LIVE TO TELL: A Fake Fiancé Romance (Material Girls Book 2)

by Sophia Henry

  “Harris,” I say firmly. “I’m going to Prague. I want to do it on good terms. I want you to be proud of me. Do I have a job or not?”

  The silence is thick for a few seconds. Finally, he sighs heavily, his shoulders dropping when he says, “Yes. You will have a job. Let’s put together some ideas as to what it will look like, and meet next week.”

  “Thank you.” I turn to leave his office.

  “Madeline!” Daddy calls. I turn around slowly, bracing for the wrath of speaking to my father so sternly.

  “I’ll always be proud of you.”

  I’ve barely made it to my car when a text pings. After a quick swipe of the screen, I see:

  Mama: Madeline, you get your butt to the house this minute!

  Ah shit. I should’ve known Daddy would call Mama as soon as I left his office. My stilettos clap against the asphalt as I hurry to the car.

  “I’m here, Mama!” I call as I enter the house. “Do your worst.”

  “I’m in the kitchen!” she calls.

  Taking a deep breath, I brace myself for the wrath. Mama is really good at making me feel guilty for my choices. Or making me feel like, if I don’t make the decision she wants me to make, it’s flat-out wrong. Thankfully, I’ve been sailing through Cookie’s waters my entire life, so I know how to navigate through the storm that’s brewing. I am my mother’s daughter, and like her, once I’ve made up my mind, nothing will change it. Not even one of Mama’s guilt trips.

  When I enter the kitchen, Mama is at the bar, clicking away on a laptop. She stops to pat the chair next to her.

  “Pull up a seat, Madeline.”

  Tentatively, I walk toward her, surprised at how calm everything seems. It’s definitely not how I expected this to go. Maybe Daddy didn’t call her? Nah, they’re thick as thieves, so that’s out of the question.

  I hang my pocketbook on the back of the chair and slide in next to her. Peering at the screen, I notice she’s logged into the website she uses to coordinate meals for our friends who have had major life events happen and need some extra help or love. She’ll enlist people to bring a meal over, so the family can focus on the event, whether it’s a family member who passed away or a new baby in the house.

  “Who’s that for?” I ask.

  “Ginny.”

  My head snaps to Mama. “What?”

  She switches back and forth between a browser with her email to the sign-up website, her eyes never veering from the screen. “I’m making a schedule for who’s going to visit Ginny while you and Erik are away,” she says. “There won’t be one day where she doesn’t have a visitor.”

  “Mama—” I start, but the words catch in my throat. I press my lips together, trying to compose myself as tears pool in my eyes.

  “I’ve made it very clear that visiting during mealtime is ideal, but I do hope it’s okay if there’s a day or two that it’s just a visit.” She finally looks at me.

  I don’t even stop the tears as they slide down my cheeks. “Thank you, Mama,” I say softly.

  She wraps her arms around me and hugs me tight. Suddenly, her body begins to shake, and I realize Mama might be crying. I pull back to confirm, and sure enough, we’re both blubbering.

  She reaches across the counter and grabs a dish towel. “I’m going to miss you, Madeline,” she says, taking a moment to dab her eyes. “But I’m not going to stop you from being with the person you love.”

  On the drive from my office to the house, I thought of the things I still had to do to be able to make moving to Prague work. Because I knew Ginny not having anyone to visit was one of Erik’s major concerns about his having to leave, I wanted to make sure I took care of it before I told him I’m going with him. I didn’t know how I was going to pull it together, but I never imagined Mama would.

  I’d prepared for this moment with Mama, ready to fight. Yet, instead of coming at me with anger, she began preparing the very thing I needed help with. All of a sudden, I’m reminded of what a good person Mama is. She might do or say things I perceive to be cold, but when it comes down to it, she does what she needs to do for family. And she’ll fight tooth and nail for us.

  “Thank you, Mama.” I pull her back in my arms because I really don’t have any other words to express my appreciation. “I love you so much.”

