Fake Fiance Christmas Collection: Countdown to Christmas

by Taylor Hart

  How weird was that?

  Chapter 26

  Mike rushed around the guesthouse, packing his things. He didn’t take that much. His plan to get her and bring her back was ridiculous; he knew she would never come.

  Or would she? She’d been comfortable with his family, and she was so different from the Ann who was supposed to come. He grinned and thought about how Grandpa had tried to cover for her. So weird.

  Mike heard his parents pull up, and he grabbed his bag and went out of the guesthouse.

  His parents got out of the truck, and his father motioned to the house. “Let’s talk.”

  Mike knew he had to face them. They deserved an explanation. He followed them inside, and his mother didn’t make a fuss about taking off all the snow stuff. She didn’t even insist they stomp their feet on the snow rug.

  “What the—?” his father started to say.

  His mother put up her hand, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Explain yourself, Michael.”

  It was strange to hear his mother say his full name. His father’s name. Maybe because he was Mikey or Mike to her, and she only used it when she was angry at him.

  Dropping his bag, he stepped farther into the kitchen, took a breath, and started from the beginning. “She was standing at the top of the storage units. You know, those storage units in Billings.”

  “You’re making no sense.” His father shook his head. “What about Ann from Boston?”

  “The truth is, Ann broke up with me almost three weeks ago now. I don’t think she even liked me. I mean, we met at the debate tournament, but she liked fish and snails, and—” Mike’s mind whirled with all the things Zoey had told him. “—Zoey is nothing like her. Zoey lost her husband in the military a year ago. Her parents died in a plane crash right after she graduated from high school, and she’s amazing.” He blinked. “The girl wants to be on The Voice, and there’s an audition tomorrow night in Salt Lake.”

  His mother shook her head. “Mike, you’re making no sense.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Look, all that matters is that I like her. Okay, it started off a little crazy with me telling her I would pay her two thousand dollars to be my fake girlfriend because …” He threw his hands up. “I didn’t want to be the guy who is pathetic at the wedding. I didn’t want to have that be a thing and have to tell Grandpa and the other grandparents and aunts, uncles, cousins, and this whole town that I was dumped and didn’t have a girlfriend.”

  His mother sized him up. “And you didn’t want to have Nellie move in on you again.”

  He shrugged. “It sounds worse when I say it out loud now. I’m sorry I embarrassed you guys. I’m sorry Grandpa tried to cover for us.”

  Mike’s dad’s face broke into a little smile. “Yeah, what was up with that?” He and Mike’s mother started laughing.

  Mike shook his head, tears coming to his eyes. “I don’t want to go back to Boston.”

  All the laughter stopped. His parents looked at each other and then to him.

  “I know that disappoints you, and I know that I am not being grateful for getting this opportunity, but I—”

  Cutting him off, his dad yanked him into a hug. “Good.”

  Mike did a double take. “What?”

  His dad’s face softened. “We have missed you so much. We’ve tried to be supportive, but we hate you being back there.”

  His mother touched his shoulder. “It’s true.”

  “But you tell everyone about your Harvard son.” Mike protested.

  His dad let out a light breath. “Because I am proud of you. But son, I love you and I’ll be proud of you no matter what, and no matter where you’re at.”

  Tears misted in Mike’s eyes. “Really?”

  His mother pulled him into a hug, and then his dad was hugging them both.

  “Really,” his father said.

  His mom broke the embrace. “So where is … Zoey?”

  “And what’s her real name?” his dad asked.

  “Zoey Harper.” Mike felt out of sorts just thinking about her. “I don’t know, but I’m going to go find her. She likes to hitchhike.”

  “What?” his mother said, following him to the door.

  “I’ll follow you to Grandpa’s so you can return his truck,” his father said.

  Mike pulled up to Grandpa’s and found him waiting on the porch, rocking in his chair, a toothpick in his mouth. Grandpa stood. “Where is she?”

