by Hamel, B. B.
“Well. You’re here now.” She glances over at Casey. “Did Ash play the trick on her?”
“Of course.”
Casey smiles politely. “It was very funny,” she says.
Mom laughs gently. “No, it wasn’t.” She walks over to Casey and extends her hand. The women shake. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot.”
“Same about you,” Casey says.
The handshake lingers a beat too long before my mother turns away. “Well. Come, sit down. I’ll see how your father’s doing.”
“Wait,” I say. “Hold on. I want to talk to you first.”
Mom hesitates before nodding. “Okay, sure. Let’s sit.”
I steer Casey over to a big arm chair. She sits down and I sit next to her. Mom takes the chair across from us, folding her small body into its luxurious cushions.
“Mom,” I say, sitting on the edge of my chair. “I told you that I was bringing a girl here. Do you understand why?”
She nods slowly. “I think I can guess.”
I look at Casey. “Show her.”
Casey takes a second before she understands. She holds her hand up, showing off the ring.
Mom stares at it for a long moment with a tight look on her face. “It’s very gaudy,” she says finally.
“Mom.”
“I’m just saying, it is.” She shakes her head. “Did you let him pick it, Casey?”
“Yes,” she says, surprise clear on her face. “But I like it. I think it’s elegant.”
“Of course you do,” Mom says, her tone patronizing.
“Mom,” I say through clenched teeth.
So it begins.
“Well, darling, you’re engaged. So what?”
“So what? I’m starting a family. I’m doing what father wants.”
“Yes, well, I’m sure he’ll be happy.” She glances at Casey again before standing. “I’ll get him.”
“You’re not going to say congratulations?”
She looks at me for a long moment without smiling. “Congratulations, Ryan. It’s five years too late, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.”
She turns and leaves the room. She heads out through a set of double doors, closing them behind her.
I sit back in my chair and let out a frustrated breath.
“Wow,” Casey says. “That was nuts.”
“Welcome to the family.”
She laughs a little. She looks pretty shocked and she holds the ring up to the light. “I really do think it’s elegant,” she says.
I’m surprised by how good that makes me feel. “Thanks,” I say.
She smiles and my pulse quickens all over again.
I don’t have long to savor the moment. My mother returns a moment later, pushing my father in a wheelchair along ahead of her.
I stand up and gesture for Casey to do the same. My mother wheels my father over and he looks at the two of us, standing side by side, and he gives me just the barest hint of a smile.
Alexander Boulton used to be an intimidating man. When he was younger, he was enormous, as big as I am at least. There are a lot of rumors about Alexander as a youth, about getting in fights and scoring countless women, but my mother says those rumors are all hogwash. Still, I remember the father of my youth, so big and happy and strong. I thought he was invincible.
“Ryan,” he says.
The man sitting before us is no longer intimidating or enormous or invincible. He’s only a hint of his former self. He’s been dealing with cancer for years now and the treatments are finally beginning to wear him down. The doctors say he doesn’t have much longer to live, and I can see why. He’s emaciated, thin to the point of being not much more than flesh and bones. His skin is sallow and pale, and his eyes look jaundiced. He manages a smile, but it’s forced, and the father of my youth is all but disappeared.
Which isn’t such a bad thing, considering. The father of my youth was vital and big and strong, but he was also an asshole.
“Hi, Dad,” I say. “This is Casey.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Boulton,” she says.
“Call me Alexander,” he answers, although she really shouldn’t. “Come here, dear. I want to see you.”
She glances at me, unsure, and I nod. She steps forward and gets down on one knee in front of him, almost like she’s proposing to him. He looks at her and takes her hand, looking at the ring.
“Gaudy,” he says.
“That’s what I said,” Mom says.
“You guys are the worst.” I roll my eyes at them.
Casey just smiles, taking it in stride. “I think it’s nice.”
“Well. That’s all that matters then, isn’t it?” Dad pats her hand then lets it drop. She stands up and rejoins me. “Here for the whole week?” he asks.
“The whole week,” I say.
“Good, good. That’s very good.” He pauses for a moment. “When’s the wedding?”
“We haven’t discussed that yet,” I say. “I was thinking next summer.”
“Next summer?” Dad shakes his head. “I won’t be around net summer, Ryan.”
I stand there awkwardly. “Right.”
“How about you have it here? How about exactly one week from today, on Saturday?”
The way he says it makes the suggestion seems completely reasonable and tenable. Of course, we could just have the wedding here, there’s already a staff and plenty of room. I mean, aside from the fact that we’re on a remote little Alaskan island and none of Casey’s family could possibly get here, but aside from that, sure, totally reasonable.
“Dad,” I say.
“Think about it, son. The sooner you start your family, the better. Have the wedding here, on Saturday. We’ll fly in Father Anderle. You can have another wedding back in the city for Casey’s family. I’ll take care of that as well, of course.”
“It’s not about money,” I say, trying to push my anger back and failing.
“I’d be happy to marry your son here and now,” Casey says.
We all stare at her. I don’t think my parents actually expected either of us to go for that suggestion. I suspect my father was merely pushing me, trying to see how I’d react, trying to gauge my sincerity.
