The applause is polite, but that’s to be expected. These people haven’t seen Jeffrey around One Life. They haven’t seen him today. They just see a guy in a thousand-dollar suit when everyone else is wearing sports gear.
Which one of these is not like the others? For once, it’s not me.
But Jeffrey takes the mic with ease, giving Ross a firm, warm handshake. “Thank you, Ross. Everyone, a round of applause for Ross Andrews!” After a longer, warmer round, Jeffrey continues.
“I have great news I’d like to announce,” Jeffrey says, his white grin flashing over the crowd and surely looking good for the camera. “Ross introduced me as a part of the One Life family, and I have to thank him for that. Because I’m actually a newer addition to the family, and what you see today is the hard work of the original team.” He holds his hands out expansively, gesturing to the building behind him. “When Ross and Kaede came to me, they had a dream that I found compelling. A dream to bring this sort of excitement, this sort of community, this sort of family to cities all over the country. Maybe even all over the world! So it’s with great pleasure that we are ready to announce that we’re taking our next step as One Life partners with Sanders Investment Group to bring One Life to the Charlotte, North Carolina area!”
There’s big applause for that, and I can see the crowd’s happy to hear it, but they want things to move along. They’ve been here all morning and are probably ready to get back to their families, though some of the hardcore folks will probably go inside for even more of a workout.
Come on, Jeffrey. Shit or get off the pot, as Mom used to say.
“I’m glad to be a partner with the remarkable people here at One Life because their goals are my goals. Family first. I know that Ross and Kaede believe in the importance of family too.”
Oh, shit.
“So, I’d like to take a moment to just say thank you to their families, Ross's wife, Violet Andrews, and Kaede’s fiancée, Courtney Andrews.”
There’s a heartbeat of stunned silence as Courtney’s name rings out over the parking lot, and then more applause rings out. My eyes jump to Jeffrey, thinking surely, I heard him wrong.
No way did he just say that! No, no, no.
But when I find Courtney, I know I heard correctly. If looks could kill, Jeffrey would be a big pile of ashes right now. Or Courtney’s supposedly the Ice Queen, so maybe he’d flash-freeze into one big iceberg? I get a mental flash of a Scooby Doo rerun I watched as a kid with some Neanderthal guy in ice, but it was the professor in disguise, I think. That could be Jeffrey.
“I know they’re a little shy and like to stay behind the scenes, but together, we will all make One Life Gym the next national brand everyone turns to for fitness, wellness, and health.” Everyone claps, and Jeffrey leaves the stage.
Ross picks up the mic and tries to recover, giving one last thank you to everyone and then officially ending the event.
I numbly follow everyone offstage where I see Jeffrey’s already talking to some of the newspaper folks who are covering today’s events for the local papers. With Missy behind him, Jeffrey is dropping names all over the place—Ross, Kaede, Kayla, AJ, Stacylynne . . . Violet and Courtney.
Missy looks over at me with a smug smile, and I watch as she draws a nice big checkmark on her iPad.
So this was her plan?
She went up to Morgan’s office to check behind the scenes and realized that Courtney and I are a lie.
We fucked up the chess match. She’s a move ahead of us. Think, Kaede. Salvage this.
Wait. If she told Jeffrey the engagement is fake, he never would’ve gone through with the announcement, especially without challenging me on it. I know that.
So, what did she tell her father?
Occam’s Razor. If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.
I review the things I do know. Missy knows. She didn’t tell Jeffrey. He announced Violet and Courtney.
Shit. She told him we changed our minds and wanted to give them credit for their roles in our lives. And that’s why he announced them with the whole family push. He thought he was supposed to and has no idea that he just got played by his daughter.
Ross can’t let this go, and neither can I, even though the ship has sailed . . . and crashed, so as the media disperse, Ross says, “Jeffrey, we said—”
Missy interrupts. “Daddy, your next appointment . . . you don’t want to be late.”