  Mike ran up to him and gave him a huge hug. “I don’t know. I’m going to Billings to find her.”

  His grandpa shook his head. “That girl has hitchhiked, and you tell her I’m not happy about that.”

  “I know. Me neither.”

  Grandpa pointed to the barn. “Go get that lucky horseshoe; she forgot it the other night. I want her to have it.”

  Mike laughed and rushed to the barn, swinging the door open and racing to the bench. He stumbled, and his phone dropped. He tried to backtrack and ended up stepping on his phone. It cracked. “Crap.” He stumbled again and fell right onto the pitchfork he’d left out. Pain seared through him and he screamed, grabbing his thigh. “Grandpa! Call 911!”

  Chapter 27

  Zoey left at eight in the morning, buzzing with nervous excitement. It would be a long haul to Salt Lake, but she could make it there and spend a night in a cheap motel she’d booked online. Then she would be there bright and early for the audition.

  As she headed out of Billings, she thought of how she hadn’t heard from Mike again. No texts. He hadn’t even tried to call. Truth be told, part of her had thought he would show up at her apartment last night.

  Guilt filled her. She’d left them. His mother. His father. Grandpa. The whole town.

  Oh well. She pushed it out of her mind. It’d been the deal, right? It was just a five-day thing. After that, they went back to their lives. Of course, she’d left the money. She’d left all of it.

  Turning on the radio, she focused on the audition. She sang along with the popular songs and relaxed her vocal chords. Yes, she would finally get her shot. She would get her dream.

  An hour later, she pulled into a gas station and thought about how the exit for Snow Valley was coming up. Not so long ago, she’d taken that exit with Mike on their way to the wedding.

  She rushed to the bathroom and checked her phone, not really expecting a text. Her phone almost tumbled out of her hand when she saw the message.

  This is Grandpa. Mike is hurt.

  Chapter 28

  Mike sat in the Snow Valley hospital. The stupid pitchfork had torn up his thigh. He’d had to have a couple of stitches. Now that he was resting, he felt like an idiot.

  The worst thing was that he felt resigned to not being able to catch Zoey. His phone was broken, so he didn’t even know if she had texted him back.

  His parents had gone back to the high school to make sure the two semi-trucks were filled with toys and ready to go. Even though he was immensely grateful he’d told his parents everything, he was sad and confused too. Would he ever see Zoey again? Would she be able to go to Salt Lake and try out for The Voice?

  As isolated as he felt, he wasn’t going back to Boston, and that was good. At least, he thought it was.

  “Hey, fry guy.”

  He turned and couldn’t help but grin at Nellie and her bag from Big C’s. “Hey.” Embarrassment coursed through him.

  “I thought you might be hungry.” She put the bag next to him on the bed and sat on the chair.

  “I’m sorry, Nells. For everything.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, that was quite a show with that girl.”

  Mike didn’t know what Nellie wanted, but he knew he had to be honest with her. “Nellie, look: I need to tell you that I was a jerk, that it was stupid to have a fake girlfriend. But I also need to tell you that you and I won’t ever work out. I’m sorry.”

  Nellie looked confused, then sad. Shaking her head, she said, “You know I was dumped pretty hard.”

  He remember
ed that she’d been engaged. “I’m sorry.”

  Nellie’s eyes filled with tears. “I think I just convinced myself it was okay because you and I were meant to be together and that should have been the plan. When you were coming back for Christmas, I thought I could steal you away from a girlfriend.” She looked embarrassed. “Stupid, right?”

  He reached out and took her hand. “No, because desperate people do desperate things.”

  Nellie nodded.

  Mike reached for the bag. “Are you going to take this away, or can I have some?”

  Nellie laughed. “Friends forever.”

  “I would like that,” Mike said warmly.

  “It better only be friends, because this guy is mine.”

  Mike whipped his head to the door, and happiness erupted inside of him. Standing there, in her combat boots, jeans, and the blue sweater his mother had given her, Zoey looked just as fierce as she had the first time he’d seen her.

