Chapter 13 #2
He readjusts his girls in his arms after he pulls away and turns so that I see Janelle standing behind the couch, watching me, with two more kids at her side, little boys. She moves around the couch, the boys in her wake.
She wraps me up in a hug when she reaches me, arms around my waist like Libby does because I’m so tall. She pulls back to look up at me, her expression cheerful like her husband’s. “Welcome to the family, Jordan.” She steps back.
Double oof.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice sounding strangled.
Cordie is still hanging onto Libby like a monkey, but Libby heads for the kitchen, and I follow.
Mr. Bennet shakes my hand, and Mrs. Bennet gives me a hug like Janelle’s. Both of them are more guarded than the Baldwins. Mrs. Bennet still smiles at me, but there’s something in her expression that makes me uneasy—like she can somehow tell that I’m not a real husband.
She is a mom.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet go back to the dinner preparations once we’ve greeted them, Mrs. Bennet directing Cordie and her seven-year-old brother Carter to start setting the table. Again, Libby makes a face at Cordie’s name.
“What’s up?” I lean over and whisper to her once Cordie has slipped from Libby’s arms to do as her grandma asked.
“Huh?” Libby looks up at me, confused.
“You do this—” I mimic Libby’s cringe. “—every time someone says Cordie’s name.”
Libby rolls her eyes. “I hate that nickname. You’d think after nine years I would’ve gotten used to it, but every time someone calls her that, it makes me think of a dog. A corgi, I guess.” She shrugs.
I chuckle. “Okay, now that’s all I’ll hear.”
“Sorry.” She bumps me playfully.
I wrap my arm around her shoulder and kiss her head, letting my lips linger at her hairline and closing my eyes.
Pretending when we’re in front of people is so much easier than hiding how I’ve begun to feel from Libby.
Her shoulders tighten when my lips graze her skin for a brief moment, but then she relaxes.
Something heavy sits in my gut that it’s not as natural for her to act like this together.
I keep my arm around her, but I straighten.
How can I convince her family we’re crazy in love without making her uncomfortable?
I don’t want her to have to deal with that, even if she’s the one who proposed this plan in the first place.
“Come on, let’s go help Cordelia and Carter with setting the table,” she says, sliding her hand into mine and leading me to the dining room.
Twenty minutes later, when we’re all sitting down to eat, the real grilling starts.
“So,” Mr. Bennet says, with a pleasant smile, “had to run off to get married so we couldn’t stop you?” He glances at Libby as he says it, but then his gaze rests on me. There’s definitely bite to these words despite his easy manner.
“Dad!” Libby cries.
“Libby’s almost thirty,” Janelle defends. “I think she’s old enough to decide if she wants to marry someone without our input.”
“I am not almost thirty.” Libby huffs. “I’m twenty-seven.”
Janelle laughs, but Mr. Bennet’s gaze stays firm on me. And the pleasant smile part of it is turning more forced by the second.
“I apologize, Mr. Bennet,” I say genuinely.
I decide to dance along the truth of our decision to elope without telling her family anything.
“We knew our families would be hurt by our choice to want to have the ceremony all to ourselves, so we thought it might be easier not to tell you at all until after. But it was impossible not to hurt everyone after we’d kept so much a secret for so long.
” I give a rueful grimace, hoping he believes I’m genuinely sorry.
We wanted to have our families there. We knew they’d want to be a part of it, but lying about our vows in front of them also felt wrong.
Mr. Bennet gives a slow nod, still studying me, and then relents with, “I guess that’s true.”
But when I glance at Mrs. Bennet, her eyes are narrowed at Libby, watching her closely.
“My mom has sworn to never forgive me for depriving her of coming to my wedding,” I jump in to say.
Libby slides her hand on to my knee and squeezes.
“It’s okay, Jord,” she says under her breath.
She’s using the nickname for show, but it still sends a zing of awareness through me.
“I wanted to keep everything a secret because of all the publicity we’ve all lived with,” she says louder.
Her mom sucks in a quick breath and shares a look with Janelle.
“I trust you all,” Libby hurries to go on.
“But I won’t lie. It was nice and easy to have something completely to myself for once.
It was my idea to keep the wedding a secret. ”
She says it all with what looks like easy assurance. Only I can feel the way she’s tapping a finger nervously against my leg, waiting to see how they take it. What their judgments will be.
“We both made the decision,” I say, turning to look at her. “Together.” I eye her. She’s trying to save me from her family, make sure they like me by taking all this on herself. Yeah, she came to me about the fake marriage, but we made the decisions together once I agreed.
There’re several beats of silence as the family contemplates her words, interjected only by some babbling from the twins in their seats on the other end of the table with Janelle and Charlie.
The little boys are oblivious to the conversation around them, chowing down on the Kraft macaroni and cheese their grandma made for them against Janelle’s protests that they didn’t need a separate dinner from the roast and vegetables Mrs. Bennet had made for the rest of us.