  There’s one last pressing issue I have to figure out before I get back home tonight. And I know just who to call.

  “What’s up, Mayor?” Emily greets me upon answering her phone.

  “I need a favor.”

  “You want a tattoo?” she teases.

  “Fat chance.”

  “Someday, you’re gonna get one. And I’m going to say—”

  I interrupt her ridiculous rambling. “I’m moving to Prague with Erik. Can you foster our dog for a few years?”

  “Fuck yes!” she answers.

  And just like that, Erik and I are free to go.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Erik

  “I’m going with you to Prague,” Maddie declares as soon as I set a foot in the door to the condo.

  My girl has clearly lost her mind. She can’t possibly go with me. Her entire life is here—in Charlotte. And she loves it. I lean down to pet Ramos, who zoomed past her in his beeline to greet me. “Maddie. That’s ridiculous. You can’t—”

  “I can,” she says firmly. “I love you and I don’t want to live without you. Nothing means more to me than you.” She moves closer, gently kneeing Ramos out of the way.

  “I appreciate that, love.” I plant a quick kiss on her lips, inhaling the sweet scent of bubble gum. “But your career is here. Your family is here.”

  “You’re right. But you mean more to me than my job. And, I’m a U.S. citizen.” She shrugs. “Technically, I can come back and visit my family anytime I want. I want to go with you.”

  I know her by now. I know her body language and the tone of her voice. She’s completely serious and she’s got her mind made up.

  “Sweetheart, I love you too. So much, it makes my heart hurt. But you cannot move to the Czech Republic with me. You cannot leave your entire life behind. You may not see the consequences right now, but I do. You may not care about them, but I do.”

  “Erik.”

  “Stop, please. I won’t let you to turn your back on everything you know and love because of me. You’ll lose your family and the career you worked hard for. You’ll miss your friends,” I say, inching past her to get to the living room. I’ve never let her see any weakness about my decision, and I’m not about to now. “I don’t know what the Czech Republic will be like. I have a place to live, but I don’t have any real plans. I have no clue what I’m doing. I can’t bring you into that unknown.”

  “Erik.” Maddie reaches out and grabs my arm. I turn to face her again. “I told you before that I will do anything to help you. A couple years in another country isn’t going to break me. It’s an adventure. I want to go on this adventure with you. If you can’t stay here, I’m going with you.”

  I won’t let her make a decision that will ruin everything she worked for in her life. It’s that easy. But since she’s stuck on another crazy idea, I have to pull out the big guns.

  “What about my grandma, Maddie? I feel good about leaving because I trust that you will take good care of her.” It’s a bit of a low blow since Ginny is not Maddie’s responsibility in any way, but I had to hit below the belt to get her to realize it would be a mistake to leave her life here.

  “There’s a line out the door of people who want to help take care of Ginny. Mama already started a signup sheet. Emily, Liz, Austin—even Austin’s mama. They all assured us that there won’t be one day where Ginny doesn’t have someone there.”

  Surprised and slightly stunned by her thoughtfulness and the fact that so many people want to help, I stumble back, until my calves hit the couch, and fall onto it.

  “And Emily said she’d take care of Ramos for the time we’re gone,” Maddie says, reading my mind before
I have a chance to ask about him.

  “You did all that for me?”

  She sinks down next to me and takes my hand. “I did it for us. I’m not letting you do this alone, Erik. My family is your family and your family is mine. We’re in this together. And we have people we can count on to help us.”

  “Are you sure, Maddie?” I whisper. Fuck the tears that are stinging my eyes. I refuse to let them spill.

  “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

  My knee shakes, because the idea of Maddie coming with me is becoming more and more of a possibility in my mind. “What about your parents?” My concern is weak, because Maddie is an adult, but their opposition would be a major roadblock.

  “My parents are fine with it.”

  “I don’t believe that.” I shake my head stubbornly. I refuse to let her ruin her ties with her family. That would break her.

