A moment later, the dressing room door opens, revealing Sarah in a black trash bag, head and arms sticking out a hole in the top.
Justin: You know, I always said you’d be a knockout even in a garbage bag, but isn’t this a bit much?
Sarah sticks out her lower lip. Well, I had the idea before I got here, and I couldn’t let you ruin it. Hold on.
A moment later, the door opens again. Sarah wears a shimmering, mermaid-style, floor-length, blue-green gown. We’re all wearing this? Isn’t Birdie nine months pregnant?
Justin: Eight. She’s wearing something else. Same color, I think.
Sarah: Great! If we’re all in different styles, I’m going to dye my trash bag. She sticks her tongue out at the camera.
Justin: Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to apologize for my sister.
Sarah: Don’t blame me. You’re the one who wanted to become a reality star.
Justin’s voice, still off-camera, softens. Best decision I ever made.
Sarah smiles. I think so, too. But I’m still glad I didn’t go with you. She moves toward the camera, arms outstretched. The scene is lost behind a mass of curly blond hair. I’m so happy for you and Jen!
Chapter 12
Confessions from the Chapel, Wednesday:
Jen: I feel so stupid. I can’t believe I fell for the Network’s tricks. Of course he’s not my father. My father would never care enough to show up for my wedding. Excuse me.
Tina: This is what you people do for a living? How do you sleep at night? This is it for me and the reality TV stuff. I’ll be back for my daughter’s wedding. And I won’t have anything to say to you then, either.
“Patrick”: What do you want me to say? GOTCHA! I was doing good, am I right? She loved how helpful I was in the escape room. The Network gave me all the answers before we went in. It’s too bad her mom showed up and ruined our touching moment. Tina’s a knockout, but what awful timing.
My mother’s words punched me in the stomach. “Who are you?” echoed throughout the room, until those words were the only thing that existed. I stared at the man I’d thought to be my father until the second my mother failed to recognize him.
“Close your mouth, dear,” Mom said. “You’re catching flies.”
The man beside me turned bright red. He started to say something, but I found my voice and cut him off.
“Mom. This man came to the house as part of the show, to ‘give me away’.” I struggled to keep my voice steady. I should’ve known something like this would happen. The Network always had another trick. The moment Patrick walked in the door, I suspected something was up. But I wanted so badly to believe my father was back in my life, I’d ignored my instincts.
“Why on earth would he do that?”
“I’m Jen’s father,” he said.
Mom laughed. “No, you’re not.”
“’Course I am.”
“I’m pretty sure I’d remember having sex with you,” Mom said. “Jen, I don’t know who this man is, but he’s not your father.”
“I gathered.” To Not-Patrick, I said, “Who the fuck are you? Actually, on second thought, I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”
“Jan, wait, let me explain,” he said. “Oh, shit. Jen. Sorry. Jen, let me explain.”
“No. No. No. Nononono.”
Spinning around, I stormed out of the living room, not sure where to go. All I knew was that I needed to get out of there. I raced through the kitchen, pausing to snatch my phone out of its drawer before bolting through the back doors onto the patio. My friends sat there, but I couldn’t talk to them yet.
When Birdie saw my face, she broke off speaking to Rachel, who spun around. Both of them took a step toward me, but I held up my hand in a “stop” sign without breaking my stride. Neither of them could make me feel better.
I needed Justin. I didn’t even slow down when I reached the maze, ducking under the yellow tape blocking the entrance and heading straight for the center. Almost two years after the last time I’d been here, I didn’t expect to remember all the twists and turns, but it didn’t matter. I needed to get away. If I didn’t come out, someone would find me. My legs ached by the time I found a bench and flopped onto it.
The Network couldn’t be trusted. That wasn’t a secret. Leanna, Janine, and the higher-ups only cared about ratings and drama. That wasn’t a secret, either. But I couldn’t believe they’d hire a stranger to pretend to be my estranged father. To show up, apologize for everything, make amends, and then what? What were they going to do, anyway? Have my alcoholic “father” get drunk and ruin the reception? Puke on me before the ceremony? Arrange a face-to-face meeting with my mother to blow up at the worst possible moment?
Despair filled me. I didn’t know how many more of these surprises I could handle on my own. The Plan required me and Justin to roll with the punches, to do what we needed to do, but when we made the Plan, we expected to stand together as a team. Half my team remained in Florida while I dealt with all the crap by myself. We stood stronger together, and the Network’s emotional manipulation might break me without my partner by my side.
When I pulled out my phone, my arm shook with rage. I was so furious I didn’t even realize I’d started crying until teardrops splashed onto the screen. Justin’s phone went straight to voice mail. I sent him a 911 text, then let the device drop out of my hand onto the grass. Not knowing what else to do, I lowered my head into my hands and sobbed.
Why did any of this surprise me? The Network brought both my ex-boyfriend and his ex-wife on a cruise ship with me for a week. They stranded me in a foreign country with Dominic. One of the producers stole a video I’d taken of Ariana with Dominic and broadcast it on the upper decks to humiliate her. Obviously, hiring an actor to play my estranged father wasn’t beneath them.
