Relief rushed through me. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe she’d even think I was a genius for thinking up this idea. “But if I can come up with a way to get it, you’re still in?”
She thought for a second, and then she nodded. “Yes, I’m still in. You were an idiot, and you should have told me, but we all make mistakes.”
“Thank God.” I hugged her tightly. “Leave everything to me. It’s going to be fine.”
“But how?” she asked. “I still don’t understand what we’re going to—”
A knock on the door interrupted her, and we moved apart.
“Yes?” I called.
The door opened and my mother appeared in a flowered dress with a sweater around her shoulders and a drink in her hand. “Sorry to bother you. But Oliver, I wondered if you might escort Gran down the stairs into the library?”
Dammit!
“Oh. Sure.” Gut churning, I went over to my bag and began rifling through it, trying to think straight, but couldn’t. I hadn’t gotten to the most critical part of the story yet, and it looked like I might not be able to. “I just need to change.”
“All right. She’s ready when you are. And she is just beside herself,” my mother bubbled. “You’ve made her the happiest woman alive. She told me you’re giving her the only birthday gift she wants.”
“You are?” Chloe was giving me a strange look as she pulled on her shoes. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing,” I said quickly, grabbing a shirt from my bag without even looking at it. “Mom, can you go tell her I’ll just be a minute?”
“Sure.”
“Is the party in here?” The door opened wider and Chloe’s mother appeared.
Jesus fucking Christ, I was never going to get Chloe alone.
“Oliver needs to change, so why don’t we all go down to the library now?” Chloe looked over at me. “Take your time. I’ll see you down there.”
“Okay,” I said.
What else could I do?
Chloe left the room with our mothers, and I quickly changed my shirt, exchanged my shorts for pants and my sneakers for nicer shoes. I could have used a shave, I thought, checking my reflection in the mirror, but there was no extra time for that. Maybe once I got downstairs, I could pull Chloe aside.
It was my last hope.
Shutting my bedroom door behind me, I hurried down the hall to the guest room where my grandmother always stayed. On the way, I nearly tripped over my nephews, who were playing on the floor with trucks that used to belong to Hughie and me. I ruffled each of their heads before knocking on Gran’s door, thinking, Hughie never would have gotten himself into a mess like this. Neither would Charlotte.
Gran opened the door and beamed at me. “Hello, dear. Come right in.”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the stairs. Hughie and Lisa had come out of their room and were gathering up Joel and Toddy and shooing them down for dinner. I was running out of time. “Don’t you want to head downstairs?” I asked Gran.
“In a minute,” she said, ambling over to the dresser, where she opened a jewelry box. Then she winked at me over one shoulder. “I need to give you something first, don’t I?”
I swallowed hard. “Right now?”
“Well, of course right now. How are you going to propose without the ring?”
My vision blurred, and I leaned on the door frame for support. “I don’t know.”
“I have it right here. I’ve been saving it for you.” She pulled a ring from the box and held it up. “I don’t have the box, of course, but you know, neither did your grandfather when he gave it to me seventy years ago.”
I forced myself to walk toward her and take the ring from her fingers.
“He pulled it right from the inside of his jacket pocket and put it on my finger.” She looked a little dismayed. “You don’t have a jacket for dinner?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Well, I guess you’ll do without one.” Her smile brightened. “Chloe is so lovely.”
“She is.” I hope she doesn’t hate me for this. Carefully I tucked the ring into my pants pocket.
“And I know your grandfather would be so pleased that I saved this ring for you. You were so special to him.”
“He was special to me too.” Somehow thinking of my grandfather made me feel even worse. What would he think of what I was doing, conning my way into my trust fund so I could buy that land? Or promising Gran I’d propose this weekend as a birthday present? Or pretending as if Chloe and I had secretly been together for a while now? Did it matter that the relationship actually turned out to be real? Would I get a pass on that?
“He always felt you were destined for great things,” Gran went on. “And it’s okay that it took you a little longer to ground yourself than it took your parents. Or siblings. Or cousins.”
“Thanks.” I took her arm and guided her from the room. “I’d like to do great things.”
“You are! What greater thing is there than starting your own family? And it all begins with choosing a wife.”
I cleared my throat as we started down the stairs. “Right.”
“You know, that ring had been in the Pemberton family for decades, and when he asked his mother if he could have it for me, his mother said yes. I was considered a pretty good catch, you know.”
“I know.”
“Just like your Chloe,” she whispered. “You hold on to her. And be good. She’s not going to take any guff.”
“No, she isn’t.” We were nearly at the bottom of the stairs, and I could hear voices coming from the library. “But listen, Gran. I’m not sure tonight is exactly the right night to, you know, pop the question.”
“Why is that?”
“So many people around?”
“All the better for a celebration!”
“Uh, we haven’t been together very long—just a few months. And we’ve had to keep it secret, so …”
“Nonsense,” she said, tightening her hold on my arm. “You two have always been just right for each other, and you’re not getting any younger. It’s high time you settled down, Oliver Pemberton, and if you drag your feet, she’ll find someone less wishy-washy and settle for him instead. Is that what you want?”
