Chapter 15
Emma
Bridget had gone overboard.
Though, even overboard was an understatement.
How had she pulled this off in the few short days that had passed since I signed the contract? I knew Bridget was intense but this…
This was insanity.
It quite literally looked like peonies had thrown up everywhere.
Row after row of wooden chairs—which I called twig seats because they looked like a bunch of sticks held together with twine to resemble something close to a chair—were lined on either side of a white velvet strip that led to an arch smothered in pink and red peonies at the end. Each row of chairs was lined with flowers too.
Even though today was only the rehearsal dinner, it looked like Bridget had had people here setting up all day long, getting the venue—AKA the Walker Farm—ready for tomorrow’s shindig.
The shindig being my wedding.
Ugh.
At the thought of marrying Liam, my armpits instantly started soaking through my tank top. It had been days since I had signed the contract that required me to become Liam’s wife, and I had had time to get used to the insane amount of money listed in the contract, but even so, half of it was currently sitting in my bank account, and I nearly fainted every time I saw all those zeros.
I knew Liam was successful, but dang. Needless to say, it would be enough to cover my loan payments and then some. In fact, I could have paid off my loan right that minute if I wanted to. And when the other half of the money was deposited after the wedding, then it would be like Bridget said; I’d be set for a long, long time.
But the instant peace I had at that realization quickly fizzled out because, in order to have all that money, I had to marry Liam Walker.
My best friend whom I’d hidden feelings from for years.
The guy who was country music’s biggest star and came with fame and fortune and a reputation that I was somehow supposed to fix. I was still skeptical about Bridget’s plan. I didn’t see how marrying him would fix anything, but I needed that money as much as I wanted to help him in whatever way I could, so here we were.
Being Liam Walker’s wife didn’t scare me—not really. As challenging as I imagined it would be, I could deal with the tabloids and the pictures, the ridiculous clothes I’d no doubt have to wear, and stand at Liam’s side and play the part of his wife.
No, that wasn’t what scared me.
What scared me was the question of how I would continue to hide my feelings for my best friend when we’d have to live together, sleep in the same house, kiss, hold hands, and pretend that every time he touched me it didn’t light me up from my head to my toes.
And if it all went wrong, I’d lose him forever. In a year when the contract was fulfilled, would he still want to be married to me or would he get a divorce the minute it burned in the fire?
My fingers brushed the soft petals of a bundle of peonies strategically arranged around the arch where Liam and I would say “I do.” My eyes burned, and I squeezed them shut.
I used to fantasize about the day when Liam would finally see me for real and realize he had loved me all along, and it had an ache settling deep in my gut knowing, even though we were about to become husband and wife, he didn’t love me. He was marrying me for his own gain, not because he harbored any feelings for me.
When I imagined getting married someday, I never imagined it would be like this.
Stop complaining, Emma. It’s only for a year, and you get peace of mind and financial stability out of the deal. This is a win-win. Then you can return to normal life once this is all over. You can start that YouTube channel and help people that way. It’s only a handful of months in the grand scheme of things.
Two sets of squeals forced my inner thoughts to a jarring halt and had me spinning on my heel before four arms enveloped me at the same time, barely avoiding crashing my head into theirs. Lots of hair shoved its way into my mouth until they finally released me from their grip.
Elsie and Maya stepped back with enormous grins on their faces and a black garment bag in each of their arms.
“I’m so glad you guys are here,” I said, swiping a bead of sweat from my temple. Why had Bridget planned an outdoor wedding in June? It was too stinking hot. It was a miracle that she had pulled off an entire wedding in less than a week, but even more so that she’d managed to work out Elsie and Maya’s schedules so that they could be here to be my bridesmaids.
At least one thing in this wedding was real.
Maya had to cut her honeymoon short by two days, which she swore she didn’t mind doing, and I had barely seen Elsie over the last week even though I was staying at Jameson’s. She’d been holed up at The Roasted Bean every day trying to finish edits on her next book to meet her deadline.
“And I can’t believe you’re getting married!” Maya cried. She had just returned with Oliver last night, and her skin was golden and glowing, her blonde hair freshly highlighted.
“And before me. Again,” Elsie muttered, which made Maya and me laugh.
“You have no one to blame but yourself,” Maya snarked, nudging her with an elbow. “You didn’t have to take so long with the wedding plans.”
“We wanted to wait until the end of summer or early fall,” Elsie retorted, crossing her arms. “When we could have the ceremony in the sunflower field where we first met.”
“Yeah, yeah, you hopeless romantic,” Maya replied with a roll of her eyes before fixing her gaze on me. Understanding flashed over her face, and perhaps a trace of pity. “How are you holding up?”
