April Fools

by Mari Carr

  Unfortunately…that wasn’t happening right now.

  While the pub had closed a couple hours earlier, the place was buzzing as spotlights and cameras were set up, positioned and then repositioned. Al had grabbed Asher, the two of them deep in discussion fighting over some line they thought the censors would ping, and Teddy was surrounded by the Collins girls as he entertained her cousins with stories about some of his funniest/worst dates.

  Owen and the other cast members were doing some last-minute rehearsing, in between calls from the crew asking them to stand in various places so the lighting and camera angles could be checked.

  “This is very exciting.”

  Fiona glanced at her mother and rolled her eyes. “You do stuff like this nearly every night, setting up the stage for your concerts.”

  Teagan grinned sheepishly. “Maybe, but for some reason this feels different. Probably because I’m on the sidelines and able to enjoy the frenetic energy without having any responsibilities.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Your dad and I are so proud of you, Fee. Proud of the woman you’ve become. I used to worry all the time about you and your sister, about your unconventional childhood and whether or not it was right to keep you gallivanting all over the country on that bus with tutors instead of giving you a real home.”

  “I had the best life ever, Mom.” Fiona knew Ailis hadn’t always felt the same, but considering her willingness to hop back on a bus with Hunter, she suspected she was singing a different tune now.

  “You’ve always been so confident and strong. Always known where you wanted to go. You know, you told Pop that you were going to be a storyteller when you were just five years old.”

  “I did?” Fiona didn’t remember that.

  “Yep. He reminded me of it this afternoon.”

  “I always thought my future plans were to be a princess.”

  Teagan laughed. “That’s what you told us. But when you were with Pop, it was a storyteller.”

  It made a weird sort of sense to Fiona that she’d only tell Pop Pop the most secret desire of her heart. She looked across the pub and found him at his usual spot at the bar. One of the makeup artists was laughing loudly and powdering his face as he regaled her with a story of his own. She may not have been in Baltimore often, but that didn’t mean Pop Pop hadn’t made a lasting impression on her.

  “I better go check on him,” Fiona said, suddenly wanting the comfort only her granddaddy could provide. “Make sure he’s ready for his sitcom debut.”

  Fiona walked across the room to him, knowing there was another secret desire in her heart, and right now, Pop Pop was the only one she could tell.

  The makeup artist had just walked away when she reached him.

  “You look very handsome.”

  “Never thought I’d be wearing makeup at my age.” He didn’t appear to mind though. That was the best thing about Pop Pop. He viewed every day as a blessing and every new experience as an adventure.

  “Or starring in a sitcom?”

  He chuckled. “Not sure one line makes me the star.”

  She climbed onto the stool next to him. “You’ll steal the show. Even Owen says so.”

  “Well, we’ll see. I suspect if nothing else, everyone around here will be glad my time in the spotlight is over. I think I might be annoying them a wee bit, practicing that line.”

  Fiona laughed as he gave her a wink that proved he knew he’d gone overboard on the rehearsing.

  “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on in here?” Pop Pop asked, tapping the side of her head lightly. “Or better yet, in here,” he continued, as he pointed to her heart.

  “I think I made a mistake.”

  Pop Pop waited for her to elucidate.

  “I agreed to something I’m not comfortable with, and I don’t know how to change my mind.”

  “That’s easy. You say ‘I changed my mind.’”

  “Even if it hurts someone or disappoints them?”

  “Even then. Because lying doesn’t fix things. It’s the coward’s way out. And you, my fair Fiona, are not a coward.”

  “Again with the fair.” Pop Pop had called her his fair Fiona for as long as she could remember. And while she knew he meant it in the “pretty” sense, she always joked that she lacked the fairness gene.

  “You’re still no better at sharing, I see.”

  She laughed until she realized her grandfather knew exactly what they were talking about. “I’m not,” she whispered. “I’m terrible at it.”