Cordelia’s gaze is bouncing around the adults, landing with mild concern on Libby, who sits next to her. She clearly adores her aunt.
“Libby has every right to choose to keep her relationship a secret,” Janelle says gently.
“She’s an adult. We might choose to do it differently, and we might wish that we’d been part of her decisions.
But that’s not the point. She’s not a teenager anymore.
We need to trust her decisions.” She eyes her parents. “Besides, we all have our secrets.”
Mrs. Bennet’s mouth had opened, probably to rebut Janelle’s assertion that they were treating her like a teenager, but her gaze quickly zeroes in on her oldest daughter when she adds that last. “Oh?” she says. “Do you have something to tell us?”
Not even a beat passes before Cordie pipes up. “Mom is pregnant!” she says with delight.
“Cordie!” Janelle cries, but when her daughter looks stricken, she quickly adds, “We talked about this being Libby’s day to celebrate.”
“Oh, yeah…” Cordelia says, looking down at her plate.
Libby puts an arm around her. “I’m super happy to share my celebration dinner with your mom.” I don’t have to read Libby’s mind to know we’re both grateful for the distraction from us.
Cordelia brightens and beams up at her aunt. “That’s what I told Mom, but she said that you deserved the whole spotlight because getting married is a big deal, and we already have five kids in our family.”
Considering the way Janelle is covering her face with her hands, and how Charlie’s shoulders shake in silent laughter, that wasn’t exactly how the conversation went down. I can’t help grinning.
“Janelle?” Mrs. Bennet’s attention goes to her oldest daughter, expression questioning.
Janelle waves her off. “We really only found out last week. We told Cordie because we thought it would be fun to share it with her early.” The phrase that might have been a mistake goes unsaid, considering what’s just happened.
It’s a good thing Janelle and her family won’t be featured on the show with it being in Denver.
The Bennet family secrets would probably be laid to the world.
Janelle looks over at Libby before she goes on.
“And honestly, after everything Ellie’s been through, I kind of wanted to keep it a secret the whole time and figure out a way to quietly add another child without anyone realizing it.
Six kids is so many,” she says quietly. Her cheeks go pink as she says it.
Libby and Mrs. Bennet both give quiet hmms of agreement.
I look over at Libby. There’s a nuance here I don’t know about. “Later,” she mouths at me.
“Anyway,” Janelle says. “I don’t know Libby’s reasons, but I guess I get that she might want to have something all to herself.”
Libby looks to her sister, and they have a moment of silent conversation, Libby’s expression full of gratitude.
Mr. Bennet lets out a long breath, turning to Mrs. Bennet. Neither of them says anything, but the tension in the room dissipates even more.
“Six kids.” Libby raises her eyebrows in Janelle and Charlie’s direction. “You’re halfway to your own football team.”
“If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get a full one.” Charlie winks at his wife.
“Ugh,” she groans. “Now is definitely not the time to talk about more with me,” she says.
The conversation turns to how sick Janelle has been and their worries about a new baby being only two years younger than the twins.
I lean over Libby, putting my arm around her to pull her close and placing my lips next to her ear. A glance around the table shows everyone taking a peek at us before going back to the conversation.
“Cordelia for the win,” I whisper.
Libby turns to me, shifting our positions so she can whisper back. The soft brush of her full lips on my cheek has me trying to remember where I am for a second. “I think she might be my favorite niece.”
I shift my hand from where it’s resting against the warm, soft skin on Libby’s upper arm to her back, to give myself a breather from how grazing my fingers along her skin is such a temptation.
It’s a delicate dance to use my feelings to prove to her family how we feel about each other but not go too far for Libby.
I can do it for another hour. I might even enjoy it, even if I shouldn’t.
“Let’s take her out for ice cream sometime,” I reply, gesturing toward Cordelia.
Libby nods decisively. “She absolutely deserves a reward.”
Libby
You didn’t have to stare at Jordan all night like you thought he was going to steal the silver.
Mom
We don’t even have silver.
Libby
You know what I’m saying.
Mom
It just seems really sudden. And kind of unbelievable that you kept him from us for six months.
From everyone.
That there wasn’t even a whisper of gossip about you and him.
Libby
So you think I made it up that we’ve been dating and then decided to get married?
Mom
No! Of course not.
Libby
I know how to keep well under the radar.
Mom
I know.
Libby
Then what are you saying? That it’s hard to believe but that you know I’m telling the truth?
Mom
A mother is allowed to clutch her pearls when her youngest daughter runs off and elopes with a guy I know nothing about.
Libby
This isn’t like Grayson.
Mom
Sweetie. I never said it was.
Jordan is MUCH better-looking, obviously.
And the background check Caleb ran is squeaky clean.
Libby
Mom!
Mom