Chapter Sixteen
CLARA
Clara tried to relax and enjoy the party, but her thoughts kept going back to that conversation with Will.
She and Brent stood by the Christmas tree with a group of airmen and their dates.
She sipped her champagne as someone told a story from a previous squadron event.
Everyone around her found it hilarious, especially Brent.
Clara laughed when the others did, a look of interest pasted over her vacant eyes.
Had she really done all Will said? When she’d first been faced with the idea of a long-distance relationship, she knew it wouldn’t be easy.
But to spend hours on a phone call? To take the time to actually write letters?
Putting together care packages? None of this sounded like her at all.
The truth was, that slow-burn type of romance had never really appealed to her.
What she had wanted with Brent was a sudden, sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of love.
She supposed it was a good thing she had skipped over all that stuff. It was exactly the type of relationship she feared when Brent had suggested they stay together—a hard one.
Even so, the thought of it now—of putting in all that effort—made her feel something she couldn’t exactly identify.
Was it pride? Perhaps it was simply a feeling of accomplishment, of perseverance.
Clara laughed at herself, quickly realizing the ridiculousness of her thoughts.
She hadn’t actually done any of it. She’d skipped right over it all and was just getting the credit now.
No, Clara knew exactly what she was feeling.
Guilt. And it served her right. Shame burned deep in her stomach as she thought again about the compliments Will had paid her.
She didn’t deserve any of them. Everyone, including Brent, thought she was the perfect girlfriend. Really, she was a complete fraud.
Clara watched Brent as he stood beside his friends, all doubled over in laughter.
He looked up and met her glance. His brown eyes shined in the soft reflection of the tree lights.
She could see the creases along his mouth, his cheekbones raised.
A shiver of attraction ran through her body.
Something was happening between the two of them.
Whether or not it was magic, she couldn’t tell yet.
The sparks were there, though, floating around, if not flying.
Her feelings for him only seemed to grow stronger over the past week as she got to know him better.
She appreciated his generous heart and his bright outlook on life.
Brent was also really fun to be around. It certainly didn’t hurt that he had the dreamiest dimples too.
Clara smiled back at him and felt a lightness in her limbs.
What exactly had she missed out on in that yearlong relationship?
“Ladies and gents, it’s time for our annual newlywed, not-so-newlywed game,” Janie’s voice boomed over a microphone, interrupting her thoughts. “We need three couples to volunteer for our first game. Who wants to come on up here and show everyone how much you know about each other?”
Brent’s hand shot in the air.
Clara’s eyes widened. What was he doing? “We’re not newlyweds,” she muttered to him under her breath.
He took her by the hand. “Close enough.” A mischievous smirk spread across his face. “Come on, we got this. Nobody knows each other like we do, right?”
She didn’t know how to answer that. She grabbed a new glass of champagne from a passing tray and followed him.
He led her over to the dance floor where three pairs of chairs were set up, each with their backs to each other.
She sat down in one and crossed her legs.
Brent sat in the chair directly behind her.
Two other couples, both clearly excited to be playing, took the seats that had been set out next to theirs.
Clara’s high-heeled foot bounced with nerves as she sipped on her drink.
“Okay, couples,” Janie said. “Y’all know how this works, right?
I’ll ask you a question about your partner or your relationship, and you have to write the answer down on your board.
” She handed out whiteboards and markers to each of the players.
“Your partner will write down their answer as well. We will then reveal your answers to see which ones are a match and—ultimately—to see who knows each other best. Whoever gets the most points is the winner. Simple. Men, you’re up first. Then we will switch to the women.
” She wagged a finger. “And no peeking.”
Clara stood and set her drink down on a nearby table so she’d have her hands free to write.
She cracked her fingers, then sat back down in the chair.
She observed the room. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits as they talked, laughed, and cheered on the three couples in the game.
She tried to shake off her nerves and loosen up too. It was just a game.