“Ah! Correct again, honey.” He smiles at Missy as though she’s as sweet as peach pie. To us, he simply dips his chin. “Great job, gentlemen. I’ll be in touch.”
And with that, he swooshes Missy into the waiting limo and the driver pulls away.
Ross and I look at each other in total shock, feeling very much like we just lived through a torpedo strike. “What the fuck was that?” Ross whispers. “We specifically said not to mention Violet, and for sure, not Courtney.”
“Fuckin’ Missy,” I hiss. “She had to have figured it out when she went to your Dad’s. But I don’t think she told Jeffrey. I think she told him we wanted him to announce Vi and Court. I just don’t know why.”
“What do we do now?” Ross says. “Got a contingency for this one?”
I look over at Courtney, who’s frozen, her phone in her hand. She looks pale. Actually, her face is going pale as a ghost.
I want, no, need to go to her, to tell her that it’s going to be okay. I want to hold her, reassure her. I want to tell the whole damn world to fuck off because it’s true and she’s mine. Except it’s not. Right?
I take a step, but she turns and leaves before I can say anything, and I have to focus on Ross as he starts ranting quietly, trying to figure out our next move.
Chapter 25
Courtney
Come home. NOW.
The text is clear, blunt, and no doubt an order.
I haven’t been called home like this since high school. Actually, that’s not true. Dad never had to call me home even when I was a teenager. I was never late for curfew, usually was ten minutes early just to be sure, was always exactly where I was supposed to be, with whom I said I was, and doing what I said. In fact, the only time Dad ever sent me a ‘come home’ order was when Ross or Abi had gotten up to some shit and he wanted me there for a family meeting. And my job for that was to sit still and quiet while he shredded the ass of whoever had fucked up. But it was never me.
Is it funny or sad that it took my being in my twenties before my dad has a reason to send me a ‘we need to talk, young lady’ text?
I’d love to say I’m the sort that could ignore it, or better yet, could tell my parents ‘fuck you, I’m an adult and you don’t tell me what to do.’ I am not that person. My siblings have called me a Goody Two-Shoes for years, because I am, through and through.
Plus, this is a conversation I want to have today . . . not when Mom and Dad hunt me down at my place, or worse . . . Monday at the office with Dad in Boss mode.
I walk into the house, heading straight for Dad’s office. I know him well enough to know that when he thinks asses need chewed, that’s where he does it, even if it hasn’t historically been mine. Hand it to my father. No matter how angry he gets, he always follows a basic rule—praise in public, kick ass in private.
Dad’s waiting for me, sitting in his double-wing office chair and scowling at his laptop screen, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. What is surprising is that Mom is with him, one of the smaller chairs pulled up next to his as she looks on with a worried face.
“Guys . . .”
Dad doesn’t even look up. “You know, about the time Ross went off to college, I paid someone to set up alert notifications whenever anyone in this family was mentioned in the news. It was useful to get in front of several of Ross’s problems with the tabloids back in the day. For Abi and you, it’s always been good things—awards, business achievements. But today’s . . .”
“Dad, I—”
“What the hell, Courtney?” Mom asks, taking over. S
he’s genuinely hurt, her eyes red with unshed tears. “To find out that you’re dating someone, to be engaged, via Twitter gossip? And not even from you, but from some online linked video? Why wouldn’t you tell us?”
I swallow, not able to find words even though I’ve been practicing this speech the entire drive over here, knowing I would have to explain.
Dad piles on even more questions. “Is it even true? Are you and Kaede engaged?”
I look down, spinning the ring on my finger before looking them in the eyes. “No. Not exactly.”
I watch Mom and Dad’s eyes drop to the glitter of my ring. I wore it today because I knew Missy and Jeffrey would be there, for the image . . . and maybe because I wanted to bring Kaede back to me. I could’ve taken it off in the car but I just . . . couldn’t.