  He laughed. “Which young man—”

  “Places on the set!” the director yelled.

  Fiona looked around and sighed.

  Pop Pop patted her cheek affectionately. “We’ll finish this talk afterward.”

  She grinned. “Break a leg.”

  Fiona was halfway back to Sunday’s Side, where she, her parents, Asher, Teddy and a handful of other people planned to watch as much of the action as they could. Before she made it, Owen caught her around the waist. He tugged her toward him for a hug and a quick kiss that was more friendly than romantic, but a shock either way, considering he hadn’t touched her since returning from Hollywood.

  “What was that for?” she asked.

  “For luck.” His smile covered his face, and it was infectious.

  “You’ve lost your mind since that audition.”

  He laughed loudly. “I’m just happy.” He raised his arms in the air like he’d just gone twenty rounds with Ali. “I am the king of the world.”

  Fiona was starting to worry about what would happen if Owen didn’t get the part. He was downright giddy.

  She rolled her eyes as she walked away, then took her place next to Asher and her parents. Asher was frowning. It was clear he’d just watched her exchange with Owen, but she wasn’t sure why that would make him mad.

  She was surprised again when Asher placed a hand on her waist, tugging her closer to him. Then he left his hand there, even when it was obvious her dad was watching them.

  “What?” he asked when she gave him a narrow-eyed glance.

  “Thought you forgot about me.”

  He winced, flashing her a guilty smile. “Can we talk tonight after the show? You, me and Owen?”

  For the first time, she noticed that Asher didn’t appear to have been sleeping either. The dark circles had been hidden by his glasses, as had the stress lines in the corners of his eyes. Even so, how had she missed that?

  Too preoccupied by her own anxiety.

  She nodded. “Yeah. We need to talk.”

  His frown returned. Wow. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation either. She tried not to read too much into it, tried to ignore the piecing pain in her chest that warned she was about to get her heart broken.

  “Fiona—” Asher started.

  But the director yelled out again, “Quiet on the set!”

  For the next two hours, she and Asher stood together, watching the finale unfold and, despite the apprehension of what was going to come after the show, they laughed with everyone else, delighted to see their words translated so beautifully when spoken by talented actors.

  Before they reached the last scene—with Pop Pop’s big line—her parents leaned toward them, declaring it the best Wild Winters show yet.

  All of them tried to press closer as the director yelled “action!” to start rolling on the last scene. The bedraggled cast was sitting exhaustedly around a table in the center of the pub—Owen with one shoe on, per the storyline—when a man dressed in a bear costume walked in.

  Pop Pop stood up and delivered his line perfectly.

  “Hey, did anybody call for a singing bear?”

  “Cut,” the director said, “and that’s a wrap!”

  Everyone in the room erupted in joyous laughter.

  Tris and Padraig came out from behind the bar, slapping Pop Pop on the back. Her cousins rose from their various places around the bar, chattering nonstop about how amazing the exp
erience had been.

  The noise level in the bar was insane, but that wasn’t obvious until it died suddenly as music unexpectedly started playing, and all the TV screens in the bar—which had been showing prerecorded sporting events—flashed to white.

  Fiona recognized the song instantly, and her first thought was “ugh” as Justin Timberlake’s “That Girl” started playing. For one thing, the song was too slow for the current celebratory atmosphere, and for another, Brock—the biggest JT fan in the world—had declared this was “their song” one night at a charity function as they danced together. Personally, she would have picked something—anything—else, and she’d decided then and there his JT devotion was unnatural and annoying.

  Then she realized there was something showing on all the televisions. Pictures of her and…

  “Oh fuck,” she muttered.

  Asher was still standing next to her, but Fiona couldn’t find the courage to look in his direction.

  She didn’t have to. She knew from his softly murmured, “shit,” he was watching the show as well.

  Photo after photo of her and Brock flashed before her as “their song” played.

  Owen walked over, frowning as he looked around the room. “Where is he?”