Stupid me, I’d thought Connor was on my side. I’d thought having my best friend’s partner as a senior member of the production staff might make a difference. But here I was, back on their turf, letting them play with my emotions. Would I never learn?
The sun cast long shadows through the maze by the time anyone found me. Rustling leaves and crackling twigs signaled someone’s approach. Ed appeared first, hands spread wide, looking more serious than I’d seen him in ages. “I come in peace.”
“Tell me you didn’t know about this.” If one of my best friends had been in on the Network’s plot, nothing in my world made any sense. I’d hop the next flight east and worry about getting sued later.
“I had no idea,” he said.
“What about your other half?”
Ed gestured, and a white T-shirt waved at the end of the row of hedges. A moment later, Connor poked his head into view, looking sheepish. “I told them not to do it.”
“You knew?”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Ed said, pain cracking his voice.
“I didn’t know, exactly,” he said. “It was clear something was up, but I didn’t know what bombshell they planned to drop. Even though I have a confidentiality agreement, too, I guess Janine and Leanna didn’t trust me with something this big. Which sucks. If anyone finds out they think I’m in cahoots with the talent, I’ll never get a job in this town again.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” I muttered under my breath.
“Maybe not for you,” Connor said, “but this is my life. This is what I’ve always wanted. I’ve dreamed about this since I was five years old. Not this show, per se, but television. I need to pay my dues to get the type of show where I can make a difference. They’re already watching me because of Ed. Soon, the closest I’ll be able to get to TV is answering phones at the PBS telethon.”
“So you’re willing to sell out your friends for your job?”
“Of course not,” he insisted. “They didn’t tell me.”
Nibbling on one thumbnail, I considered his words. If he k
new and didn’t tell me, I didn’t see any way we could continue being friends. The Network’s betrayal went way beyond the reality show antics I’d come to expect. But he seemed sincere.
I let out a heavy sigh. “What did you know?”
“I tried to find your father to bring him in. But we never made contact. When that guy showed up, I figured they’d used the Network’s resources to track him down. I didn’t know what your dad looked like.”
After all I’d been through, his words sparked nothing in me. Of course they hadn’t found my real father. And he probably wouldn’t have come, even if they had. That was why I hadn’t been happy to see Fake Patrick when he showed up. I should’ve trusted my instincts.
“I want to believe you.”
“Would it help if I told you what I found out after you stormed out?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Tell me, and then I’ll decide.”
“They were going to detain your mother to keep her away from the ceremony. Flat tire, I think. Then the actor playing your father was going to get drunk before the ceremony and cause a scene walking you down the aisle. A fight maybe, step on your dress and ‘accidentally’ rip it off, or maybe trip and push you into the pool.”
“He can’t do that,” I said. “There’s no way to make it as dramatic as when I fell off the balcony of the Queen Kelly last year.”
Ed sat beside me. “Glad to see you’ve still got your sense of humor.”
“I can’t afford to lose it. The producers are determined to get to me. I refuse to let them.”
“Not all the producers,” Connor said. This time, I gave a small smile to let him know I believed him. “Why don’t we go talk to your mom?”
I followed him down the row to a fork in the maze. I started to turn left, toward the front, when he called me back.
“That’s a dead end,” I said.
“No it’s not,” Ed said, winking at me. “It’s a secret exit.”
They had to be messing with me, but I followed, waiting to see the rest of the joke. To my surprise, when we got to the corner nearest the house, Connor reached into the maze and tugged. The hedge in front of us swung outward.
“Ed, how did you know about this?” I asked.
“During The Fishbowl, Connor and I met here in the middle of the night. There weren’t any cameras in that part of the maze. You can open it from the other side, but it’s harder to find the trigger. Inside, it’s next to this discolored branch.” He pointed.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Eight weeks in the house two summers ago, and I hadn’t the slightest idea.
After we left the maze, the three of us followed the yard around to the pool, where my mom sat at an umbrella-covered table, sipping an iced tea.
She stood when she saw me and came over for a hug. Connor and Ed turned toward the kitchen, giving us some privacy.
“You showed up at the perfect moment. How did you know?”
“One of the PAs came to my hotel and asked me to come back to the house with her. Vera something.”
“Vera?” The name meant nothing to me. “They all told me they weren’t allowed to give out names. How do you know it was a PA?”
“She followed us around Tiffany. Tall, black, excellent hair?”
“Oh. Great Hair?”
“Great, excellent. Whatever. Her name is Vera.” Mom sighed and shook her head. “Honestly, what were the producers thinking would happen? Did they think I wouldn’t recognize my ex-husband because we divorced so long ago? It’s not like I haven’t seen or talked to him since the judge entered the decree.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “You’ve seen him?”
“Of course I have. Every year when he dragged me back to court to try to get his child support reduced, I saw him for fifteen minutes in the courtroom.”
I sighed. “I didn’t know. Sorry.”
