Chapter Four
Judah stopped by the bank and made a deposit after taking his time leaving the sheriff’s office.
He’d lain in bed for hours last night, debating if he was doing the right thing.
Maybe he was overreacting. Nancy would respect him if he had a heart to heart with her and explained he was not in a place to date.
But Nancy also thought she knew what was best for him. He didn’t fault her for that. Truth be told, she often did know and could see the situations he faced with clearer judgment than he could. She had that uncanny ability. Not in this case though.
After all the turmoil with Alyssa, he wasn’t sure he’d ever want to be in a relationship again. Alyssa’s betrayal, and all the drama in the aftermath, destroyed him. His heart had mended but would never be whole again. When she’d left, she forever took a piece of him.
His phone alarm beeped. Three-thirty. Maegan would be expecting him, and making her wait wouldn’t help his case at all. The thought of her bolstered his otherwise downtrodden spirit. Whether due to the lack of sleep or trudging up memories of Alyssa, today had been rough.
From the little he knew about Maegan, he liked her- as a friend.
Goodness knew he could use a friend his age in Dogwood Creek.
She was down-to-earth, unassuming, and had the rare ability to laugh at herself.
The look on her face last night when she realized she’d called herself a pot stirrer had been priceless.
He still laughed when he thought about it.
She also hadn’t pressed about his black eye. Even when he’d told the story later that evening, she’d offered sympathy but hadn’t become overly dramatic. She seemed the type of person to take life in stride, and that’s what he needed in a friend.
The other advantage she had was Nancy’s seal of approval.
Although he had no desire to be set up, he also knew that Nancy would only make the attempt with a female she fully approved of and saw as worthy-which meant she’d be a woman of integrity.
More than anything, integrity was important to Judah for any relationship- romantic or not.
Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe was sandwiched between the bank and the local school. It was a two-story brick building, and he’d learned in conversation last night that the second story was an apartment that Maegan lived in. She’d laughed and said it was convenient for those mornings when she ran late.
A bell chimed when he walked in. He spotted Maegan helping a customer by a display of needles, so he feigned interest in a table of sale yarns while he waited.
Aunt Jenny would love this place. On impulse, he withdrew his phone from his pocket, opened the camera and snapped a few pictures.
He attached them in a text message to her and wrote a store in my new town I thought you’d like.
Within seconds, his phone buzzed with a reply.
-I’d be in heaven. And probably a lot of trouble. Lol
-See anything you like?
-All of it. When I come to visit, we must go!
-Absolutely. Name the date and we’ll make it happen.
-Call me this evening. Your Uncle and I were talking last night about taking a trip to the Smokies this spring and stopping to see you on the way.
He spotted the customer leaving and sent his aunt a final text, letting her know he’d call her.
Maegan walked toward him once her customer exited the building. “Sorry for the wait.”
“No problem. I hope you don’t mind, but I sent my aunt pictures of your store. She can’t wait to shop when she comes for a visit.”
“I’ll be glad to have her.” An uncomfortable moment passed between them. Maegan waved a hand in a wide circular motion. “This is the store as you can see. I leave that right corner free for knitting nights and lessons. There’s a small office and stock room in the back, and that’s about it.”
“I know very little about yarn, but when I walked in, the store felt very inviting, which says a lot about how you’ve set up this place.” He rocked on his heels, unsure how to start the actual conversation he’d come for.
“That was my goal. Gran always said fiber arts should bring people together, and that was my goal.”
He spotted chairs in the free corner she’d mentioned. “Should we have a seat?”
“Sure. Can I get you a water or coffee first?”
“Thanks, but I’m good.” He tugged at the collar of his work shirt then followed her to the chairs.
She wore a broomstick skirt that swished when she walked, and a pair of practical navy ballet flats. “How’s your eye?”
“None the worse.” He’d been on the receiving end of good-natured teasing from his co-workers, but admiration and respect shone in their eyes.
“What will happen to Chet?” she asked, referring to the man who’d struck him. Apparently, he was well known in the community for his cantankerous behavior.
“That’s up to the judge. For a first offense, he’ll likely have the choice to attend anger management classes in lieu of jail time.”
She clasped her hands in her lap. “So…”
“My idea.”
“Yeah.”
This conversation shows my stellar communication skills, doesn’t it? Here went nothing. “Neither of us want to be set up, correct?”
“Correct,” she affirmed.
“But we also realize, as much as we love and respect Nancy, we agree that she and her friends aren’t likely to give up until we each find wedded bliss, correct?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Here me out-” He leaned in closer to her. “What if we pretend we hit it off and begin dating. If they think we’re seeing each other, then they won’t try finding us other people.”
Her golden eyes flickered and shifted as she gave the idea consideration. “Pretend dating?”