  Fiona glanced from Owen to Asher. “He’s supposed to be in Dubai until May.”

  Teddy stepped next to Owen, shaking his head in disgust. “Fucking Mr. Big Gesture.”

  None of them noticed the bear had moved closer to them until a furry paw reached out, touching Owen on the shoulder to move him aside.

  Fiona watched in fascinated horror as the bear dropped to one knee in front of her, a ring box in his other furry hand.

  “No,” she whispered as he pushed off the large, ridiculous-looking bear head and popped open the box. “Brock.”

  He was wearing the same cocky smile he pulled out every time he went for the big gesture. She took note of the confidence in his expression, his assuredness that this time he’d topped them all. There was no doubt in his eyes that this gesture, like all the others, would win her back.

  As the last strains of the song faded, Fiona looked up at the TV to see a live feed. Clearly Brock was in cahoots with one of the cameramen, because her face at that moment was being projected for the entire pub to see.

  She looked back down at Brock, shaking her head slowly. The idiot was too proud of himself to recognize the horror on her face.

  “I called Al right after Valentine’s Day,” Brock started. This was always his favorite part. Explaining how he’d managed to pull off the big surprise. “He and I cooked up this scheme with a lot of the crew members.” He looked around, giving a couple of the cameramen the thumbs-up.

  Fiona’s hands clenched into fists as she felt the unnerving desire to punch her ex-boyfriend’s lights out. Had he always been this obnoxious with his gestures, or was he just getting too accustomed to her falling for them?

  “Brock,” she said louder, hoping to halt the rest.

  It was pointless. He was on a roll.

  “Fiona Adams. I’m hoping that here, in the presence of your family and our friends, you’ll make me the happiest man alive by agreeing to marry me.”

  Fiona didn’t reply. She was too busy dissecting the proposal, trying to figure out who here was his friend, and sarcastically acknowledging that a marriage to her wasn’t going to impact his happiness in any way. Then she focused on what he didn’t say.

  He didn’t say “I love you.”

  13

  Asher stood next to Fiona, fighting every impulse that told him to pick Brock up off the floor by the scruff of his outrageous costume and lay him out with a hard right to the jaw.

  The only reason he didn’t was because this was Fiona’s battle, and she wouldn’t thank him for interfering.

  But why hadn’t she said “no” immediately?

  Owen, obviously, had the same thought, and he wasn’t as good at reining in his knee-jerk reaction to surprises. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Fee, you can’t seriously be considering this proposal?”

  Brock shot Owen a dirty look, offended by his interruption to what was obviously a well-rehearsed line. “You need to take a couple of steps back, orphan boy.”

  Brock’s angry retort was the equivalent of ringing a bell to start the round.

  Teddy started toward Brock, his fists clenched. “Don’t you dare talk to him like that! Who the fuck do you think—”

  Owen turned and held back Teddy, who was coming in hot, before he started swinging. “Forget it, Ted.”

  “Forget it?” This time it was Fiona’s enraged question filling the silence of the pub. Asher hadn’t noticed the pin-drop quietness until that moment. “What did you call him?” she asked Brock, who’d pushed himself up off the floor, smartly seeking higher ground, considering the number of pissed-off people currently circling him.

  “You’re going to defend him?” Brock asked, gesturing to Owen. “After he just ruined my marriage proposal? Fiona, this was going to be one of the most special days of our lives and that idiot just destroyed it.”

  “Special day? Are you insane? I broke up with you, Brock!”

  The man’s utter confusion probably wasn’t completely his fault. After all, Fiona had sort of mastered the art of breaking up with Brock, then backsliding. “I thought…”

  “You thought you’d sweep in here as Mr. Big Gesture, throw a ring on my finger and all would be well again. And the fact you genuinely believed that would work is my fault. I’m going to own up to that, because in the past, I’ve let the trips and the serenade and the roses and wine work. But those things don’t make a relationship, Brock. Love doesn’t work like this. Five minutes of wow accompanied by five years of nothing.”

