Just Good Friends

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Uh…” He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it again. Was she serious? He reluctantly brought the phone back to his ear and shrugged. “There was no one defining moment,” he hedged, wondering if Tiffany gave her “her side” of the story already and her mother was calling him to compare notes.

  “Certainly, there was some kind of spark that let you know she was the right one.”

  “Not really. We were together one day, and I happened to look at her and realized I was in love.” There, that was vague. “It just clicked.” Before she could ask anything else, he knocked on his desk. “Oh, it looks like my boss is at the door. I hope you don’t mind, Mrs. Clark, but I need to talk to him. Business, you know.”

  “Oh, of course. I understand.”

  “Thank you and good-bye.” He hung up the phone and grabbed his briefcase before he hurried out the door so he wouldn’t be late for the meeting.

  ***

  “My mother did what?” Tiffany asked, unable to believe her ears.

  “She called me at the office,” Tyler replied.

  Tiffany groaned as they went down the hill at Fontenelle Forest. Digging her hands into the pockets of her coat, she shook her head. “I told her to never do that again when she did it to Andy.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, she told me she’d called your other boyfriends in the past.”

  “The woman has no shame.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. She has no right to go around checking up on my boyfriends.”

  “You mean I’m not the only one pretending I’m dating you?”

  She laughed. “Oh come on. You know what I mean.”

  He stopped in front of a bench and motioned for her to sit down. “Take a break. You’re practically running.”

  He was right. She was letting her irritation get the best of her, and because of it, she wasn’t taking the time to enjoy the trees around her.

  He sat next to her and rubbed her back. “There you go. Take a deep breath and tell yourself everything will be okay.”

  Deciding it was worth a shot, she obeyed him.

  After she took three deep breaths, he asked, “Feel better?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  “Hey, what are friends for?” He leaned back and stretched his legs in front of him. “I was meaning to ask you, what do you want me to wear at the wedding?”

  “Wear that really expensive suit you own. The one you reserve for funerals. They’ll take one look at it and think you’ll be a good provider for me and the future kids. It’ll be their dream come true, and they’ll stop trying to fix me up with gross men like Lucas and Peeping Jason.”

  He chuckled. “You got it. I’ll dress to impress.”

  Her lips turned up into a smile at the teasing tone in his voice. “I hope she doesn’t keep calling you. It creeps me out when she calls up men I’m dating. One of them broke up with me because of it.”

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I work for Nathan Rudolph, so I’m used to eccentric people. Speaking of which, I got my vacation time scheduled, so I can go to Montana. After talking to your mom, I’m curious to see how she is in real life.”

  “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  “I’m just curious, that’s all. It’s like when you hear a movie is really stupid, so you watch it to find out if it really is.”

  “Well, I’m not exaggerating. My family might drive you nuts. Toward the end of the weekend, you’ll be running to the plane.” After a moment, she asked, “What did my mother say?”

  He hesitated. “She said I was polite because I referred to her as Mrs. Clark.”

  She frowned and straightened up so she could get a better look at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Tyler.”

  “Okay. She was a little…eager to suggest I might be a son-in-law some day.”

  Good grief. Was that what her mother did to all of her boyfriends? No wonder they got weirded out. She would, too, if she was them. She groaned then put her head in her hands. “I’m sorry. This is not something I wanted to put you through.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. You prepared me. It’s alright. I knew what to expect. Sure, I was taken off guard at first, but it wasn’t like I didn’t know she was like this. As long as we both know this is just pretend, that’s all that matters.”

  “Right, and after Christmas, I’m going to tell them we realized that we’re just supposed to be friends.”

  “You sure you want to wait that long? You can tell them right after we get back.”

  “I’m afraid I’d spoil their Christmas if I did that.”

  “Well, whatever you decide, I’ll be the jerk who was dumb enough to let you go.”

  “I’m going to say it was amiable. That way when I tell them we’re still friends, they won’t freak.”

  Smiling, he gave her a comforting hug. She leaned into him. No matter how bad she felt, he always found a way to make her feel better.

  “Thanks, Tyler. I don’t know how many friends would go through all this for someone.”

  “It’s nothing. You’d do the same for me if I was in your shoes. Now, come on. Let’s keep going. We’re here to relax and have a good time, remember?”

  He helped her to her feet, and she returned his smile. “Yes, we are. Let’s forget my family and just enjoy the rest of the day.”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they continued down the path.

  ***

  The next day, the phone rang while Tyler was at work. He picked it up. “Tyler Jackson, Vice President of Rudolph Vacation Enterprises.”

  “Hi there, Tyler,” a male voice said from the other end.

  His eyebrows furrowed. “Do I know you?”

  “Not yet, son, but we’ll meet soon. I’m Tiffany’s dad.”

  “Mr. Clark?” He quickly glanced at the office door, which was open.

  Carmen’s eyebrows rose as she glanced his way, but she didn’t say anything.

  Tyler cleared his throat. “I didn’t expect you to call, sir.”