But Casey just smiles. “It’d be lovely,” she adds.
My father begins to laugh.
It’s a halting, hacking thing. He coughs once and my mother hovers uncertainly, but he waves her off.
“Okay then,” he says. “We’ll have a wedding here on Saturday. I suppose we’ll have to prepare. Sheila, can you let May know?”
“Yes, of course,” Mom says, looking tense and annoyed. “I’ll alert the whole staff.”
“Thank you.” Dad looks at Casey and I can see him reevaluating her in his mind. “This will be wonderful. You’ll start your family right here.”
“I can’t wait,” I say.
And I actually almost mean it.
Mom wheels Dad back to their room not long later. He’s tired and I can tell the meds are messing with him.
We leave their rooms and head back down the spiral staircase. Once we reach the bottom, I pull Casey into an empty racquetball room. I slam the glass door shut and whirl on her.
“What were you thinking?” I ask her, my words echoing in the empty space.
“What?” She just shrugs a little. “What does it matter?”
“We can’t get married here. They’ll ruin it. I’m telling you, they’ll find a way to use it again us.”
“Why does it matter?” she asks again. She steps closer to me and looks up into my eyes. “Ryan, this marriage isn’t real. So what if they try to ruin it? We’ll get the wedding over with and your dad will see that we’re serious.”
I rock back onto my heels. She has a point there. This isn’t a real marriage and the wedding doesn’t really matter. I had just planned on taking her to the courthouse when we got back to the city. We’d sign some documents, say some words, and then send pictures of it all over to my mother to pass along to my fath
er.
But she’s right, this is better. He’ll actually be present. He’ll see us get married right before his eyes and maybe that will change his perspective of me.
“Okay,” I say. “Okay. You’re right.”
“I know I am.” She looks a little concerned. “Are you okay? You seem off.”
“It’s just this house.” I look away. “This whole thing.”
“Why are you so competitive? I mean, why is it such a big thing? I don’t understand.”
I clench my jaw for a moment before relaxing it. “I’ve been working for the company since I was a kid. It’s all I know, really. I worked my way up through the ranks, worked harder than any of my other siblings. They’ve been handed things, mainly because they’re a part of the family, but I’ve earned them. The only reason the company isn’t entirely mine without question is the marriage thing. Otherwise, I’m the only one that really gives a damn about the company and not just our social status.”
She watches me through that little speech. As I say it, she moves closer, until she’s standing right in front of me.
“Ryan,” she says. “We’ll get through this, okay? I promise. It won’t be so bad.”
“You have no clue,” I say.
“Maybe not. But we’ll get through it anyway.”
I crack a smile despite myself. She’s so pretty and so sure of herself… and she has no clue.
“Come on,” I say. “We’d better get back before someone finds us here.”
“Maybe we could play a match.”
I snort. “You’ll only embarrass yourself. The Boultons are very competitive.”
“I can see that.”
I give her a look and laugh. Her little pep talk helped, which is surprising.
We head back down the hall and to our room.
5
Casey
“Stay here.”
It’s early Saturday evening. We’ve been in the house for barely a couple hours and he’s already ordering me around.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because I don’t want you wandering around and bumping into someone you shouldn’t. Just stay here and keep out of trouble.”
“So I’m getting locked in my room now?”
“Casey,” he says. “Please. I can’t force you. But please.”
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He hesitates, clearly annoyed, but shakes his head. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
He turns and leaves the room.
I’m left alone. I drift over to the couch, sit down, try to read, but I can’t concentrate.
I keep thinking about his parents up there. They looked at me like I was some dirty, unwashed peasant, like I was an animal they let run around on the carpet. His mother was probably wondering how she’d clean up the chair after I had sat in it.
If the rest of his family is even half that bad, I can completely understand why Ryan wants me to stay far away from them. Frankly, I’m not too excited about being looked down on for the next week.
But it doesn’t matter. I’m not here to make these people like me. I’m here to pretend to be Ryan’s wife so that he can win this business from his father. Once that happens, I’m set for life.
I cross and uncross my legs. I keep thinking about the island I saw from the plane, before we crashed into the water. There were so many big evergreens, their pine needles waving lazily in the wind. There was a pool, and more buildings, and what I swear was a hedge maze, but I can’t be sure. I’m in the strangest, most beautiful place I’ll ever visit, and I’m stuck in this stupid old room.
Well, it’s a nice room, but still.
I can’t do it. I know he doesn’t want me wandering around, but I just can’t do it. I get up, throw on my boots, grab a sweatshirt, and slip out into the hall.
It’s so quiet. I can’t believe he has a big family. We haven’t seen anyone but the staff and his parents so far, but apparently there are a lot of people in this house. I slip down the back stairs, back the way we had come. I walk through the kitchen, dodging the people prepping food continuously, and out through the living area. The bartender waves to me happily and I wave back.
I slip out the back door, walk down past the pool and the listless floating giraffe, and take a sharp left. I follow a path that winds its way toward the trees and find myself beyond the clean, manicured lawn.
