“Okay.”
“And if you want help taking down your decorations today, I’ve already picked out some Christmas movies we can watch. I even put together some snacks for the occasion.”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes. Maybe my love life is a mess, but at least one thing is going right today. I finally have my sister back. “I’d like that.”
“Hey, who called you last night?”
“What?”
“I heard your phone ring last night. It’s almost as loud as you when Marshall’s locked in the room with you. Who called?”
“Some spam number.”
“At midnight?”
I shrug. “I guess.”
“Where’s your phone?”
“I already blocked the number and deleted the voicemail,” I say, handing over the phone I’ve been carrying around in my hoodie pocket like a total sap hoping Marshall will reach out and explain what happened last night. I want so badly to be wrong about what I overheard. Isn’t that usually what breaks up the couples on Hallmark movies? Some stupid misunderstanding because one person overhears half of the conversation?
“This isn’t spam,” Hillary says.
“How do you know?”
“Because it sayscounty jail.”
“I don’t know anyone in jail. That sounds like spam to me.”
Hillary hits play on the deleted voicemail she’s somehow managed to retrieve.
“Hey Hope, it’s me. Marshall. Your fake boyfriend who was really hoping to become your real boyfriend at midnight. But then some dickweed made a comment about me just trying to get in your pants, and well, I uh, punched him. Long story short, I got arrested.
“So…I’ll have to save that New Year’s Eve kiss for next year. If you want to be my girlfriend for real. I want it all, Hope. And I want it all with you. Anyway, I’m out of time. So I hope you get this and don’t think I bailed on you.
“Funny, because I’m actually the one who needs bail. Not that you need to bail me out of jail. I punched a guy and then shoved him into a perfectly good pan of deviled eggs—okay, I got to go. Nathan says I’m really out of time now. Hope—I love you.”
“Do you believe me now?” Hillary asks.
I push out my chair so quickly it topples over.
“Where are you going?” Hillary asks, a knowing smile on her face.
“Down to the county jail. I have to go tell my fake boyfriend I love him.”
12
MARSHALL
“You’re good to go,”Nathan says, releasing me from the cell I spent the night locked inside. “The city decided not to press charges for the damages, but it would be a good idea if you offered up some volunteer work.”
“What about…”
“Don’t worry about him,” Nathan says of Drunk Idiot who’s sleeping off a hangover in the far cell. “I’ll see to it that he leaves town.”
“Thanks.” I rub the back of my neck trying to work out the stiffness. Or maybe it’s the fear that Hope doesn’t feel the same. She probably thinks I stood her up last night. Or she saw me get hauled away in handcuffs and assumed the worst. I’ve yet to hear from Caden or Ruby, but since today is a big day at the gym, my sister’s probably helping out there.
I shrug into my coat and shove my wallet and phone—which now has a dead battery—into my pocket, prepared to walk to Hope’s place since I don’t have a car. Caden promised they’d take care of Gram, so my only priority this morning is to find the woman I love. I hope to God I haven’t fucked things up.
