Chapter 7 #2
She had my full attention now. “Just tell me what happened, and we’ll handle it.” I hated the idea of her being afraid. All she wanted was a fresh start. This douche nozzle wasn’t going to make it easy. I loathed that for her.
“I wasn’t expecting him,” she explained. “I thought for sure he was back in Boston.”
“And, what, flying back here every few weeks for the events?”
She shrugged. “He has the money. This isn’t even his type of town.”
She was too na?ve for her own good. “Honey, if he thinks he can get to you, he’ll throw huge gobs of money at getting a place here.”
Her expression said she didn’t want to consider it. “He sat down with me even though I was writing. I didn’t ask him to,” she said. “He kept talking about going to therapy.”
“You didn’t fall for that, did you?”
“Probably not in the way you mean. I do remember thinking ‘that will be good for whatever woman he sucks in next’ but it’s not as if it was going to sway my decision. I have no feelings for him. I can’t even hate him. He just won’t…”
“Leave you alone.”
“Right.” Storm clouds gathered in her eyes, and she took a moment to arrange her thoughts.
“He kept saying it was time for me to go home, that he’d acknowledged his part in our breakup, so it was time for me to do the same.
I kept telling him it didn’t matter, that he should just go home, but then he would come back around at me from a different direction. ”
“He gaslit you for years,” I surmised. “He thinks he can keep doing it and eventually wear you down.”
“I told him that wasn’t going to happen,” she said hurriedly. “I was determined to make sure that it didn’t happen, in fact. He just… he… he…” She was floundering in a churning ocean with no lifeboat in sight.
“You do not have to make excuses for that man,” I assured her. “None of this is your fault, Bella, and you’re desperate to be seen as anything other than a burden. Just… take a breath. It’s going to be okay. Finish it out.”
“That’s just it.” Her eyes were glassy when she swung her gaze to me. “I am about to be a huge burden to you. I need you to know that you can tell me no. I won’t hold it against you.”
I opened my mouth, but she shook her head.
“You’ve already done so much for me.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, and not because she was scared, I realized. She didn’t think I would explode any more than she expected Preston to do the same. She just didn’t want to create ripples in anybody else’s life.
That was her greatest fear. She didn’t want to be a burden.
“Bella, I need you to realize that I don’t find any of this to be a burden,” I started in my most matter-of-fact voice. “That guy, he’s a jerk. He deserves to be taken down a peg or two.”
“I wasn’t trying to do that when I said what I said. I just wanted him to get it through his head that I was done and there was no getting me back.” Her lower lip trembled until she reined in her emotions. “I still shouldn’t have said it. I’m almost never impulsive, but this time…”
“Bella, I promise whatever you said is going to be fine.” I meant every word. “Just tell me. I can’t help you figure it out until you do.”
She swallowed hard and nodded, clearly bracing herself. “It just slipped out.”
“What just slipped out?”
“I told him we were engaged. I thought he would back off once he knew there was no hope. He didn’t believe me, though.”
“He didn’t want to believe you.”
“He pointed out that I wasn’t wearing a ring. He truly didn’t believe me, and now I’m committed to the lie. Actually, I’ve committed both of us to this lie. You must think I’m a nut.”
I leaned back on the wicker couch and tapped my fingers on the arm as I debated our new predicament. “It’s not the worst idea in the world,” I said finally.
Her eyes practically bulged out of her head. “How can you say that?”
I shrugged. “Because even if he doesn’t believe you’re engaged, he’s going to look like the king of the douches if he pursues you when everybody else believes you’re engaged.”
“Everybody else? Who…?”
I could practically hear the gears in her mind working.
“We have a big retreat ahead of us, and more events at restaurants. We’re going to be interacting with other authors and readers. Everybody we come into contact with is going to have to believe we’re engaged this summer.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Bella didn’t look as if she believed me. “You’ve been nothing but nice to me, but I have it on good authority that you’re a dog.”
I barked out a laugh. “And whose authority is that?”
“Oh, I’m not answering that.” She averted her gaze.
“It’s fine. Bree has been calling me a dog for as long as I can remember.”
“I like Bree.”
“Bree is great,” I confirmed.
“You don’t strike me as a dog, but… she knows you better.” She held out her hands and swung her head left and right. “You can’t be a dog if you’re going to pretend to be engaged to me.”
“Somehow I think I’ll survive the summer without humping anybody’s leg,” I replied dryly.
“So you want to do this? You want to pretend we’re engaged?”
I shrugged. “It could be fun.” If only to get one over on Preston. “I don’t like your ex-boyfriend. He needs to learn a lesson about respect. I’m fine with making him think we’re engaged.”
“You don’t even know me, though.”
I shrugged. “I’ve known men like him.” My father was just like him. I didn’t tell her that. It wasn’t necessary. “He needs to learn boundaries. It’s fine.”
“But… other people are going to think it too. What if you want to start dating somebody for real?”
“That doesn’t happen to me. I mean, I’ll date someone for two weeks or so, but it’s never a big deal. I think I can forego that for one summer.” I grinned. “Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to it. It will be a pressure-free summer.”
“Yes, you won’t have to shave your legs or anything,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
I laughed at her theatrical response. “It’s fine,” I assured her. “We’ll be fine.”
“And the ring?”
“What did you tell him?”
“Just that it was being sized. It was all I could think of.”
I could work with that. “I have an idea for the ring.”
“It can’t be something you get from a gum-ball machine. He’s going to know the difference.”
“Don’t worry about that. I have something else we can use. Trust me.”
She opened her mouth then shut it. “I can’t believe you want to help me even though you don’t know me.”
“Well, believe it. Sometimes people aren’t as terrible as you want them to be.”
“I never want them to be terrible. I just keep getting surprised.”
“Well, maybe you’ll be surprised in the other direction this time.”
“Maybe, but I won’t hold my breath.”
“Try not to be such a pessimist,” I admonished. “Optimists live longer.”
“My mother is an optimist.” She was rueful. “I used to be.”
“Well, let’s see if we can find that Bella, huh?”
She managed a small smile, and it was so beautiful I felt a pang in my heart. “I really appreciate what you’re doing.”
“Don’t.” My grin disappeared. “I won’t let a man like Preston win. It’s going to be fine. Just… have a little faith. You don’t just have me on your side. You have Hayley, Bree, and Brody too. We’re kind of a little tribe.”
“And you just think it will all magically work out?”
“Bella, you write books. If you don’t believe in the magic, what are you doing in this business?”
She looked so rocked by the question that for a moment, I regretted saying it. Then she broke into a wide grin. “You’re not nearly as bad as people say.”
“Shh. Don’t let that get around. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Well, you’ll learn. Eventually.”
“If you say so.”
“I know so.”