My tongue was heavy in my mouth and my mind blanked on every descriptive word I ever knew. How much had Bridget told them when she invited them to the wedding? Did she tell them how big of a scam this was? Or was it meant to remain a secret, and she’d hyped it up to be the event of the year? Maya knew since she had helped me talk through the decision, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Elsie about it yet since she’d been so busy. Jameson had promised that he’d fill her in for me.
I settled for a shrug and half a smile. They both yanked me in for a group hug again.
As she pulled away, Maya said, “Just say the word, Em, and we’ll call this whole thing off. We’ll tell that stuffy nose lady to beat it, and we’ll all go home.”
I chuckled at her description of Bridget but shook my head. “I already signed the contract. This is a done deal. Tomorrow evening, I will officially be Mrs. Liam Walker.”
Elsie arched a brow. “And how does Liam feel about this? Surely, he can’t be a fan of this…arranged marriage.”
I shrugged again. “Before I signed the contract, he tried to talk me out of it. He told me I deserved more, but I needed that money the contract promised—so here we are.”
“You know, he’s a successful musician,” Maya said. “With how close you two used to be, he’d probably be more than happy to help you out with the money, and then this whole marriage could be avoided.”
I waved a hand in dismissal even though he had said so himself to me the other night. “I would never ask Liam for money. At least not directly. This way we both win. He gets a wife to fix his dumb reputation, and I get money to pay off my chaser equipment. It’s convenient.”
“Convenient.” Maya blinked. “Because that’s romantic.”
“But what about when the contract ends?” Elsie asked, her eyes softening. “What then?”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “We’ll cross that road when we come to it, I guess.”
Elsie and Maya exchanged looks, but like the golden friends they were, they zipped their lips and pasted smiles on their faces.
Elsie looped her arm through mine. “Well, come on then. Show us where we’ll be getting ready tomorrow before the party gets started.”
I nodded, meeting Maya’s concerned eyes as we crossed the field toward Liam’s parents’ house.
For a second, I allowed myself to enjoy the fact that we were getting married on his family farm. It had been my dream when I was a teenager. Though now it seemed more like a stab in the heart.
This was turning all my secret dreams into a joke.
Remember why you’re doing this, Emma. Peace of mind and stability. Storm chasing—your new dream.
Maya’s eyes were filled with questions, probably sensing my inner turmoil like only she could, but I just smiled and led them to the house.
A happy cry echoed as soon as I walked in the door.
“There’s my beautiful girl!” my mom said from her spot on the couch, her empty wheelchair parked in the corner. My mom was the one person here who didn’t know this was fake. Instead, I let her think that we were marrying for real, and that we didn’t want to wait anymore and that’s why it was such a quick wedding.
I felt terrible lying to her, but the last thing I wanted was to stress her out, especially when she was finally doing better.
I crossed the room to hug her. “Hi, Mom.”
Her arms were surprisingly strong as she squeezed me into her side. “I can’t believe my baby girl is getting married.” I pulled back to find tears lining her eyes. “I knew you and Liam would end up together one day.” She booped me on the nose. “Once you two were done being dummies, that is.”
“Mom,” I chided, and she laughed.
“I’m just speaking the truth. You’ve been by each other’s sides since you were kids. It was only a matter of time.”
I could only manage a half-hearted chuckle. “You’re crazy, Mom.” I wasn’t about to burst her bubble of happiness. I’d let her think that Liam and I were in love. We already had to convince the world; why not her too?
“I’m so happy for you, my dear. I know it’s been rocky since Liam left Meridel, but I know he’ll treat you right. He’s always been a good man.”
I was pretty sure my mom never saw the tabloids, and I certainly wasn’t about to tell her about the bad reputation he’d earned.
“Yeah, he has,” I said, trying to move us away from the topic of Liam. I didn’t want to feel like I was lying to her anymore.
“I see the way he looks at you, Emma bear. That boy loves you.”
I barely refrained from shouting, What?!
What the heck was she talking about? Liam didn’t love me like that. We were friends, that was all. He didn’t look at me in any certain way. But of course, I couldn’t say any of that because she thought we were getting married for real. So, instead, I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a single nod.
“I just wish your father could be here,” she said with a quiet sniffle. “He should be here to walk you down the aisle.” Mom put her hand on my cheek. “I’m so sorry he’s not.”
The sudden ache in my heart threatened to make it burst out of my chest, and tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but it was the hardest part of this wedding for me. Fake marrying Liam was easy in comparison to facing my wedding without my dad. Yes, he’d died when I was just a kid, but I had enough memories of him to miss him terribly, and the fact that he wasn’t here for such an important occasion…it tore at my insides.
