32. Ian
32
IAN
“Let’s try ‘party’ next,” Grant’s voice said from across the room where he was perched next to Maddie’s brother, Easton, deeply invested in the game of Wordle they were playing together.
“You think that’s it?” Easton asked, smiling at Maddie’s son, his adoration for his nephew apparent in his eyes. “Because we try it every time and it’s never right.”
“It might work this time, though…” Grant looked up at his uncle. “Just do it.”
“Okay…” Easton shrugged before making a big show of typing in the letters. And he must have pressed the enter button because a moment later, Grant’s shoulders fell and he said, “Dang it.”
Maddie’s smile lit her face at her son’s investment in the game, and I liked seeing it. She needed this moment—this reprieve with her family—after the emotional rollercoaster she’d been through.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets, unsure what to do with myself. Maybe this was my cue to leave. The day had been long for everyone, and while I’d wanted to be there for Maddie, I wasn’t sure how much help I could still be. She was with her family now, surrounded by the people who knew her best.
And yet…I continued to stand awkwardly off to the side, pretending to scroll through my phone because even though it was close to nine o’clock in the evening, I didn’t want to leave.
There was something grounding about being here, about watching Maddie interact with the people who clearly meant the world to her. It made me want to know her more, to be part of that world in a way I hadn’t anticipated.
I shoved my phone into my pocket, my thoughts flickering back to the whirlwind of the last two days. The news about our so-called engagement was still buzzing somewhere out there, no doubt gaining traction.
I’d avoided scrolling through social media all day, knowing exactly how these things played out. Today’s viral sensation would be forgotten by next week, replaced by some other headline or drama. I wasn’t exactly a household name, and the corner of the internet that actually cared about my life wasn’t all that big.
Honestly, as long as the board didn’t have a problem with my name in the headlines again, I wasn’t too concerned about it.
At least…I wouldn’t have been, if the stories were only about me.
Sadly though, Maddie’s name was also being dragged through the mud.
And that changed everything.
She hadn’t signed up for this kind of attention. She hadn’t asked to be dragged into internet gossip or have strangers speculating about her life.
She’d been holding it together so far, probably because her dad’s heart attack had taken up all her focus. But I knew that as soon as she had a moment to breathe, it would hit her.
The stories. The rumors about her being pregnant. The assumptions about our so-called engagement.
It was all complete nonsense, and it was my fault she was caught in the middle of it.
I was such an idiot for thinking I could get away with a fake engagement at such a big conference and not have it come back to bite me in the butt.
“Yay! We did it!” Grant cheered, bringing my attention back to the present. “I knew it was ‘thumb’!”
And when I looked over to the group to see them giving each other high-fives for figuring out today’s Wordle word, I caught Maddie’s eye.
From her somewhat surprised expression, I wondered if she’d forgotten I was even here. But then she smiled faintly and excused herself, weaving her way over to me.
“Sorry you’ve been here so long,” she said softly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “You must be bored out of your mind.”
“No, I’m good,” I said, not wanting her to be worried about me. “I’ve been keeping busy.”
“Yeah?” she asked, like she didn’t believe me. “Because you can head out if you want. I know you have a lot of important things you can be doing instead of hanging out in a hospital waiting room.”
“No, it’s really fine. I want to be here.” I didn’t want her to think I was put out at all. “But I was wondering what you wanted to do tonight. I know your dad’s place is about an hour from here. Were you and your siblings planning to stay there tonight? Because I’d be happy to book hotel rooms for everyone if you’d rather stay close by.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” She shook her head, waving the thought away. “We were hoping to stay in town, but we can take care of our own arrangements. You’ve already done so much.”
“It’s no trouble,” I said quickly. “Really, I have so many points on my credit card that I’ll never use them all.”
“I’m sure you probably racked up a bunch of points with our shopping spree yesterday,” she said, laughing lightly. “But we can take care of our hotels.”
Was it weird that I found her independent stubborn streak attractive? Because I did.
And because I’d known she’d probably turn down my offer before I even asked, I brought out my phone, pulling up the booking app where I’d already selected four rooms at a nearby hotel. Then, with a single tap, I finalized the reservation I had queued up.
