4. Charlie
CHAPTER 4
CHARLIE
“I can’t believe your family is all here,” Olivia murmured as she smoothed her hands over the simple white shift she’d worn for the occasion. “And I can’t believe you made me wear this dress.”
“I didn’t,” Charlie protested. “You picked the dress out.”
“You said I had to wear white. That I should try to look bridal. ” She made it sound like a dirty word.
“Well, it is our wedding day,” he pointed out. “We want my siblings to believe this is real. And that’s why they had to be here, incidentally — we need to make sure they see the ceremony happen.”
“You really think they would accuse you of forging a marriage license just to get the house?”
“That wouldn’t be crazy of them,” Charlie said. “I would have done that if I’d thought I would get away with it.”
“What the hell am I marrying into?”
Charlie chuckled. “You’re going to like it,” he said. “My family is crazy, but in the best possible way, I assure you.”
“What’s the best possible way of being crazy?” Olivia shook her head. “You can’t stand them and you know it. You’re actually marrying a stranger to prevent them from inheriting their own aunt’s money.”
“Well, I’m crazy too,” he told her with a grin. “Come on, you should meet them.”
“Oh, God. I wish I could have brought my own family along to this.”
“We agreed it was for the best to keep people from knowing, as much as we could,” he reminded her.
“And they’re not going to find it suspicious that no one from my side is here?”
“Trust me, they don’t think about anyone besides themselves. They’re not even thinking about what today might mean for you,” he said. “Come meet my sister Cait.”
He led Olivia over to her. Cait, he noticed, was dressed in a black dress with lace across the bodice. It had long sleeves and a long skirt and looked more like the sort of thing a person might wear to a funeral than a wedding. He was sure she was trying to make a point.
Olivia clung nervously to his arm. Charlie had to admit, though, that he was proud of her in that moment. If he had to show someone off to his siblings in this context, he was glad to have someone as beautiful as she was. She wore her dark hair loose around her shoulders, and it set off the white dress perfectly. Her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. She did look like someone who was happy about an impending marriage, even though Charlie knew things weren’t anywhere near that simple for her.
“Cait,” he said, “This is Olivia. My bride.”
Cait narrowed her eyes. “See, we didn’t even know that Charlie was dating anybody,” she said to Olivia. “This is a surprise.”
“We weren’t being very public about it,” Olivia said, parroting the story the two of them had agreed on. “It’s pretty early days, to be honest with you, but it did feel like the real thing. I was looking forward to meeting all of you — but maybe not for a few months yet! And then I heard that Charlie had gotten this directive to get married in thirty days…”
“And you decided you’d better jump on that?” Cait asked. “Wanted to make sure you got hold of his money while you had the chance, is that it?”
“Cait, knock it off,” Charlie said.
“It’s just that he’s such a good man,” Olivia said earnestly. “If I didn’t marry him, someone else would. The stipulations of your aunt’s will are a little inconvenient, but I don’t want to lose the best thing I’ve ever had because of it. It’s a little scary, but we decided to take a chance on each other. To be honest, I think I would have wanted to marry him someday anyway, and if we have to hurry down the aisle because of this, it seems like a small price to pay.”
Charlie was impressed. She sounded like she really meant it.
Cait, obviously, was less impressed. “How long have you two been together?” she asked through pursed lips.
“Three months.” This, too, was a rehearsed lie. “We met when I was up in Boston for a work thing.”
“A work thing? What do you do?”
“I’m a real estate agent.” They had agreed that there was no realistic way to conceal that fact.
Predictably, Cait burst out laughing. “Oh, please , Charlie,” she said. “Couldn’t you have been any more obvious about it? You’re marrying the woman who’s going to sell the house for you? Give me a break.”
“I’m marrying the woman I love,” Charlie lied. “The fact that she’s a real estate agent is just a nice bonus.”
Cait rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she said. “Well, it’s not me you have to convince, it’s Rogan. And he’s going to see right through this, just so you’re aware. He’s going to know this is all a con job. There’s no way he’s going to let you keep the house.”
“You know, I don’t appreciate you talking about my marriage this way,” Charlie said. “This might not be what I had planned, but Olivia and I are taking it seriously.”
“Please. She’s just doing this so she can profit on the sale of the house, I bet.”
It was entirely true, of course, and yet Charlie felt a deep pang of offense. “Don’t talk about her like that.” It was a rude thing for Cait to have assumed, he decided. That was why he felt so angry. She didn’t know she was right, so she shouldn’t be talking like that right in front of Olivia. What if they had really been in love? Charlie knew perfectly well that it wouldn’t have kept his sister from making her snide comments, so why should she be off the hook just because that didn’t happen to be the case?
Olivia interjected. “It’s all right,” she told Cait. “I think I’d probably be suspicious too, if I were you. I just hope you’ll give me the chance to prove how much I care for your brother.”
“Yeah, okay,” Cait said, rolling her eyes. “You go right ahead and prove me wrong, Olive.”