“If my legs were stronger, I could—”
I put a hand on my mom’s knee. “It’s okay, Mom. I wish he was here too, but it’s enough that you are. I couldn’t do this without you.”
Mom’s eyes filled with more tears, and she pulled me in for a hug. We stayed like that for several moments before Bridget’s obnoxious voice filtered in from outside, barking orders at the chefs.
I gave my mom a final squeeze before pulling away. “Come on, it’s time for the rehearsal and then we can stuff our faces.”
“My favorite pastime,” she commented with an excited clap of her hands.
I chuckled as I helped her back into her wheelchair and started steering her outside when Liam stepped through the door—dirty jeans, cowboy boots, and all.
“Here, let me,” he said, our hands brushing as the wheelchair exchanged hands.
I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a zing that went through my arms at the touch. Did he feel it too? Or was it only in my head?
“Thanks,” was all I could say.
Liam gave me that familiar half-smile before steering my mom outside.
I may or may not have appreciated the view as he walked away from me.
Of course, I’d deny it if I was ever asked about it.
With slow, shuffling footsteps, I followed after them, a single phrase repeating over and over in my head.
I’m marrying that man tomorrow.
“Okay, so you’ll stand here and then wait for the music to start,” Bridget instructed, pointing to the white velvet runway that led to Liam. Elsie and Maya stood at the end on the left, and a random person stood where Jameson would be standing during the wedding. He was going to be the best man since Liam didn’t have a very good relationship with any of his brothers, but he wasn’t able to get off work for the rehearsal.
Bridget gripped my elbow and dragged me down the aisle. It took every ounce of control I had over my body to not trip over the fabric that bunched up in the grass beneath my shoes. I barely had time to catch my breath before she shoved me forward into Liam’s arms. I wasn’t sure if it was the sun beating down on me or the heat from Liam’s hands that scalded my skin as he caught me.
His brows furrowed as he looked down at me. “Eggs benedict?”
I barely restrained a snort, my insides instantly melting. That had been our inside joke ever since we were kids. When one of us was sad or upset or hurt, we would say the other’s favorite breakfast food as a way to ask if they were all right. It had been so long since we’d done that, I was honestly shocked that he still remembered my favorite breakfast.
“Avocado toast,” I muttered without having to think about it.
Liam’s resulting smile had my knees weakening, and I was suddenly thankful that he was still holding me so I didn’t collapse.
Bridget clapped her hands then, right next to my ear, and I flinched back.
“So, Emma will come down the aisle after the bridesmaids,” she began, reiterating what had just happened, “and then Mr. Bob here will begin the ceremony.” She gestured to the stranger next to her, some old man she had scrounged up to marry us.
I wanted to run back inside and away from Bridget and Mr. Bob. This was not how I envisioned my wedding. I had always dreamed of someone important to me doing the wedding, with Jameson as one of the groomsmen, and my dad—
A pang went through my heart. It had been almost twenty years since he’d died, and yet the ache in my heart was just as fierce as the day I lost him forever. Sometimes it faded to the background, somewhat easier to ignore, but it never fully disappeared. Especially not now, when it should have been my dad walking me down the aisle, when he should have been putting my hand into Liam’s and telling him to be good to me.
Tears burned my eyes as I looked up at Liam, his own softening. He knew me so well I was sure he knew where my thoughts had gone. He had been by my side when my dad died. He’d held me while I cried.
Liam raised my hand to his lips and kissed it—his silent way of reassuring me.
“So, once the vows are said and the rings are exchanged, then the bride and groom will kiss and voilà! The end! Wedding over,” Bridget ended, clapping her hands again. I fought the urge to tie them together so she couldn’t clap anymore.
I hadn’t thought much about the fact that Liam and I would share our first kiss tomorrow, in front of everyone no less, and I fervently pushed it from my mind lest it freak me out to the point of running away.
“Real romantic,” I heard Maya whisper to Elsie, who then gave a soft snort.
“Now, if there are no questions from the wedding party, let’s head back to the house where dinner is waiting for us outside.”
Bridget didn’t even wait for any questions to be asked before she stalked back up the velvet aisle and headed toward the Walker house. Everyone let out some kind of mixture of a laugh and a sigh at the same time.
Bridget was something else.
Mr. Bob and his balding head and big glasses followed after her, his feet scooching across the grass like a penguin.
“Well, you heard the drill sergeant—err, I mean lady,” Maya said when Bridget was out of earshot. “Let’s go eat.”