“They backed out?” Harrison asked.
“Almost, but I saved it.” I paused to try to come up with a way to summarize the insanity. “There was a… misunderstanding when the groom found out that the bride and I used to date.”
“You dated her? Recently?” Harrison asked.
“No, it was years ago,” Drew clarified.
“Why would the guy get upset about a few dates that happened years ago?” Logan asked.
“Well…” Drew admitted, “it was more than just a few dates. We were together for months.”
A trio of baffled faces stared back at him from the screen.
“…Months?” my dad repeated. “You dated someone for months, and this is the first we’re hearing about it?”
“Kristen and I were still in the early stages when Mom started showing symptoms,” Drew explained. “It seemed too new for me to bring it up to you all when we were dealing with that, and then…”
They all knew what happened then. Mom saw a series of doctors until finally, she was diagnosed with cancer. After that, her condition went downhill fast.
“Kristen tried to be there for me, but she was pretty young at the time—just twenty-one—and she had some baggage of her own, since she lost her parents when she was a kid. She didn’t really know how to be the support that I needed, and it wasn’t long before things started falling apart.”
They all went quiet.
“Hey, I’m sorry that we weren’t there for you,” Logan said. “I had no idea you were going through a breakup on top of everything else.”
“I think we all missed it,” Harrison agreed. “We should have been paying more attention.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. You all had enough to be worrying about—you didn’t have to worry about me, too.”
“It’snotfine,” my dad insisted. “Family is supposed to be there for each other, and we weren’t there for you. You shouldn’t have had to deal with something like that on your own.”
The comment wasn’t meant to get me riled up but I couldn’t ignore the obvious parallel.
“Sorry, Dad, but you haven’t exactly been a good role model about sharing what you’re going through so all of us can be there for you. Don’t forget, you kept your cancer scare from us untilafterit was over.”
He frowned as he considered it.
“And that’s what proved to me that things had to change. I saw how upset you all were to have been left in the dark. But there’s something good that came from that mess and it’s what we’re doing right now.” He gestured to the screen. “We’re connecting. Right?”
“True,” I nodded. “Anyway, that’s just the background to what happened the other day. Kristen got upset about something thathappened while they were choosing a florist and I stepped aside to comfort her. I’d accidentally left my mic on, and the producer overheard me talking to Kristen about when we used to date. He brought it up in front of Carter, and Carter flipped out. Apparently, Kristen had told him that she’d dated a guy named Drew, but Carter hadn’t known that guy wasme.When he found out, he became convinced that we’d hidden it from him because we were screwing around behind his back. I thought he was going to punch me.”
“Oh shit,” Logan chuckled. “This is getting good.”
I pushed on. “The cameras were all capturing every second of it, so I panicked and … well, I said that I wasn’t interested in anything with Kristen because I’m engaged to the wedding planner. Emilia.”
There was a brief pause then three of them howled in unison.
“That is …” Logan shook his head in disbelief. “Man, you’re amess.”
“It’s fine,” I shot back. “We just have to keep up the act through the end of the shoot.”
“And what doesshethink about it?” Harrison asked.
“She agrees that it’s in both of our best interest to go along with the plan,” I answered. No need to get into the negotiations I’d had to make to talk her into it.
“Complications like this one are making me glad that I’m retiring. Reality TV? Social media? No thank you,” my dad said. “Candace and I were just talking about how my retirement is?—”
“Candacewho?” I interrupted.
