up when they see us.
“Oh, you arrived… together.” My mother’s eyebrows knit close, but her smile remains bright as she comes to hug me, and I hand her the sunflowers. “And with flowers too.”
“Of course,” I state simply before walking to April to hand her pink dahlias.
April looks at me, skeptical. “Oh, thanks.” Her eyes dart to my mother. “Why is your son handing me flowers? Connor and flowers are never a good sign.”
My mother shrugs. “I don’t know. Mysterious.”
“For hosting dinner. Oh, wow, look at that melted brie,” Hadley says in an attempt to divert their attention.
“We brought wine,” I announce, and Hadley is quick to showcase the bottle in her hand right before she reaches for their glasses to fill, because we came prepared with a twist-top bottle and don’t care about mixing wine at this point.
My mom plants a hand on her hip then walks to April to stand next to her. They both focus on Hadley and me.
“They’re up to something,” April states and studies the scene.
Hadley laughs nervously as she hands back their glasses. “Don’t be silly. Just a normal night.”
“What’s going on?” My mother gladly takes the wine, and her smile doesn’t fade.
Hadley arrives at my side and nudges my shoulder. “Abort plan, just spit it out,” she mumbles.
I bring my hand to rest on her lower back to ease her concern. “Okay.”
“You both were in Vegas, right? How was it?” April asks as she takes a sip from her glass.
“About that…” I wrap an arm around Hadley’s shoulder for a side hug. “We have some news…”