  Nellie stood, cocking an eyebrow at Zoey. “I’m only leaving because I think my friend wants to talk to you, not because I actually like you after you ran off like that.”

  Zoey glared at her. “Gee, thanks. Good thing I don’t care.”

  Mike let out a laugh even as he grew a bit lightheaded. He couldn’t believe she’d come. “Why are you here?”

  Moving to his side, she frowned at him. “You didn’t put the pitchfork away properly, and it fell, didn’t it?”

  “Seriously, how did you get here?”

  She shrugged. “Grandpa texted me with his new phone.”

  He roared out a laugh, thinking about Grandpa and that phone. “You should be going to Salt Lake. You have your audition.”

  “You’re right. I do. I just talked to your parents and told them everything.”

  “You did?”

  “I did. After I ate crow, I told them that even though this whole thing started out as something completely fake, somehow it turned real and that I needed you to come with me.”

  All Mike wanted to do was jump out of the bed, but he needed to make sure she knew what this was. “You do?”

  She sat on the edge of his bed. “What do you want, Mike Hamilton?”

  “I want to be in Snow Valley with you every Christmas.”

  Tears misted in her eyes. “You do?”

  He nodded and leaned in. She met his lips, and it was fireworks on the Fourth of July and MMA boxing and everything he loved.

  She pulled back. “Good, I want that too.”

  This was more than he could hope for. “You do?”

  She laughed and hit his shoulder. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Now, let’s get going so I’m not late.”

  Chapter 29

  Zoey sang her heart out. It was an upbeat Sloane Kent song, and she put her own acoustic edge on it.

  After a few moments, Kelly Clarkson turned. Boom! The audience erupted into cheers.

  Zoey continued to sing, knowing that this could be the best night of her life. Mike’s face flashed into her mind, and she glanced back, seeing him in his wheelchair with his leg propped up, waving from the side of the stage.

  Not only was she living her dream; she’d also fallen in love.

  She thought of the prayer she’d said on top of that storage unit. There was no doubt in her mind that God was listening and that, even though sometimes the path can feel dark and lonely, if you just hold on, it gets better.

  Another chair turned. Then the last chair turned!

  The whole room went crazy as Zoey finished her song, tears streaming down her face, and she knew this was as good as it got.

  “I want Zoey Harper on my team!” Sloane Kent stood, smiling at her.

  Epilogue

  2 Years Later

  Mike wouldn’t lie: seeing the wedding tents back on his parents’ property did something funny to his heart. Although he’d tried to convince Zoey that it was just ridiculous to do a Christmas wedding in Snow Valley, she’d been undeterred, telling him to shut up and give her a shot at being a bridezilla. So he had.

  It’d been a crazy ride the past two years as he followed her around on the road, being part of the “getting famous” superstar experience.

  Warmth filled him as he thought of her last concert and how she’d sung “Falling with You.” Every time he heard that song, he thought of being here in Snow Valley with her, the first time.

  Of course, his mother had put up a million flowers. This time, it wasn’t a blue, silver, and white theme; it was a red and gold theme.

  The best part was that he was finally doing what Zoey had always known he should do—opening a photography-slash-gallery on Snow Valley Main Street. The past two years, as he followed her around on the road, he’d also completed his MBA online. Not from Harvard, but Zoey had been the one who’d helped him realize he hadn’t needed Harvard. He’d built up his online business of selling photographs and doing graphic art for people and investing, and everything seemed to be working out perfectly.

  “You’re looking rather pleased with yourself, Mikey boy.”

  Jolting out of his thoughts, he turned to see that Grandpa had entered the kitchen and was standing right next to him. “Always gotta surprise me, don’t you, Grandpa?”

  His grandpa laughed and toyed with his phone. “I just sent you the funniest meme.”

  Mike tsked his tongue. “I don’t even know you, old man.”