“It’s Olivia.”
“She did that on purpose,” Charlie informed Olivia. “She knows what your name is. She’s trying to pretend you’re not important enough for her to remember because it makes her feel powerful.”
“Oh, shut up, Charlie,” Cait said.
“Gladly,” Charlie agreed. “Olivia and I have other things to worry about today besides your mean-girl crap. Whatever you might think about it, today is my wedding day, so I’m going to focus on that.”
“I’m watching you,” Cait warned.
“I’m sorry about her,” Charlie said as he and Olivia turned and walked away.
“Well, it’s not like she was wrong,” Olivia said. “She knows exactly what we’re doing.”
“It’s okay. She doesn’t know. She only guesses. And what she said is true — she isn’t the one we have to convince. As long as we can get the executor of Aunt Marge’s will to believe that our marriage is real, my siblings won’t be able to do anything to stop us.”
“Do you think he’ll believe it?”
“I think we have a good chance. You have to realize that my brothers and my sister were never going to believe this, no matter what I did. I could have shown up here today with the love of my life who I’d been in a committed relationship with for the past five years, and they would have found some reason why we shouldn’t get married. They want the house. They want us to be lying.”
“This is crazy. Are we making a mistake?”
“No, we’re fine,” Charlie assured her. “Come on. Let’s get this done.”
The ceremony, such as it was, was quick. They didn’t even swear vows to each other. They were presented with a document to sign, and they both did. Charlie was the last to sign, and as he set down the pen, he felt strangely surreal. He had actually married her. They belonged to one another. It might be a pretend marriage in every way that counted, but in the eyes of the law, it was real.
He was a married man. He had never thought that would happen.
I guess you really did get the last laugh, Aunt Marge. But this isn’t going to last. I’m still going to live the life I always intended for myself. I’m not going to remain in this marriage any longer than I absolutely have to.
He could picture the arched eyebrow she would have given him, had she been alive to give it. He could imagine the laugh quivering on her lips.
She would be enjoying this little game. She would like the idea that she had forced his hand like this. And if she was here, she would be telling him that she still intended to win, that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easily. That she meant to see him remain in this marriage.
She couldn’t do anything about that, though. Charlie was in control here.
“Picture,” Scott called.
“We’re not doing pictures,” Charlie told him.
“Oh, yes you are. It’s your wedding day, little brother. Surely you’re going to want to remember this forever?” Scott was holding up his phone, and knowing him, he’d probably already taken several pictures. They weren’t going to get out of this, so they might as well just suffer through it.
Olivia seemed to have decided to play into the charade wholeheartedly. She flashed a smile and leaned into Charlie’s shoulder. “Make sure I get a copy of that,” she said. “We definitely want to have it blown up and hung over the fireplace.”
“I’m texting it to Charlie. I’m sure he’ll share it with you,” Scott said.
“Of course. Although we should really exchange phone numbers too,” Olivia said. “After all, we’re family now! What if we need to reach each other?”
“Why would we need that?” Cait asked.
“You never know,” Olivia replied sweetly. “But I want to get to know you all better.”
Cait, John, and Scott all glanced at one another.
She’s a genius , Charlie realized suddenly.
By trying to forge friendships with his siblings, she would create the exact opposite effect — she would push them away. As suspicious as they were, Charlie knew that they would consider someone like Olivia to be socially beneath them. They wouldn’t want to spend their time with someone who couldn’t do anything for them. He doubted any of them so much as made friends outside their own income bracket. The idea of them voluntarily socializing with Olivia — much less welcoming her into their family — was laughable.
She had sensed that so quickly.
He remembered what she’d thought of him when they had first met — that he was nothing more than a rich playboy.
Well, she probably still thought that. It wasn’t as if the two of them had forged some sort of deep bond, after all. He was using her, and she was using him right back.
He was surprised to find that the thought made him slightly sad. He wanted to think she saw more in him than that, but it was clear that when she looked at his siblings she saw the very same thing she had accused him of — people who cared more for wealth and status than anything else. People who didn’t take human connection seriously.
And the saddest thing of all was that she was right.
Was she right about me, too?
Charlie shook that thought off. Of course she hadn’t been right about him. Just because he hadn’t wanted to get married, that didn’t mean that he was incapable of caring about people. Hadn’t he had a real relationship with Aunt Marge? None of his siblings could claim that .
“I think we should go,” Cait said. “I don’t know about you guys, but I have to get home and let the nanny off duty. She was supposed to be off an hour ago.”
“I have a meeting,” John said.
“Tee time,” Scott chimed in.
“Sorry my wedding kept you from your prior commitments,” Charlie said, managing to keep the bite of sarcasm out of his voice. “Appreciate you being here.”
“We wouldn’t have missed this,” John said meaningfully.
“And we’ll make sure to keep in touch,” Cait added, the pointed look on her face leaving no doubt in Charlie’s mind that she hadn’t given up her quest to prove his marriage was a sham.