  “You don’t have to believe me. As soon as you stop resisting, we can hop in that big old truck of yours and race to Mama and Daddy’s, and you can ask them yourself. Heck, Daddy’s the one who helped me get my visa paperwork started.”

  “This is ridiculous.” I run both hands through my hair, squeezing the back of my head in frustration.

  “We’re like two mules fighting over a turnip right now, I swear.” She huffs.

  My head snaps up to get a translation of her Southern sayings. “Excuse me?”

  “We’ve gotta come to an agreement, sugar. We both want the same thing, don’t we?” Maddie asks.

  “Yes.”

  “You love me, don’t you?”

  “You know I do.”

  “I’m not buckling in for a twelve-hour flight with a stubborn ass. So, stop all this fussin’ and kiss me, already.”

  The woman sitting next to me is so much different than the woman I’ve known for years. She’s not concerned about how she’ll be perceived by others. She’s not concerned about making other people happy. She’s only concerned with me.

  I stare into her eyes, trying to figure out if she’s completely serious about this crazy plan. Is she making a good choice, or being completely unreasonable?

  Her stiletto taps against the hardwood floor, reminding me that even the spilt-second I’ve taken is too long, because when a beautiful, Southern woman demands you kiss her—you kiss her.

  I grab her waist and pull her onto my lap, then cover her mouth with mine. She immediately melts into me, sliding her hands across my back before clasping them around my neck. Our tongues tangle for a few seconds, and when I pull away, the taste of bubble gum lingers. I open my mouth to speak, but Maddie interrupts before I can say a word.

  “If you’re about to argue again, you can just hush.”

  I can’t help but smile. “I’m not going to argue. I’m going to say thank you.” I nudge her nose with mine. “I cannot believe that you would give up your entire life for me.”

  “I’m not giving up my life, Erik. I’m starting it. I thought it was pretty clear that you are my life. You are my family. You are the person I want to spend the rest of my days with. When we’re old and gray, we’ll be on the front-porch swing, sipping iced tea together. I don’t care what country that porch is in, as long as I’m with you.”

  Tears spring to my eyes, a sign of how completely overwhelmed I am by how much thought she’s put into this. And the fact that she’s willing to drop everything to go with me. The only other people who’ve loved me like this were my grandparents, who took me in and cared for me, even though I wasn’t a blood relation.

  “Oh, Erik.” Maddie smiles and brings her hands to my face, gently sweeping the pads of her thumbs across my eyes.

  I sniff a few times and clear my throat. Done.

  “I’m not arguing, but—” I begin tentatively. “What about your career? You’ve worked hard to be where you are at Commons.”

  She shrugs. “I’ve spoken to Daddy about working remotely in some aspect of the business—maybe not in my current position, but something. If we can come to an agreement that works, great. If not, then the visa I’m applying for will allow me to work, and I’ll email my resume to every business in Prague until I find something. I’m not worried, Erik. I’m confident that I’m an asset to any company, not just my family’s.”

  “I agree, one hundred percent.”

  “So, we’re doing this?” Maddie asks, pulling back slightly. Her eyes are as bright as her smile.

  I nod, but I honestly can’t keep the smile off my own face. “I guess we are.”

  Maddie clenches our fists together and pumps it into the air. “I’m so excited.”

  It’s a completely ridiculous thought to have at this particular moment, but my mind is already turning over how Maddie is going to fit all of her stuff into a few suitcases.

  She extends her arm in front of her and slides it through the air, as if our names are in lights on a marquis. “Maddie and Erik take Europe.”

  “Dramatic much?” I ask. Then I tighten my grip and hug her to me again.

  Never in a million years did I think Madeline Commons would drop everything to move to another country with me. Asking her didn’t even cross my mind. And I’m not sure why. I didn’t doubt her love for me, but asking her to move to someplace so far from everything she knows didn’t seem like an easy request. I wouldn’t have asked it of anyone. But the fact that she made that decision, and all the work she put into answering any doubts I had, reinforces my belief that she really does love me.