The evergreens are dense here but there’s no real underbrush, just pine needles carpeting the ground. My footsteps are muffled by the soft needles and I stop for a second, trying to recall the map of the island that I glimpsed from the air.
It takes me a second, but I have a pretty good memory and a decent sense of direction. I orient myself to the pool then head on, walking through the forest.
I like the quiet. I thought it might make me a little uncomfortable, since I’m used to noise at all hours of the day. In the city, there’s always a car, always a police siren, always something making noise, reminding you that you’re not alone. Out here though, I really am alone. I don’t need reminding.
Birds chirp as I keep going. I move a little faster now. I’m not even sure I’m going in the right direction, but I can’t help myself. I pass tree after evergreen tree and I’m tempted to climb one, just to get my bearings, but I decide to push onward.
Soon, the tree line thins out and I come to the edge of the woods. I smile and step onto clean, manicured grass again. It’s another part of the compound, somewhere beyond that main house. Up ahead, standing in the middle of the field, is what I set out to find from the start.
It’s a hedge maze.
I saw it from the air. I wasn’t sure what it was at first. It’s a big, square thing with multiple different passageways. There was no discernable pattern, none that I saw anyway, just twisting hedges, some dead ends, and a little clearing in the very center.
I’ve always wanted to go into a hedge maze. I start toward it, walking like I’m in a dream. There’s a little stone bench outside of the entrance and I notice that parts of the hedges are overgrown, like they haven’t been trimmed in a while. I reach the stone bench and hesitate next to it, starting at the somewhat dark entrance to the maze.
“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
I nearly jump out of my shoes. I look around wildly until I spot a girl crouched down next to the hedges. She’s wearing a dark turtleneck and cut-off jean shorts. She’s pretty and skinny, with really dark eyes and long dark hair.
“Oh, wow, you scared me,” I say, putting my hand on my chest. My heart’s racing fast.
“Sorry.” She stands up and smiles. “Didn’t mean to. It’s just, I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
“Why not?”
She frowns a little bit. “It’s not really safe.”
“It’s okay if I get lost. I’ll wander out eventually.”
“Yeah,” she says. “That’s not really what I mean.”
I frown at the girl but she walks over to me and sits on the bench. She pulls her knees up to her chest and looks up expectantly.
I sit next to her. I’m not sure why. It just feels like I’m supposed to.
“My name’s Casey,” I say.
“Hi Casey. I’m Mia.”
I smile warmly. “Are you one of the Boultons?” I ask.
She giggles a little. “God, no. Are you kidding? I’m Gerald and Kathy’s kid.” She cocks her head when I keep staring at her blankly. “We’re on Sheila’s side.”
“Oh,” I say, understanding. “So you’re one of Ryan’s cousins.”
“Yeah,” she says. “Wait, you’re here with Ryan? That rumor was true?”
“It’s true,” I say and hold up my hand to show her the ring.
She laughs and grabs at it. She stares at the ring and laughs again, shaking her head.
“No way,” she says. “That’s fake. No way Ryan would get married.”
“Sorry,” I say. “It’s true.”
“What’d you do to
rope him in? Get you pregnant or something?”
I smile a little. “Nope.”
“Well, lucky you, I guess.” She sighs and leans back on her hands. “Ryan’s one of the nice ones, you know.”
“Yeah?”
“At least he’s always been nice to me. I don’t think he gets along with his brothers. But whatever. I’m the youngest in the family, you know. Only eighteen, just a baby still. At least that’s what everyone thinks.” She pauses. “Except there are actual babies now, and Connie is like three months older, so you’d think everyone would grow up.”
“That must be hard. This is a really big family, right?”
“Huge.” She glances at me. “You really have no clue, do you?”
“Really no clue,” I admit.
“Ryan’s nice but he’s also a Boulton, so he’s kind of a dick, too.” She shakes her head and her thick, dark hair flaps around. “He should’ve prepared you better.”
“I think he tried but I’m not good at that sort of thing.”
“Well, you’ll figure it out.” She grins at me. “Did Ash do that landing trick?”
I roll my eyes. “Does everyone know about that?”
“Yep. Did it get you?”
“Scared the shit out of me.”
“It’s really not funny but everyone loves it anyway.”
I smile at her. She laughs, genuine and real, and I find myself liking her. She can’t be any older than eighteen and she still has a little baby fat in her cheeks, but she’s going to be beautiful one day. Heck, she probably already is.
“So what should I know about your family?” I ask her.
“My sister’s a bitch,” she says.
I laugh a little. “Okay, sorry to hear it.”
She shrugs. “It’s whatever. We’re in a fight now but we’ll probably be fine later.” She gets up and runs her fingers through the supposedly dangerous hedge maze. “Uncle Toby is a total weirdo. Joel and his family are assholes. So is Harry and his family, but Roger’s not bad. I mean, he’s only two, but he’s cute. Wayne is an asshole but a single one, so there’s less to deal with there.”
“Basically, all of Ryan’s siblings are awful, understood.”
“Well,” she says hesitantly. “Not all of them. I like Emily and Olivia.”