“Oops,” I said, holding up the screen so she could see it. “I accidentally booked them. Non-refundable. Guess you guys better stay in them so they don’t go to waste.”
“You’re impossible.” She narrowed her eyes at me, but the corners of her mouth twitched. “But thank you,” she said, her voice softer. “You really didn’t have to do that.”
“Well,” I said, slipping my phone back into my pocket, “I don’t know if your family has heard anything about us yet, but it’s the least I could do for my future in-laws.”
A laugh escaped her and she shook her head. “Oh, man, we’re in a mess, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I scrunched up my nose, a wave of guilt washing over me. “D-did you talk to your dad about…that particular subject?”
She grimaced, then let out a long sigh. “I wasn’t going to bring it up. You know, I was banking on the hope that maybe he didn’t register the news in his medicated state.” She paused. “But then he brought it up.”
“And how did it go?” I asked cautiously. “Was he mad? Did you tell him it was made up?”
“I probably should have…” She sighed again, her shoulders sinking a little. “But before I could explain anything, he started going on about how he trusted my judgment and was relieved to hear I’d found a good man who could take care of me since he’d been worried about me moving away on my own.”
“Oh.” I was speechless for a moment because that was definitely not the response I’d been expecting. “Well, that’s…something.”
“I know, right?” She gave a half-laugh, half-sigh. “It’s crazy. He’s never even met you.” She shook her head. “And I’m sure if he were his usual self, he’d be asking all the questions, probably demanding I bring you in so he could give you the third degree about your real intentions with his daughter. But apparently his softer side is coming out with all the pain meds because he just seemed so happy for me.”
“Does he think you’re pregnant, too?” The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
“Oh, gosh, no!” Her eyes widened. “At least…I don’t think so. I’m sure that would be a whole different story.”
“Probably,” I agreed, relieved to hear that wasn’t part of the equation.
“So, what are you going to do now?” she asked. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about the board?”
“I think I’m going to tell the board the truth about what’s going on,” I said. “Honesty is the best policy there since I don’t want them to distrust me. Not when I’m hoping to take over my dad’s position one day.”
“That makes sense.” She nodded.
“But as for making an official statement…I kind of wanted to talk to you about that before I said anything.”
“Oh…” she said, as if only just then remembering how big this thing had blown up today. She probably still hadn’t even looked online with everything going on.
“Do your siblings think I’m your fiancé?” I asked, wondering what she’d told them if her dad thought she was engaged.
“No, they already knew everything was fake,” she said. “I told Juliette and Lexi about the whole fake engagement stuff back when we were in Boston.”
“Okay, good…” I said, my stomach twisting a little when she said the part about everything being fake.
I’d at least hoped that some of what had happened with us had been real.
“But with my dad…” she continued. “I think I’ll just let him believe it for a little while. He’s happy. And after everything he’s been through, I don’t want to take that away from him. Once he’s fully recovered, I figure I can just tell him we broke things off.”
“Okay,” I said, not really liking the idea of us breaking things off. Even if we weren’t really a couple, I kind of wanted to be one. But I didn’t want to look like I was the only one hoping for more out of the arrangement I’d basically forced her into, so I tried to keep things light by saying, “Just make sure to tell him a really good breakup story, okay? Something like, ‘I realized I could do way better than Ian Hastings and completely shattered his foolish little heart.’”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Maddie laughed, a soft, breathy sound that eased some of the tension between us. “Maybe we can come up with a story as epic as the one we came up with when we were at the conference.”
And even though she was talking about our breakup story like it would be a funny, light-hearted event, I couldn’t help but think that if this all ended—if we went back to being nothing more than colleagues—it wouldn’t be just another crazy conference story for me to tell my friends about.
It would actually sting. Much more than I cared to admit.
Because even though I’d been the one to push for this fake engagement, the truth was becoming clearer with every passing moment: there was nothing fake about the way I felt. And if this ended? A broken heart would feel like an understatement, since I was pretty sure I’d be devastated.