  The man laughed. “There’s no need to be so formal with me, son. Up here in Montana, we’re all family. Just treat me like you would a relative.”

  “Oh, okay.” Tyler wasn’t sure he could ever do that, but he’d give it a shot.

  “The reason I called is because Tiffany’s mom is making the menu for Thanksgiving. Is there anything you’re allergic to?”

  “No, I don’t have any food allergies.”

  “Good. Honey, he has no food allergies,” he called out to his wife. “She’s afraid she’ll upset our daughter if she calls you again, so she told me to call for her. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No,” Tyler slowly said then caught sight of Nathan as he went over to Carmen’s desk. “I’m at work right now,” he whispered. “I can’t use this for personal calls unless it’s an emergency.”

  “I understand. Just one more question, and I’ll let you go. What is your favorite dessert?”

  “Oh, um. Well, pumpkin pie.”

  “That certainly fits with the holiday. Thanks. I look forward to meeting you on Wednesday.”

  After saying good-bye, Tyler hung up. That was weird. Her mom called yesterday. Her dad called today. But he would be on the plane tomorrow, so they wouldn’t call him here again. At least, he didn’t think they would.

  Nathan walked over to his office and leaned against the doorway. “I don’t have a policy against taking personal phone calls.”

  “I needed an excuse to get off the phone,” Tyler replied. “Where’s your daughter, and why aren’t you doting on her?”

  “She’s taking a nap. The poor girl is tired after going for a visit to the payroll department. I was teaching her all about taxes, and it gave her a headache just like it does me.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll remember everything you said.” He shook his head. “Nathan, she’s going to come to the age where you
can’t keep her in your office anymore. Sure, right now she behaves well enough, but she’s going to start learning to walk and talk. She’ll be all over the place. And worse, she won’t find trips to payroll interesting.”

  “I got that covered. I’m going to have a personal daycare worker take the empty office right over there.” He gestured to the empty room. “I’ll be able to stop by and check on her during the day. Plus, when Amy has another baby, we’ll be set up and ready to go.”

  “You have everything planned, don’t you?”

  “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared. It’s one of my best traits.”

  Tyler couldn’t argue with his friend. No matter what bad thing happened, Nathan managed to find his way out of it, and when he did, he didn’t suffer any unpleasant consequences because of it.

  “Nathan, can I have your advice about something?” When he noticed Carmen look over at them, he added, “Alone.”

  Carmen sighed. “I never get included in the good stuff.”

  “You got included all the time when I married Amy,” Nathan replied. “I still have the gravestone in the shape of a rat sitting at the city dump, thanks to you.” He closed the door and sat across from Tyler. “I don’t know how she did it, but I can’t get rid of it. The thing is going to be around forever.”

  Tyler chuckled. “You can’t blame her for that one.”

  “I only did what any reasonable man looking for a wife would do. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you.” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. “What’s up?”

  “Alright. My friend has this family who’s been pushing her to get married-”

  “How old is she?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Sure. If she’s in her early twenties, she has plenty of time to get married. If she’s older, then her biological clock is ticking, and she’d be wise to pay attention to it. Cute little children like the one I have sleeping in my office don’t just happen by magic.”

  Tyler shot Nathan a pointed look. “She’s not worried about her biological clock.”

  “She should be. Children are a blessing. The more, the merrier.”

  “This has nothing to do with children. What I want is your advice on how to handle her parents when I go up to Montana and visit them.”

  “You plan to advise them to back off from nudging her into getting married?”

  “No, I’m going to pretend to be her boyfriend.”

  “Why?”

  “So they’ll back off from bugging her about getting married.”

  Nathan snickered. “Not going to happen. You going along will only encourage them. They’ll see you and get all excited. I’m telling you, Amy’s parents were thrilled to meet me. Not to brag, but I think they enjoy being with me more than being with her.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “This isn’t about Amy’s parents. Amy’s parents are normal. Tiffany says her parents have a tendency to be,” he shrugged, “a little on the demanding side.”

  “Tiffany. Tiffany Clark?”

  He knew it was a mistake to mention her name.

  “Tiffany is thirty-five. She should be getting married.”

  “Don’t side with the parents,” Tyler warned.

  “I’m not. I’m just saying that she’s not getting any younger. Doesn’t she want kids?”

  “I don’t know. She’s never mentioned it.”

  “I think if you asked her, she’d say yes,” Nathan replied. “You’re not young either, you know. You turned forty earlier this year. Why don’t you do her a favor and marry her? Then you both can have children. I’m telling you, few things are better than coming home to a loving wife and kid. Those two things complete a man’s life.”

  “I’m not seeking your advice on that,” Tyler said then leaned forward in his chair. “All I want to know is how to best lie to her parents. I want to be convincing so they don’t think we’re pretending.”

  “You really want me to teach you how to lie?”

  “Well, you manage it very well.”

  “I don’t lie all the time. Just when it’s in everyone’s best interest. But I don’t know if it’d work for you. There’s a skill to it that isn’t easy to master. I mean, not everyone can pull it off like I can.”

