Chapter 7 Lane
Lane was in a good mood when he woke up. It was going to be a beautiful day out. The temperature was predicted to be in that sweet spot where it wasn’t too cold or too hot.
His mood quickly changed though when his phone buzzed.
“Mom,” he moaned.
He loved his mother but lately, her calls have been more nagging than talking and catching up.
“Good morning, Mom,” he said, trying to sound happy to talk to her.
“Good morning,” she said. Then, apparently deciding to cut straight to the chase, she said, “You know the fourth of July is right around the corner.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“We always have a huge celebration. All friends, family, staff, and important colleagues in the oil business are invited. It is a dinner and dancing type affair.”
While Lane, Colton, and Willow ran the ranch, his parents had taken over the oil component of the family businesses.
“I’m aware,” Lane said, closing his eyes. He knew what would be coming next.
“You need to bring a plus one. Ever since Catherine died, you’ve been coming alone. I know that you two were together for a very long time and I know how much you loved her. But she is gone. You have to move on with your life. You know that Catherine would want you to find someone else and fall in love again.”
Lane sighed. He heard this speech every single time his mother called. It was getting old. He knew that she meant well but he didn’t need to be repeatedly told that he needed to just get over her.
“You know that you are the only person who comes without a plus one. It’s quite obvious that you are the only person who comes to a formal, family affair without a date.”
He was tempted to say that Willow also goes alone, but thought that sounded a little too much like middle school.
“I know that there has to be at least one woman out in the world who you could fall in love with. Your problem is that you expect every woman to be exactly like Catherine. I understand because she was an incredibly lovely woman. However, no one is going to be able to compare to her. You have to judge each woman on her own merits. Once you do that, you’ll be able to find someone to love.”
Without even thinking, Lane said, “If you would give me a chance to speak, I would tell you that I am engaged to a woman. It happened recently, so I haven’t told anyone.”
“You are? That’s wonderful. What’s her name.”
“Taylor,” Lane said and winced.
“You absolutely must bring Taylor to the celebration. We’ll make it a double celebration and we’ll make a big announcement.”
“Taylor is a quiet person. I don’t think that big announcements are quite her thing.”
“Oh, phooey. I’m sure she’ll love it. Every woman enjoys having her moment in the spotlight.”
“Not everyone,” Lane said.
His mother rattled on for the next half hour about decorations, food, and a whole host of other events.
Finally, she paused and Lane managed to say, “Mom, I have a ranch to run. I need to get off the phone. Love you. Bye now.”
He hung up before she could say anything else.
Lane performed his morning work automatically. He was trying to figure out how he could bring up the topic with Taylor. He thought about calling back and telling his mother that he and Taylor had broken up, but that would open up a hornet’s nest.
After lunch, Lane said, “Taylor, do you have a moment so I can talk to you?”
“Sure,” she said.
They walked over to the corral. She leaned against it while he stood stiffly in front of her. He had never felt so out of place in his entire life.
“I was wondering if you would go to a two-day family Fourth of July celebration with me and pretend to be my fiancé.”
Lane realized that he was holding his breath. He had no idea how he managed to get himself into this predicament.
“Are you nuts?”
“I know it sounds crazy. My mom is always hounding me about going to these events alone. she called me this morning and asked who I was bringing she started her usual spiel. I blurted out that I was engaged to a woman named Taylor and she insisted that I bring her to the celebration.”
“Sorry, I can’t help you there. Good luck,” Taylor said.
Lane was pretty sure that Taylor really did think that he was completely insane for suggesting it.
“I’ll just tell Mom the truth and she’ll have to be mad at me. She won’t talk to me for a few weeks,” Lane muttered to himself as he walked back toward the house.
Colton and Willow met him halfway.
Willow had a huge smirk on her face. “Is there something you would like to tell us, Big Brother?”
“I understand congratulations are in order. There wasn’t even an announcement at breakfast. We had to hear the news from Mom,” Colton added, with a wicked grin of his own.
They both knew exactly what had happened.
“A fake engagement? Really?” Willow asked. “I didn’t think that you would stoop so low.”
“I know,” Lane moaned. “I was just trying to get her to stop going on at me.”
“You should have known better,” Colton said. “Now, she has sent out announcements to every single person that she knows. It’s on her social media pages and she texted everyone.”
“Oh, Lord,” Lane said.
“You’re going to need His help to get out of this one,” Willow said. “I suggest you start praying now.”
“You could just tell Mom that Taylor already has other plans and can’t join us. Then, later on, you can say that things didn’t work out,” Colton said.
“I could, but she would fly down here to meet Taylor and try to talk her into coming. Taylor would be overwhelmed by Mom.”
“Yeah. I asked Taylor if she would go with me and pretend to be my fiancé for a couple of days.”
“I can imagine her response. That girl is a spitfire,” Colton said.
“That she is,” Lane agreed.
Caroline, Lane’s mother, answered on the first ring. “I’m just so excited for you. This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened. I can’t wait to meet her. Do you know what her favorite color is? We’ll make that the theme color for the wedding.”
“Mom, I need you to stop and listen for a second.”
“I don’t have time for that, Honey. I have some last-minute details to handle for the celebration. Plus, we just have to have an announcement party. It can be a small one – just a hundred or so people,” Caroline said, all in one breath.
“I need to tell you…,” Lane said.
“I can’t wait to meet Taylor. You could invite her parents and other family to come too. Just let me know how many. I think I can fit about twenty or more people in.”
“Mom, please…”
“Oh, that’s your father on the other line. I have to take his call. I’ll talk to you later. Love you. Bye.”
“That went well,” Lane groaned. He figured that the conversation would go something like that.
His mind spun the rest of the day. He had no idea how he would be able to get out of this jam that he managed to get himself into. Lane’s phone had been buzzing all day with incoming text messages congratulating him on the engagement. At least thirty emails were sitting in his inbox.
After dinner, he walked slowly to the cabin. He raised his hand to knock and then dropped it again.
How in the world am I going to convince her to help me out. This is a little beyond the scope of what she was hired to do.
Taylor opened the door and stepped aside so he could come in.
“Coffee?”
“No thanks. I really need to talk to you,” he said.
She pressed her lips together and sighed.
He sat on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. Lane rubbed his face and looked at her for a minute. He started to speak but stopped again.
“I tried calling her back to tell her the truth but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I think that she has already sent out announcements. You would be doing me a huge favor if you went with me.”
“Tell her the truth. Or tell her that I broke up with you. I’m sure that you’ll be able to figure out something,” Taylor said.
The last thing in the world he wanted to do was upset his mother right before the celebration. She would likely have a heart attack.
“If you will go with me to the celebration as my fiancé, I will give you enough money to buy your ranch back. I’ll also give you Diablo.”
Taylor’s jaw dropped.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No. I’m dead serious. This event is the third most important event in my mother’s life. I don’t want to upset her before it happens. I’ll tell her that we broke up afterward,” Lane said.
“You are telling me that if I go to this celebration with you, you will give me the money to buy back the ranch. You will give me the horse,” Taylor said, repeating his offer.
“Yes.”
“Let me think about it.”
“That’s all I ask,” Lane said.
He brushed a kiss across her lips and left, hoping that she would agree to his terms.