Dad flops back in his chair, pulling at what’s left of his hair. “If they’re lying, I’ll own that news organization, but so help me, Kimberly.” He groans into his palms. “If another one of my children is doing some crazy scheme—”
“Dad, listen,” I interrupt. “It’s a work thing for Ross and Kaede. Sanders’s daughter, Missy . . . she’s been trying to get her claws into Kaede. And Sanders made some noise about keeping things in the family.” Dad’s brows lift. “We all know it’s bad business to mix business and pleasure. You taught us that.”
Mom looks like she’s following along while Dad looks ready to explode at any second. But he’s at least letting me explain, so I keep going, trying to hurry to the meat of the issue. “Before all of this” —I touch the ring— “they were having a meeting, and Missy was pressuring Kaede. In the heat of the moment, he tried to kindly push her interest off and said he was already engaged, not thinking it’d go any further than that. We’d had dinner the night before at the gym’s smoothie bar after working out, and when she asked who, he said my name. So they were stuck and came to me. I did it to protect Ross and Kaede. If they went back on it, they’d lose the deal they’d worked so hard to get, so I . . . agreed. It was supposed to only be for a little bit, not nearly two months.”
Dad shakes head, probably absolutely stunned at the idiocy of the plan. But it was the only way to give Ross and Kaede a fighting chance.
I was willing to risk everything for them. I still am.
“I’m disappointed in you, Courtney.”
Ouch. Those are the most painful words Dad has ever said to me, cutting right to my core, right to the part of me that has always worked to make him proud.
But something about that feels so wrong, and instead of shame, anger bubbles up. Maybe it’s because I know I did the right thing even if it seems wrong on the surface. Maybe it’s because I feel like my chance with Kaede has slipped through my fingers. But I go back at Dad the way only he and I do.
“Why? For helping a friend? For helping my brother?” I throw my hands wide, my voice getting loud.
“For lying! To the world and to us!” Dad’s even louder.
Mom flinches, but Dad and I are fine. We are passionate, we disagree, we fight, but we always find a way to meet on common ground. Eventually.
“Okay, I’ll give you that. We lied to Jeffrey and Missy for sure. But I never lied to you guys, and it hasn’t affected anything. I’m still focused at work, making good progress on the AgroStar campaign. This family’s company is my priority, always. Nothing will change that. You have my word.”
Dad looks at me for a long time and then turns to Mom, who’s stayed quiet this entire time. His eyes beg her for help . . . with me, of all people.
I expect her to be pissed off too, but instead, a soft smile is slowly starting to dawn on her face.
She pats Dad on the shoulder. “Dear, I think you’re missing something. Our brilliant daughter can be just as much of a dumbass as you were when we were dating. I nearly had to beat you over the head with a high heel to get you to see what was right in front of your face.” She laughs lightly like that’s a good memory. “Although I think she knows already?”
“What?” I ask, more shocked at Mom’s language than anything she’s saying. “Mom! Did you just call Dad a dumbass? Did you call me a dumbass?”
Dad doesn’t seem all that shocked, which is surprising. But then again, they have been married a long time so it’s probably not the first time she’s called him a dumbass. “Honey, don’t be upset. We already knew you were seeing each other. That was plain as day at the anniversary party by the way you looked at each other, the way you looked for each other all night.”
Dad nods, his mood brightening a little. “We thought it was new and you weren’t ready to tell us yet, so we left you alone. I figured you, of all people, would’ve learned from your brother’s mistakes,” he says with an ironic eyebrow and a pointed twist to his tone, “but I guess not.”
“What do you mean?”
Mom wipes a tear, her hands clasped beneath her chin like she’s praying for me to catch a clue. “Fake arrangement or not, that man is head over heels for you, and you’ve been head over heels for him for years, honey.”
She’s right, but I won’t admit to that. “We can’t, Mom. Our focus is work right now. I’ve got my new role as VP, and he’s got the gym. And he . . . I think there’s something stopping him.”
I’m the one near tears now. It’s hard to admit aloud that I know it’s not just that we’re both workaholics, and it’s not just Ross, either. There’s something else holding Kaede and me apart. I’m not sure what it is, can’t put my finger on it, but it surrounds us like a hazy barrier.