  Tyler should have known his friend would find a way to praise himself. “While that’s true, I’m sure you can give me some pointers.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  “All I want to do is get through the weekend by pretending I’m her boyfriend. Once it’s over, we’ll pretend to break up and that’ll be it.”

  “This can easily backfire on you.”

  “That’s why I’m asking your advice. So it doesn’t.”

  Nathan drummed his fingers on the chair’s arm as he thought over the situation. “The first rule of lying is to never lie so much you can’t deliver on the promise. Be prepared to see it through, no matter what. If you can’t see it through, then find a really good reason why you can’t. The second rule of lying is to make sure Tiffany will be willing to do whatever the lie involves.”

  “That should be easy. It was her idea to pretend that we’re a couple.”

  “Really?”

  Tyler nodded. “Really.”

  “Are you sure she didn’t ask you because she’s hoping you’ll end up being her boyfriend for real? Maybe this is her way of trying to get you to eventually marry her and give her children.”

  “No, it’s not,” Tyler admonished with a shake of his head. “I know that’s a ploy you would come up with, but unlike you, she doesn’t have a deceptive bone in her body.”

  “Then why was the lie her idea?” he pointedly asked with a smirk.

  “I give up. Get on out of here.”

  As Nathan stood up, he said, “You know what parents love more than anything else?”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “I’m an expert on parents. You should ask.”

  When Nathan looked expectantly at him, Tyler indicated for him to continue. “What?”

  “Tell her parents how wonderful she is. Really build her up. Make it seem like you’re the luckiest guy in the world.”

  “Is that what you did with Amy’s parents?”

  “I didn’t have to lie. It was the truth.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Only you could marry a woman by proxy and have everything work out exactly the way you want it.”

  Nathan grinned and straightened his suit jacket. “What can I say? When you got it, you got it.”

  As Tyler watched Nathan leave the office, he couldn’t help but wish he had whatever magical gift Nathan did. Because whatever Nathan wanted, he managed to get it, no matter how out of reach it seemed. Some men, Tyler guessed, had all the luck. While he… While he was doing good just to keep up with the world around him.

  Chapter Four

  On Wednesday, Tiffany had just gotten through helping the last customer at the travel agency when her co-worker, Amy Rudolph, swirled around in her chair to face her. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to lie to your parents?” she asked.

  “Oh, let her be,” Danielle Pearce, Tiffany’s other co-worker, said after she sipped her frappuccino. “There’s no harm in it.”

  “It’s lying, and her parents could find out,” Amy replied.

  Tiffany twirled the pen in her hand. “I wouldn’t have to resort to lying if my parents weren’t threatening to fix me up with all sorts of horrible guys. You don’t know how bad these guys are.”

  “I don’t know,” Danielle said as she put her feet up on her desk. “It’s hard to do worse than Andy Dweeb.”

  Tiffany couldn’t help but chuckle at the nickname. “To be fair, I was never that serious about him.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Danielle said. “You just wanted to tell your parents you were dating so they’d leave you alone. Andy was awful. He had no sense of humor, and he thought the world better bow down and worship him. He had a serious god complex.”

  Amy shook her head. “
What’s gotten into you, Danielle? You’re not usually this mean.”

  “And why shouldn’t I be mean?” Danielle sat up straight and shot Amy a pointed look. “He said I don’t portray a professional image for this company.”

  “To be fair, you did just have your feet on the desk,” Tiffany countered.

  “But I don’t do that when the customers are here. I wait until they’re gone,” she replied then sipped more of her drink.

  “I will admit that Andy wasn’t the best boyfriend around,” Amy said. “But like Tiffany said, she wasn’t serious about him. It didn’t matter if he was a snob or not.”

  “He was a dweeb,” Danielle insisted. “A total and complete dweeb. The guy got excited about numbers, specifically how profitable influential men are.” With an excited look, she set her cup down. “Speaking of which, Amy, I wondered if you could talk to that wonderful husband of yours. Something that would boost the morale of this place would be a spa in the back room. It’d be a great relaxation area for us so we can get a massage or manicure when we feel stressed out.”

  “You’re awful, Danielle. I’m not going to take advantage of Nathan like that.”

  “Why not? He’s perfectly willing to do anything you want.” She glanced over at Tiffany. “You should have seen this place before she married him. It was like flying coach on a plane. But as soon as he was her husband, we got first class seats.”

  “Tiffany’s best friends with the vice president,” Amy pointed out.

  “Which is even better. Tiffany,” Danielle turned her pleading gaze in her direction, “will you ask Tyler to ask Nathan for a spa?”

  “What you’re talking about isn’t technically a spa,” Tiffany said.

  “Well, I’m calling it a spa because it sounds better than a relaxation room.”

  Amused, Tiffany shook her head but smiled. “No. I can’t take advantage of Tyler’s friendship.”

  “Exactly,” Amy replied. “You’ll just have to buy a package at the spa.”

  “You’re no fun.” Danielle sighed and picked up her cup. “Either one of you.”