“No, but—”
“Then you get that ring on her finger tonight. Mark my words, she’ll be gone if you don’t.”
We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned for the library. “What if she’s not ready?”
“Jiminy cricket, she’s thirty-two, Oliver. Of course she’s ready.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want a husband,” I tried.
“Every girl wants a husband.”
I knew that wasn’t the case, but Gran was ninety. How could I argue with her?
“And once you’re engaged and the wedding date is set,” she whispered, “we’ll get the remainder of your trust all set up for you so the two of you can buy a house and settle down anywhere you’d like, although your parents and I hope you’ll stay close by. You know how I love to dote on my great-grandchildren.”
“I know.”
“So tonight, then?” she pressed.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Tonight.”
“Good boy.” She patted my arm as we entered the library. “Oh, and be a dear and do it before dinner, would you? I get tired and don’t always make it to the last course.”
“Before dinner?” I almost choked. “Like right now?”
“That’s a marvelous idea! The library is a beautiful setting.” She laughed merrily and pointed to Chloe, who was chatting with Charlotte over by the window. “There she is. Go get her.”
My stomach churned even harder as I hurried toward her. “Excuse me. Chloe, can I talk to you alone for a minute?”
“What’s with you?” Charlotte asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Someone put a rubber snake in your bed?”
Chloe laughed and tipped up her glass of champagne. “God, he was such a little shit, wasn’t he? I still haven’t
forgiven him for that.”
“Nor should you ever,” Charlotte said.
“We’ll just be a minute.” I grabbed Chloe’s arm and tried to drag her out of the room, but my dad blocked our path.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” he boomed. “Grab a glass of bubbly. I’m about to make a toast to your grandmother for her birthday.”
“We’ll be right back,” I said, trying to get around him.
“Oliver, stop it,” Chloe hissed, shaking me off. “We can’t miss this.”
“Chloe, I have to talk to you.”
“Later,” she told me. “Now go get a glass so we can toast to Gran. She’s watching us.”
Reluctantly, I went over to the table where a tray of full champagne glasses rested and took one. Then I trudged back over to Chloe and stood next to her, surveying the group assembled. My parents, her parents, Hughie’s family, Charlotte and Guy, Gran—they’d all witness my utter humiliation if she said no.
“Are we all here?” my dad asked loudly, looking around. “Everybody have a glass? Good. We’ve got a lot to celebrate today.”
“Hear, hear!” Hughie shouted, which annoyed me for no reason. Did he always have to get a word in?
“Not only are we celebrating our great nation’s independence, but we’re here to honor my dear mother, who is slightly younger than the United States of America, but no less formidable.”
Everyone laughed at the joke, and Gran smiled. “More formidable, some might argue.”
“I can attest to that,” said my mother, prompting more laughter.
“We also have an upcoming addition to the family,” he said, nodding at my sister, “and a new sailboat to christen,” he went on, gesturing toward Hughie and Lisa.
“What will you call this one?” Charlotte asked.
“The Lisa Yvonne II, of course,” Hughie said, smiling at his wife.
How boring, I thought. As if on cue, Chloe leaned over to me and whispered, “If you ever name a boat the Chloe Lorraine, it’s over between us. Ew.”
I gave her half a grin. “I was just thinking the same thing. We’ll come up with something better.” Seeing her suppress a giggle made me feel better. We thought alike in so many ways—she got me. She’d get why we had to fake this engagement, wouldn’t she?
“I’d also like to toast our lifelong friends, John and Daphne Sawyer,” my father orated, lifting his glass in Chloe’s parents’ direction. “John, here’s to your retirement, to your continued success and good health, and to finally getting you to take a holiday off and play some goddamn golf with me. Tee time is nine A.M.”
“You’re on!” John shouted, raising his glass.
“And finally,” my father said, “I’d like us all to raise a glass to a new partnership, both professional and personal. Oliver, your mom and I couldn’t be happier for you and Chloe. We’ve always loved her like a daughter and we can’t wait for you to make it official.”
Next to me, Chloe made a sort of squeaking noise, and a murmur moved through the room. I caught my grandmother’s eye and she nodded, giving me a shrewd smile.
Oh, fuck.
The room spun. My heart raced. My palms felt sweaty. I felt every single eye on me as I turned to face Chloe and set my champagne glass aside. Time was up. If I was going to do this, I had to do it now.
I couldn’t fail.
Looking her right in the eye, I dropped to one knee.
21
Chloe
NOW
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
It was too ridiculous. Too farcical. Too absurd. There was no possible way Oliver was going to propose to me right now.
And yet there he was, going down on one knee.
Someone in the room gasped. I nearly dropped my champagne. Oliver looked up at me with a strange mixture of desperation, guilt, and anxiety on his face—not the expression you want the guy to have as he asks you to spend the rest of your life with him.
“Chloe,” he said, his voice unnaturally loud, like he was on stage. “I know this probably seems sudden.”
Sudden? Was he kidding me? We’d only been together for two days!
“But we’ve known each other all our lives, and no matter how far apart we were, our paths always seemed to lead us back to one another.”