  “This is so surreal, Maddie.”

  She snuggles into my chest. “I know. It’s going to be an amazing adventure. I’m excited to build a life together away from everyone and everything. We can start fresh.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” I squeeze her tighter.

  “Erik, can I ask you something crazy?” Her words are muffled because her face is buried in my chest. I lean back.

  “You can ask me anything.”

  “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hear me out!” She rushes into her next sentence. “It just makes sense that we move to Prague already married. It means this is real. We’re both all-in. No one can question our commitment.”

  “Sweetheart.” I tilt her chin upwards with my fingers. “I said yes.”

  “Oh. Well, all right then. It’s settled.”

  It’s settled. We’ve chosen our path. We’ve chosen each other, after all the years—maybe because of all the years. And the truth set both of us free.

  Life is a series of decisions. We can choose to lie or choose to tell the truth. Sometimes the truth is the hardest thing we’ll ever have to face, but I’ve found, the hardest decisions have the greatest reward.

  Epilogue

  Maddie

  Three Weeks Later

  Erik and I sing along to “We Are the Champions” from the Mighty Ducks soundtrack at the top of our lungs as he pulls his truck into my parents’ driveway.

  He shifts into park and turns to me. “Last family brunch for a while,” he says, reaching over to squeeze my knee. “You ready?”

  There have been a lot of “lasts” over the past few weeks: Last day at the office. Last lunch with my girlfriends. Moving is stressful, whether you’re going across town, across country, or across an ocean. Between applying for the documents I’d need in order to work in the Czech Republic, having to whittle my wardrobe down to almost nothing, and pulling multiple overnighters to get everything else done to prepare to leave the country, the exhaustion has hit me hard. But I have zero complaints because it’s the excitement of starting a new life with Erik that keeps me going.

  “Yes,” I answer honestly. “Though, I am gonna miss Mama’s cooking. There are some recipes I just can’t recreate.”

  “Wanna know a secret?” Erik lowers his voice to a conspiratorial tone, though it’s just us in the truck. “I like your cooking better.” He winks and leans over to kiss me.

  I peck his lips. “You’re just saying that because I’m a
ll you’ll have for the next few years.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and grab my pocketbook from the floor.

  “I’m not!” Erik climbs out. He walks around the front of the truck and grabs my hand when he gets to me. “You have the Southern staples down pat, but you can also cook other cuisines. You make the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life.”

  “You’re the sweetest man.” I lean over and kiss his cheek as we head toward my parents’ front door.

  “Hello!” I call as I open the door. “The guests of honor have arrived! Drinks, please!”

  “Cookie’s gonna love that,” Erik mumbles.

  I wink at him. “She’ll get over it.”

  Mama appears from the kitchen with two full glasses of punch in her hand. “I almost thought it was your younger sister with a greeting like that.”

  She looks immaculate as ever as she hands us our drinks. Her hair is perfectly curled, with the sides pinned up perfectly. A black-and-white flowered, A-line dress fits her figure, cinching her waist and hitting just below her knee. I’m going to miss this. Brunch with my family. Mama taking care of me. Learning from her.

  My heart sinks for a moment, but I don’t let it show. I made a decision for my future—the future I want with Erik. I’m not upset with my choice, but leaving my family will be difficult. I straighten my shoulders.

  “Thanks, Mama.” I lean in and kiss each of her cheeks. Erik does the same.

  “You look beautiful, Mrs. Commons,” he says.

  She flashes him a smile. “Thank you, dear.”

  The difference between how Mama treats Erik since she decided to be Ginny’s new champion is night and day. Maybe it’s her way of apologizing to him for being rude during the last few months. Maybe it’s because the caretaker in her loves having someone to look after. All of us girls are out of the house, and I’m leaving the country, so, maybe it’s her way of coping.