“I said my name was Clayton.”
“Clayton? That sounds like the name of a cowboy lawyer. Why would you do that?”
“To be honest, I’m scared.”
Logan blew out a breath. “Scared? Of what? That you’ll get married and die of ecstasy? This is crazy, Collin! You find a girl who could very well be your only chance at true happiness and you tell her you’re someone else? Last time I checked, girls don’t really appreciate being lied to. You’ve got to fix this ASAP.”
“I know, I know. It’s just that I’m kind of in deep right now.”
“Well, get out. If you don’t, you’ll be drowning. In your tears.”
I felt sick. Logan had a talent for getting straight to the point in dramatic fashion.
“I’ll tell her tomorrow,” I conceded. “We’re supposed to spend the whole day together.”
“Tomorrow?” Logan asked, raising his eyebrows. “You know Jeremy wants us to do a photo shoot tomorrow, right?”
I cringed. “Yeah, I know.”
Logan smiled and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. I’ll tell him you’ve got explosive diarrhea or something.”
I laughed. “Wow, thanks.”
Logan grinned. “That’s what friends are for!”
*****
My facial muscles were sore from smiling so much. I had been a nearly perfect day. Because it was my last free day in Arizona, I wanted to make it really special. It had started with a magnificent hot air balloon ride to watch the sun rise over Phoenix. Glory had been a little grumpy with me for having to get up so early, but by the way she had rested her head on my chest when I put my arm around her, I was pretty sure she had forgiven me for lost sleep. The we had gone to the musical instrument museum, and it had been my turn to ramble on about all of the many instruments that I found fascinating. Glory had seemed adequately interested, but more importantly, she had held my hand the entire time we were in there.
Now we were seated outside at a lovely little bistro by a man-made lake, and in the fading light Glory looked positively enchanting. We had finished our food a while ago, but we just kept talking and enjoying one another. It seemed as though neither one of us wanted the night to end.
“How did you find this place?” Glory asked, admiring the twisty shape of her water glass. “It’s amazing.”
“A friend told me about it,” I responded. The “friend” had been the best man at the wedding the night before. I had struck up a conversation and asked him for recommendations on where to take a date for dinner.
Glory leaned forward and her eyes caught the light of the lanterns hanging above us. “Hot air ballon rides, great hikes, amazing restaurants... I’ve lived here my whole life and I feel like you know Phoenix way better than I do.” She winked at me, and if I hadn’t been sitting I would have lost my balance.
“I think that always happens with the place you live,” I replied, trying not to get lost in her eyes. “I mean, there are still a million things I want to do in New York, but I never get to them because the day to day just gets in the way.”
She straightened a little. “I thought you lived in Indianapolis?”
I gulped. “I do!” I blurted. “I just... I used to live in New York.”
“Oh,” Glory said simply. I could tell she wasn’t completely satisfied with my answer, but she didn’t press it further. “I had a friend that lived in New York City. The way he talked about it made me want to go there.”
I gazed at her, not quite knowing what to say. She was probably talking about me. I drummed my fingers on the table. I had had ample opportunities to tell her the truth that day, but I hadn’t wanted to ruin all the perfect moments we kept having. I closed my eyes, dreading what I was about to do, praying that she would understand. It was time to come clean.
“Glory,” I began, “there’s something I have to tell you...”
But the rest of my admission was cut short by a passing waitress tripping and spilling a hot plate of spaghetti all over my shirt.
“Oh no! I can’t believe it, I am so sorry!” The waitress exclaimed, looking at my shirt in horror.
I had to laugh. The timing of it all was too comical. “It’s okay, really,” I assured her. “Believe it or not, this is the second time this month that I’ve been covered in pasta sauce.”
The waitress brought me an armload of napkins and told me that our meals were free, but I paid the check anyway. I did my best to wipe the sauce off, with Glory laughing at methe whole time, but it was pretty clear that the shirt was done for.
“Would you like to wear my jacket?” Glory teased.