Okay, that was true, and kind of sweet, but it still didn’t explain what he was doing down on one knee. I’d have asked him, but I was too stunned to talk.
He reached into his pocket and then took my left hand. “You’ve always been the only one for me, and I hope you’ll do me the honor of becoming my wife. Chloe Sawyer, will you marry me?”
“Oh my God,” I heard my mother say.
My knees were knocking. My pulse was hammering. My breath was coming too fast. I felt like an actress who’d forgotten all her lines and we’d come to the most climactic scene in the play.
“Uh,” I said.
“What?” someone in the room whispered. “Was that yes? Did she say yes?”
I looked around the room in a panic, desperate for an escape hatch.
Oliver squeezed my hand, and I met his eyes again. They were deep and blue and familiar. There was an urgency in them I read immediately as please go along with this. I need you.
The fact that we could communicate effortlessly without words tugged at my heart. I was going to fucking kill him for this, but I wouldn’t do it in front of his family.
I plastered on a smile. “Yes.”
Oliver looked shocked. “Yes?”
“Yes!” I leaned down and kissed him, then whispered in his ear. “Put the ring on my finger, asshole.”
He fumbled with it, but eventually managed to slide it onto my fingertip and I shoved it the rest of the way. I stared at it for just a second—it was a beautiful vintage style, Art Deco maybe, with an engraved platinum band and a large round-cut diamond that sparkled in the last rays of the sun slanting through the library window behind me. I held it up for all to see. “I said yes!”
The room erupted with cheers and applause, and Uncle Soapy’s voice rang out again. “So let’s all drink to health, to happiness, to wonderful years past and all the wonderful years to come. Cheers!”
“Cheers!” everyone echoed, lifting their glasses and taking a sip.
Immediately afterward, we were surrounded by family. Every single person present hugged and kissed and congratulated us. Aunt Nell and Charlotte cried. Gran looked smug. My mother and father were dumbfounded, of course, since they’d seen the way I’d treated Oliver just the other night, but they hugged us both and said how thrilled they were.
“So was that all an act?” my mother said, shaking her head in disbelief. “Had you two been seeing each other in secret? Hiding it from us all?”
I laughed nervously. “We’ll explain everything in a minute, I promise.” I grabbed Oliver’s hand. “I just need a moment alone with my fiancé here.”
“Good idea, honey.” Oliver took the lead, pulling me out of the library, down the hall, and through a swinging door into the butler’s panty.
The minute the door swung shut, I dropped his hand. “What the hell, Oliver? Am I losing my mind, or did we just get engaged?” I spoke in the angriest whisper I could manage, but what I really wanted to do was scream.
He held up his palms toward me. “I can explain.”
“You damn well better.”
“It’s about my trust fund.”
I stuck my hands on my hips and cocked my head. “What?”
“My trust fund. The money I’ll get for hitting this important, mature milestone. Once we’re—”
“Oh my God.” I shoved his chest, then fisted my hands in my hair. “The money for the land. This was your plan? Con your grandmother into thinking we were engaged so she’d give you access to the rest of your trust because you blew the first part of it on hookers and blow?”
Oliver looked offended. “I have never hired a hooker, thank you very much.”
&n
bsp; “You know what I mean!” I poked at his chest. “You’re a con man, and now you’re making one out of me.”
“We don’t have to con anybody, Chloe. We’re really engaged. I asked you, and you said yes.” He grabbed my hand and held it up. “See? There’s a ring on your finger.”
I yanked it back. “You’re unbelievable, and I’m so fucking furious with you, I don’t even know where to start. This is not right. And I’m not going to marry you. Not even for a million dollars.”
“Why not?”
“Because you lie, Oliver. This entire time you’ve been lying to me.”
“No, I haven’t. I just sort of … revealed the truth slowly. And I was going to tell you about the engagement part, but I didn’t get a chance. I swear to God, I had no idea Gran was expecting me to do it so fast.”
My confusion from earlier was clearing. “That’s what your mother was going on about, all the special occasion stuff. That’s why she invited my parents. You told them you were proposing today?”
“Well, Gran asked me to. You know, as a birthday gift.”
I shook my head. “This is totally ludicrous. How could they fall for it? We haven’t even spoken in years.”
Oliver winced. “Well, they sort of think we’ve been seeing each other on the sly for a while.”
“What?” I threw both hands in the air. “How are we going to get my parents to believe that? They saw us together the other night. I could hardly stand to sit next to you.”
“I know. We are the very definition of a love/hate relationship. And we didn’t want anyone to know until we were sure it was really love.”
“Right now, I am feeling no love, Oliver. You lied. No matter how you try to dress it up, the naked truth is right there in front of me.” My throat got tight. “You promised me you were going to be open and honest going forward, and you had a million chances to come clean. You had days.” As I realized the extent of his deception, my heart began to break. Tears welled in my eyes and spilled over.
Oliver groaned and took me by the shoulders. “Chloe, listen to me. I didn’t know what was going to happen between us, and it threw me off. All I wanted was to convince you to see what an amazing opportunity that farm would be. And this was the only way to get it in time.”
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