“It makes sense. A wedding ring gives you more leverage and legitimacy for saying no and avoiding him, and for filing a restraining order.”
She goes quiet before she whispers, “So, you’ll do it?”
“Marry you?”
“Yes.” Her voice gets stronger. “Will you be my fake husband, Mateo?”
I’ve had a crush on this woman for two years. I’ve been praying about how to get space from my family and get them to back off about me dating. It’s like everything has aligned in this moment, and I don’t even hesitate. “Yes. You’re in charge of telling your brother, though. He’ll take it better from you. Meanwhile, I’ll tell my mami. Let me know what your timeline is so I can get some things sorted around the farm.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention we don’t have to live together, but sometimes I’ll need you to come to California for a weekend or a specific event. For example, I have to attend a series of galas this summer and I’d love to have you here for those. You can stay in one of the guest bedrooms. I also was thinking you could hire another worker for your farm who could step induring those times and I could pay their salary. Would that be okay?”
I don’t know how my parents would feel about it, but my heart has already committed to this crazy adventure. We’ll figure it out and if she helps us hire another worker, then we should be fine. I can do paperwork and administrative things remotely when I occasionally go to California.
This crazy scheme is growing on me by the second.
“That’s very generous of you, Holly. But you don’t have to pay me to marry you.”
She huffs. “I’m not paying you to marry me, silly man. I’m just saying we’d be married, so I should probably make sure it’s feasible for you to act like my husband and so you can come to California when I need you. Especially because you run a farm in Oregon that you’ll still need to take care of while you’re with me.”
“Well, we can figure out something.”
She pauses for a moment. “So… you’ll do it?”
I huff a laugh. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Her squeals pierce my eardrums, but it’s a happy pain I’ll suffer any day. “You’re amazing, Mateo!”
I chuckle and wink before remembering we’re on the phone and she can’t see it. “Don’t you forget it. Now I’ve got to go finish harvesting cherries and think about how this is going to work. Text me details, okay?”
“Will do. Thanks for being my knight in shining armor again.”
I smile, and the happiness in her voice warms my heart. “Of course, Holly.”
The phone goes silent and my music restarts as I stare at the sky.
This is not how I imagined getting engaged.
Chapter 5
Activate Hero Powers
Mateo
The house is dark as I walk in through the mudroom. I unlace my boots and throw my socks into the hamper on auto-pilot. Summers are long and hot. Today was no exception. The only bright spot, besides the sun, was talking with Holly.
I head straight for the fridge and pull out a carton of chocolate milk. I forgo pouring a glass and instead drink straight from the carton.
Perks of living on your own.
I pull out my dinner, grilled chicken, veggies and rice I prepared earlier in the week. My sisters laugh at how I can eat the same meal five times a week. Jokes on them, they have to cook five times a week while I only cook once, and by having food prepped I get to avoid Mami’s matchmaking every night at dinner.
It pays to have a simple palate and to like routine.
I stick the glass container in the microwave and lean against the counter.
Would I love to cook a gourmet meal with variety in it every night? Absolutely.
But ain’t nobody got time for that. Not with working on the farm, my woodworking hobby on the side, and a meddling madre. I barely have timeto sleep.
