Is it better to ask a friend to keep a secret from the world for you, or to apologize later for not telling the whole truth?
They’re both bad, and I feel like a complete asshole either way.
And Grady might already know.
He also might not.
Gah.
This was a terrible idea, and my brain hurts thinking about all of the ways it’s a bad idea.
But then I think about Nigel, and I would fake-marry Davis ten times over, even with his Mr. Mysterious routine, if it gives me an excuse to send Nigel back to Iowa.
I’d probably even marry Davis for real to give me an excuse to send Nigel back to Iowa.
Marriage of convenience is a real thing. Why not be real fake married if you’re only doing it because you’re never dating and you don’t intend to live together?
Aren’t there tax benefits?
“If you think any harder, you’re going to burn the cookies I have in the oven,” Grady says.
I shake my head. “Right. Sorry. Lot on my mind. If you’re gonna get married, do it fast so you don’t have time to worry about dieting. Thank you for baking wedding cookies. We’re both honored and grateful. Is Annika around?”
“Not yet. She’s?—”
The bells on the door jingle again, and I don’t have to turn around to know that my friend has arrived.
I can see it in Grady’s smile.
They’re adorable. And disgusting. And adorable.
It’s a disgusting sandwich made with adorable bread.
Pretty much like all of the couples around my age in town.
“Dada muffin?” a little voice says.
“Hi, Miles, nice to see you too,” Grady replies. “How was naptime?”
“No nap,” the dark-haired little boy replies.
“Mommy had a nap,” Annika murmurs. “Miles did not.”
As Miles tears past me to race behind the counter toward Grady—for muffins, not out of excitement to see his dad, let’s be real here—Annika greets me with a hug. “What’s up? You sounded frazzled. Wedding plans go awry?”
I glance at Grady.
Then at his wife.
Annika grew up in Sarcasm.
I didn’t move to Copper Valley until college, and I didn’t make the hour trek from the city to Shipwreck until I was almost thirty, so all of the stories I’ve heard about the rivalry between Shipwreck and Sarcasm are secondhand. But I know these two were semi-forbidden friends in high school, that they had a friend breakup when Grady wanted more after they graduated, but Annika left for the army while Grady went to culinary school.
They reconnected a few years back when a family emergency brought her home.
Iwashere for that.
And then Ididwitness the town rivalry firsthand.