“Yes. We won’t be an actual couple, but they won’t know that. We’ll be friends that hang out without any of the pressures of dating,” he clarified.
“I’m not sure. We hardly know each other. What if we find out we don’t enjoy each other’s company?”
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, but I think we’ll get along just fine.”
She looked at him intently. “There will be no expectations of any romantic notions, right?”
“None at all. I was serious when I said I’m not looking for a relationship, but honestly, I could use a friend here.”
“It sounds feasible. It might just work.”
He let out the breath he’d held. “I stayed up later than I should thinking this through. It’s not ideal, but it is a solution.”
“How long would we keep up the charade?” She absently twisted the ring on her right pointer finger.
“Indefinitely, I guess. At some point we’ll have to end the fake relationship, but I don’t see that we need all the answers now.”
“True.” She leaned back and sighed. “There’s only one problem. I’m not comfortable with the deception. I respect Nancy, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt her.”
“I appreciate that, and I feel the same.” He sat up straight. “That’s one of the arguments against this scheme that ran through my mind last night.”
“Did you find a way around it?”
“I think if we spend time together then we aren’t being deceptive. If- when- they say anything to us, we can simply say we enjoy each other’s company. I don’t know about you, but that wouldn’t be a lie on my end.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I suppose spending time with you wouldn’t be a hardship.”
“Then you’re in?”
She nodded. “My gut tells me I’ll regret this, but for now, yes. Let’s do this.”
“Perfect.”
“Do you have plans tonight? I was going to grab dinner at the diner across the street. If you’d like, we could go together and get the tongues wagging.”
He lifted a brow. “That optimistic?”
“You don’t know Dogwood Creek. Within twenty minutes of showing up at the restaurant together, word will get out that we’re there together.
Withing thirty minutes, seventy-percent of the town will think we’re dating, and by the end of the first hour, someone will have started a rumor about us getting married.
This town has an incredible community that looks out for its own, but gossip runs tight here. ”
The blood drained from his face and he felt dizzy. Good thing he was sitting down. “Married?”
“Nonsense, obviously, but people like a good romance. And unfortunately, since I haven’t dated since the Jess fiasco, once word gets out, people will jump on the news.”
“The Jess fiasco?”
Her face froze mid-expression. For several seconds she sat silent. “Jess was my fiancé.”
Taking her cue, he sought to put her at ease. “You don’t have to tell me anything about him. As far as I’m concerned, you never brought it up.”
She sighed. “I rarely mention him, so I’m surprised his name slipped out so easily.”
“If you want to share, I’m a good listener, but I’m also fine if you want to drop it. Whatever makes you most comfortable.”
“You’ll find out sooner or later from some well-intentioned soul, so you may as well hear it from me.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back while drawing in a deep breath.
He could imagine how she felt. On the rare occasion Alyssa’s name came up in conversation, he had to brace himself for the onslaught of emotions. “Only if you want to share.”
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Jess and I dated for four years. We had talked about marriage, but he was moving up in his career and trying to make partner at his firm. The day he earned his promotion, he proposed. We were happy, or so I thought. Then two weeks before our wedding, he suddenly called it off. At first, he told me he knew I’d never leave Dogwood Creek, but he couldn’t handle the long commute to work, and he wasn’t willing to give up his career.
The thing is, I never asked him too. We’d discussed the possibility of moving and he was the one who suggested he would commute.
When I reminded him of that, the truth came out.
He’d fallen in love with his assistant.” She huffed.
“Tale as old as time, right? All those late nights he spent working weren’t actually working. ”
Judah wasn’t prepared for his visceral dislike of a man he’d never met. “Excuse my language, but he sounds like a jerk.”
A tearful laugh escaped Maegan. “He was. I’m thankful I found out before the wedding, but the betrayal still stings. I’m over him completely, but not the damage he inflicted, if that makes sense?”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“Do you know what I hate the most? The pity. I hate it, hate it, hate it.” She shook her head. “For months after it happened, everywhere I went people would look at me with pity. Poor, pitiful, Maegan, left by her fiancé in a sordid affair.”
He wished he could tell her she misread the expressions and comments, but he knew firsthand how real the experience was.
Even knowing that most spoke out of the best of hearts, their words and glances only made the situation worse.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t pity you, but I am sorry for what you went through. ”
“Thank you.” She wiped the few stray tears from her eyes and stood up, smoothed her skirt. “I don’t mean to cut this short, but I need to get back to work. There are several online orders I still have to process before closing.”
“Of course.” He stood up and gave her space.
Whether she really did have urgent work or simply needed time alone to process emotions didn’t matter.
He understood either way. Crossing the store to the counter, he grabbed a pen and a business card and wrote his number on the back.
“If you still want to go to dinner tonight, give me a call. If you don’t, no pressure. ”