Dad gets up and comes around the desk to hug me. Burying my face into his chest makes me feel young and small, safe and protected. He lets me fall apart for a moment and then holds me at arm’s length, one hand on each of my shoulders.
“Honey, let me give you some advice? You can do both, have a career and a personal life. That’s what I’ve always wanted for you. Don’t let time pass with your focus so narrowed that you miss out on the big picture. I have a wonderful life, but when I say that, I don’t mean the corner office and this house. It’s you, Abigail, and Ross. It’s your mother. My family is the most important thing to me. And a full, beautiful life is what I want for all of you. That’s why when Ross pulled his stunt, and you did this, it worries me so much. It’s like you don’t get how important this is.” He lets go of my shoulders to gesture to Mom with one hand and me with the other.
I look down, flushing. “Well, maybe I didn’t protest that much when Kaede talked to me about what happened.”
Mom laughs lightly. “See, Morgan? Like you, she turns lemons into lemonade. It might not be the way I would’ve told her to go about getting what she wanted, but there’s a lot of you in our daughter. Life presented her with a path, and she ran down it pell-mell to get to her goal.”
Dad nods, a small smile forming. “Courtney, you should know that work you’re passionate about and enjoy is the topping on the sundae, not the whole damn thing. If all you’ve learned from me is that work is the be-all, end-all, then I have failed as a father.”
“No, Dad, you’ve been great,” I plead. “I . . . you’re my hero, Dad. Don’t say that.”
Dad’s moved, hugging me again. Mom’s full-on weeping now as she grabs a tissue from a box on the desk to dab her eyes. “Oh, you two.”
Dad and I look at each other, emotional but nothing like Mom. I mouth out, “Got any chocolate for her?” Dad smiles, but we don’t let Mom see that we’re both a little wary of her right now. Waterworks can turn to a full-blown tidal wave of feelings with her in an instant.
“One last thing, if you’ll indulge an old man,” Dad says, and I nod. “Quit thinking with your head for one minute.”
Mom sniffles and finishes, “And go with your heart. We’re here for you either way.”
I look down at my ring and know what my heart wants. But that’s not how I’m wired, to shut off my brain and chase rainbows and butterflies. I just can’t. It’s not me. “I’m not sure what to say. That’s a lot to digest.”
>
“You mean analyze, evaluate, and pick apart?” Mom asks ironically. “What is it that song you like says? Listen to your heart?”
I smile sheepishly. She knows me too well. Dad chuckles. “You’ll figure it out. You’re a smart cookie. I should know . . . you’re an Andrews. And your mother and I have raised some pretty smart kids.”
There’s a ding from the computer, and Dad glances over, rolling his eyes. “Great, now I’m getting alerts on Ross.”
“Wait,” I exclaim, feeling more comfortable with my parents than I have in a long time. “Since we’re laying everything on the table, I have a few questions for you.”
My voice has gone fierce and forceful, ice threaded through it. I know I’m just tripping along, flipping into full business mode where I absorb the questions about Kaede and pack them all away to process everything later. But this is bulldog time, the moment to seize the initiative and see how much I can get out of these revelations. Ross needs it. Kaede needs it.
Dad sees the change in me, and though he laughs, he clicks into business mode too. “You have questions?”
“Yeah . . . why the hell was Jeffrey Sanders’s daughter in your office this week? I have searched through every account and there is nothing on the books for a deal between Andrews and Sanders.”
Dad’s brows knit, and he reaches the same conclusion I reached. “Who?”
“Blonde Barbie type?”
Dad frowns. “Melissa . . .” I can almost see the lightbulb turning on over his head. “I see . . . and maybe I should get involved.”
Chapter 26
Kaede
The sun’s still in the sky, golden as afternoon stretches out to evening, and outside Ross’s office, the gym’s humming along. The members think it’s been a great day, and if anything, it’s a bit busier than normal as our sales staff does walkarounds with folks who saw today’s events and want to join.
My Big Fat Fake Engagement Page 30