Janie quieted down the crowd to begin. “Okay, first question, y’all—we’ll start with an easy one. Men, what is your wife’s”—she motioned to Clara—“or fiancée’s, favorite Christmas movie?”
“Easy,” Brent said. She could sense from behind her that he was quickly putting a marker to the whiteboard in his lap.
Clara scribbled down the name of her favorite Christmas movie. She noticed her hand tremble as she wrote, and she reminded herself to relax. Would he know this? She couldn’t remember if they had ever talked about it before. She shrugged.
“Question two, gentlemen,” Janie continued. “When your partner was a child, what did she want to be when she grew up?”
Again, Brent went straight to writing. He seemed to have a lot of confidence on this one too.
Clara swallowed. She wrote her answer, crossing her fingers that they had talked about it at some point over the past year.
She seriously doubted it, though. This was a topic that didn’t come up much in casual conversation.
She knew they hadn’t talked about it during their real, short relationship.
Her only hope was that it had come up at some point during the deployment.
“Question three,” Janie said. “What is your partner’s dream vacation destination?”
“In the bag,” Brent said from behind her. “Three for three.” His marker squeaked against the whiteboard.
Dream vacation destination? Clara tapped her marker against her chin.
She wasn’t even sure she knew the answer to this herself.
Had the two of them talked about going on vacation yet?
No, the only plans they’d ever talked about were for Christmas.
She racked her brain, trying to come up with a place she would dream of traveling to—one that she would have mentioned to him.
She thought again about Grams and how she’d wanted to go to Paris. Did Clara stay behind to spend the holidays with Brent? She must have, and it made sense that she would. Still, she hated the idea of spending her first Christmas ever without her family.
She needed to write an answer down on the board. Everyone else had finished, and they were all waiting for her. Clara wrinkled her nose. She supposed she had always wanted to go to Italy. She jotted it down.
Clara closed her eyes and said a quick prayer that she and Brent wouldn’t embarrass themselves with what they didn’t know about each other.
She made a last-minute bargain with herself that she would tell him everything if only she could make it through this game without revealing the entire hoax.
She just needed to convince everyone there that they were a real couple, in love, who had spent the past year getting to know each other the old-fashioned way.
“Now. It’s time to reveal your answers,” Janie said.
The first team flipped over their whiteboards.
They were a young couple—actual newlyweds.
Clara wasn’t sure if the wife had been enjoying the open bar, or was particularly amused by the game, but she giggled at everything.
The husband got two out of the three questions correct, but every answer he revealed caused his wife to dissolve into a fit of laughter that filled the room.
When he missed the question about what she’d wanted to be when she grew up—wrongly guessing a dolphin trainer—she practically fell out of her chair.
They both were pleased with their showing.
They stood and high-fived each other, the wife clutching her husband to keep herself upright.
“Not bad for the first year of marriage, y’all,” Janie said. She moved to the second couple—quite a bit older than the first. “Now, let’s see how a not-so-newlywed couple fared. Let’s see what kind of knowledge twenty years of marriage gets you.”
The veteran husband and wife turned over their whiteboards at the same time. A loud whoop roared through the crowd. It was a perfect match.
“All three correct!” Janie said.
The husband stood up and circled his fist in the air in celebration. The crowd erupted with whistles and cheers.
Clara’s heart pounded. She tried to calm herself with a deep breath.
That couple had been married for two decades.
Of course they would know everything about each other.
Besides, the newlywed couple missed one themselves, and they were actually married.
As far as everyone was concerned she and Brent had only been together a year.
Maybe she could fake it enough to fool the crowd—and to fool him.
“A good run so far,” Janie said. “Now, Brent. Let’s see what you know about Clara.”
“Everything,” he said as he flipped his board and showed it to the crowd.
Clara did the same with hers. Another round of cheers erupted from the audience. They turned around to face each other so they could compare the boards for themselves. Her mouth dropped. There—written in his neat handwriting—were Brent’s perfectly correct answers.
1. White Christmas
2. Professional ice skater
3. Italy (Tuscany, to be exact)