  Grandpa laughed harder and put his arm around his shoulders. “All you have to know is I’ll be the proudest grandpa you’ve ever seen out there today as you say ‘I do’ to the prettiest redhead I’ve ever known.”

  Mike smiled and thought about the house half a mile down from Grandpa’s property. Grandpa had been the foreman in charge of building it over the past year. “We’ll see how much you like her after we’re bugging you all the time. Eventually we’ll send the great-grandkids down there to annoy you like I used to.”

  The sides of Grandpa’s eyes creased even more. “‘Used to’ annoy me?”

  Shrugging off his arm, Mike gave him a mock glare.

  “I like you annoying me,” Grandpa said. “And I’ll take as many little grasshoppers to train as you send my way.”

  Mike grinned.

  “Hey, I want in on some of this manly Hamilton bonding.” His father suddenly appeared on his other side and draped his arm over Grandpa’s.

  Mike swallowed, overwhelmed with all this love.

  His dad leaned into him. “I’m glad you’re finally coming home, Mike. We’ve missed you.”

  Grandpa nudged him. “I catch your dad crying his eyes out every other day.”

  “Yep.” His dad did a fake sad look.

  Mike laughed and honestly couldn’t be happier.

  “It’s going to be a good day tomorrow.” His dad hugged him tighter, then released him. “But we men better go get everything set up. And steel yourself for about a million flowers.”

  Mike shook his head. “Mom.”

  His dad laughed. “No, Zoey. And I think she might be outdoing Lacey in that department.”

  Grandpa released him. “Quit crying, boys. Suck it up and let’s get those flowers put up.”

  Gratitude washed over Mike. This is what he’d always wanted. “Let’s do it.”

  Zoey walked toward Mike, butterflies in her stomach. This nervousness was easily worse than when she performed, which had been a lot the past two years. Tears were already in her eyes, and she tried to remind herself that she couldn’t cry and ruin her makeup.

  “We love you, young lady. Nothing to be nervous about,” Mike’s grandpa said.

  She turned to Grandpa, her heart about to burst with joy. “Thank you. For everything.”

  He patted her hand as he reached Mike and handed her ceremoniously to him. “It’s my pleasure.”

  There were tears in Mike’s eyes as they met hers. Even after two years of being together, just being near him could still give her that “new love” buzzed feeling. He looked gorgeous, standing in his tux, s
melling wonderful.

  He leaned in. “Dang, you’re pretty.”

  Zoey’s cheeks turned hot. She winked at him. “Not too bad yourself, hero.” She smiled as she said it, and Mike gave her the look she’d seen so many times—the one that told her he wanted to kiss her.

  Pastor John began. “Dear beloved, we are gathered here today …”

  But the words faded as Zoey stared into Mike’s eyes and thought of the first time they’d met. She’d been so broken, and he’d run up that roof and nearly killed her.

  Tears spilled onto her cheeks as it became her turn to say her vows. “I’m only admitting this once, so you better pay attention—you saved me the day we met, but not in the physical sense.”

  Mike let out a light laugh.

  She put her free hand over her heart. “You saved me here. You helped me understand that broken things could be fixed.” Her eyes fluttered. “And that sometimes dreams change a little bit, and they become more than you ever thought they could be. I love you.”

  Mike blinked and let out a quick breath. “I’ve loved you since I saw you on top of that building, and you’re the only dream I’ll ever need. Love you.” Before the pastor could tell them it was okay, Mike was pulling her in, brushing her lips to his.

  “Yeah!” she heard some of the guests call out.

  Mike grinned sheepishly.

  Pastor John cleared his throat. “I guess I don’t need to say all of this, but I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Both she and Mike laughed.

  Mike shrugged. “Better do it again.”

  She got lost in another kiss with him, and it did feel like falling. This was exactly where she wanted to be for the rest of her life.

  Thank you for reading The Christmas Girlfriend!

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