  “Fiona—” Brock started as her words appeared to have hit their mark.

  “Do you love me?”

  It was the same question Fiona said she’d asked him on Valentine’s Day. And his tired tone had told her the truth.

  Brock’s three-second hesitance appeared to answer her question more truthfully than his “yes, of course.”

  “I can’t marry you, Brock. I’ve fallen in love with—”

  “Wait,” Owen interjected loudly. “Wait a second, Fee. I need to say something.”

  “No. I do.” Asher had held his tongue, giving Fiona the space she needed, but he couldn’t let them fall any deeper down the rabbit’s hole.

  “What’s going on?” Brock asked, looking from Owen to Asher. “You mean…you’re in love with…”

  Brock’s gaze landed on Teddy, probably looking for an answer to which one, but as always, Teddy managed to take the heaviest of moment and turn it into pure humor. “Don’t look at me. I think Fee is great, but my compass points in a different direction.”

  If Asher had played the next five minutes out in his head a thousand different ways, he never, not once, would have landed on what actually happened.

  Teddy jerked his head toward Owen. “It points in his direction.”

  Owen rolled his eyes, laughing. “Jesus, Ted. This is how we’re going to tell them? Your timing sucks, babe.”

  Brock was forgotten as Asher looked at Owen and Teddy, his best friends, his college roommates, his colleagues, the men he thought he knew as well as he knew himself—and felt his jaw drop.

  “What?” At least Fiona was capable of speech.

  Asher wasn’t sure he’d find his voice again in a century.

  “I’m really sorry, Fee. I know you and Asher had your hearts set on the three of us being together. I never should have… I feel terrible for letting you both think…”

  Teddy shook his head. “You suck at talking about emotions, Owen.”

  “Shut up, Teddy,” Owen replied, his tone pure affection despite the words.

  “What’s going on here?” Brock asked. “Fiona? Have you been cheating on me all this time?”

  That was it. Asher threw the punch before he had two seconds to think about his actions.

/>   One second Brock, Mr. Big Gesture, was accusing Fiona of cheating, the next, he was laid out on the floor.

  “Fiona is the most honest woman you’ll ever meet, and the fact that you just questioned her proves you don’t know her at all.”

  “That’s it!” Brock crab-crawled away from him. “The four of you are fucking crazy. You deserve each other.”

  Al walked over to help Brock up. Asher didn’t fail to notice none of the Collins men did. They were all scowling at Brock, who ripped off the bear costume and stormed out without another word.

  Fiona bent over and picked up the jeweler’s box. “He forgot his ring.”

  Asher took it out of her hand and passed it over to Al. “You mind giving that to your buddy?”

  Al paled, and Asher instantly regretted flashing the latent anger in the other man’s direction. “I thought they were still…I never would have…”

  Asher calmed instantly. “I’m sorry, Al,” he said.

  At the same time, Fiona assured, “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. Past history and all that.”

  It was time for the four of them to get out of there. They’d gone from comedy to melodrama in the blink of an eye, and there were at least fifty witnesses in the pub. Mercifully, more than half were part of the Collins clan, so perhaps they could minimize the gossip.

  Al turned around and gestured for the crew to stop gaping and start breaking down the set.

  Half of Fiona’s family gave them all encouraging smiles as they headed out, either to the apartment upstairs or their own homes in the neighborhood; the other half kept milling around just in case anything else exciting happened.

  Fiona drifted over to speak to her mother, which left him, Teddy and Owen with her grandfather.

  “You boys sure do know how to put on a show. That was a fine time.”

  Asher tilted his head, feeling fairly confident he knew what show the old guy was talking about. “You’re not talking about Wild Winters, are you?”

  Patrick chuckled. “No, son. I’m not. You three okay with the way this shook out?”

  Asher saw Owen’s gaze drift over to Fiona, and he realized there was still a lot to say.