“Don’t you be sorry,” she said. “It’s my job to protect my children from these things. When the Network asked me for your father’s address and phone number, of course I refused to give them anything. But…”
“But what?”
She took a sudden interest in her perfectly manicured pink fingernails. “Nothing. Never mind.”
“Mother.” My voice took on the same tone she used when she found seven-year-old me removing stitches from Adam’s knee to see how they worked. “Do you know where my father is?”
“Do you want him here?”
“No.”
“Then why does it matter?”
She had a point, and yet, it did matter. “Because you led me to believe he walked out and severed all ties and no one has heard from him since. Because the actor hired by the Network told me you ordered him to stay away from me and Adam, and I’m suddenly wondering if there’s a nugget of truth to that. Because you never talked about what happened between the two of you.”
“Nothing happened,” she said. “Sometimes two people grow apart. We married pretty young, you know—we were both in our twenties.”
A lump grew in my throat. “I’m twenty-seven. Justin’s twenty-eight.”
“Oh, sure, but you know yourself. You and Justin have been together almost two years. You’re living with his sister, and the two of you own a business together. You see each other every day. You’re cemented into the Taylor family. We didn’t have any of that. We had a whirlwind romance that gave us two kids before we managed to catch our collective breath, and when the dust settled, we realized we didn’t like each other very much.”
I’d never heard this version of my parents’ marriage. When they divorced, Mom was so sad, I didn’t ask about it. And I hadn’t let myself think about him much since. It never occurred to me that it took two people to end their marriage.
“That sucks.” Realizing your parents are real people also sucks, but I didn’t say so.
“It’s fine. I got over our failed marriage when you were a child. Filing the paperwork came as a relief. What hurt most was the way he disappeared on you and your brother after we split. He didn’t realize ending the marriage didn’t have to end his relationship with you two. But I let go of all that years ago. So should you.”
“But you know where he is?”
“Yeah, I do. Do you want him here?”
I thought about it for a long time. “No. I really don’t.”
“If you change your mind, I’ll call him. You can have his info any time.”
Curiosity gripped me. “Has he changed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s time to reach out to him, either way. Then at least you’d get some closure.” She nodded toward the patio, where Logan stood, hands in his pockets, looking at the ground. “It looks like the Network needs you.”
I sighed as she stood. “Fine, I’ll see what they want. Thanks, Mom.”
“No problem. Remember, this show is one week of your lives. Your marriage is forever.”
Her words sent a pang into my heart. It killed me that she didn’t know we were married already. I’d have to find a way to tell her, off camera, before Saturday, especially if Justin didn’t make it. But I didn’t want her to see I was bothered, so I forced a smile. “Thanks, Mom.”
She walked away. Not willing to give an inch to the Network, I gazed at the table until a shadow fell across it.
“Is this seat taken?” Logan asked.
“Who’s asking?” I said. “For a representative of the Network, the seat is most definitely taken.”
“What about for Logan, the devastatingly handsome, incredibly charming guy who made it his primary goal to keep you happy until the wedding?”
“I guess Logan can sit.” Finally, I met his eyes. “Did you plan this?”
“The fake dad? Oh, hell no. I throw awesome parties. Cake toppers and favors and vows and stuff. I don’t create faux drama. That’s the Network.”
“
Why are you helping me? Why do the show at all? Hell, why are you even doing your own show? Wasn’t being De-Virginizer of the Stars working for you?”
He winced. “That was never me.”
“Don’t tell me. It was your wacky identical twin cousin?” He snorted, and I continued. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t care who you sleep with. But your show seemed like a total one-eighty from the Logan Cassidy plastered across the Internet every day when I was in college.”
“That was the point,” he said. “We needed to turn my image around. I mean, most of that stuff you saw in the tabloids was garbage. I didn’t have a threesome with two eighteen-year-olds. I saw some guy at the bar slip something into their drinks. I followed them, punched him out, and took them home. The paparazzi saw me leaving the cabin with a girl on each arm, but no one bothered to get the full story.”
His words made me pause. That story seemed more in sync with the person I’d come to know than what I’d read online. And I knew better than most how the media liked to distort stories to make them more sensational. Facts had no place in “news” anymore. At the same time, he’d been faking an attraction to me all week. Unless Rachel and Joshua and Koji were right. Hell, I didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“That was great of you. But then why did you enter rehab?”
“Because I was completely stoned when it happened. And pretty much every day before that. Just because I didn’t do one specific terrible thing doesn’t mean I didn’t need help.”
“True. Why didn’t you tell anyone the truth about the girls?”
“Because it didn’t matter.” He shrugged. “People read the flashy headlines, not the tiny retractions. For the record, I also didn’t seduce the princess of some foreign country I can’t even remember.”
I chuckled at the memory of that rumor. “Genovia.”
“See? I don’t even know where that is.”
“It’s the made-up country from The Princess Diaries.” I smiled at him. “Some of us knew it wasn’t true.”
He shook his head. “The world has gotten so weird. Anyway, yeah, I partied a bit in school. Who didn’t? I drank a lot, did drugs, slept around. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed, either. It’s part of who I am.”
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