“Yeah, and youfailedto tell me she moved in across the street,” Logan countered.
“Shelby looked good, didn’t she?” Danielle said.
Logan didn’t respond but he hated that the answer remained a resounding yes. He’d hoped she’d gone off and lost her teeth and let herself go, instead she somehow had managed to get better looking.She rejected you. She dumped you. She left you broken hearted. Don’t go there.
“We aren’t talking about Shelby. I never liked her,” Mom interrupted. Then she whispered something to Danielle hecouldn’t decipher. She cleared her throat. “Let’s circle on back to Brooke. Now, she is the one for you.”
“I disagree with Mom. Shelby is who you need to pursue.”
“Lucky for the both of you, you don’t get a say in my relationship choices.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. “But really Danielle, you could’ve given me a heads up on Shelby being your neighbor. I might even go so far as to say you maybe told Shelby when to walk right on by to run into me. I smell something fishy with the entire interaction.”
“I’m pushy but not that pushy,” Danielle scoffed. “That was purely a serendipitous moment.”
“It wasn’t anything of the sort.” Logan raked his hair again. His fingers went numb. “I am happy with Brooke.”
“Of course, he is,” Mom chimed in. “I’ve never seen him look so happy.”
Mom muttered something else to Danielle. He waited, because clearly, they planned on discussing his relationship with one another and not him. Wait, he reminded himself it was a fake relationship.
“When do we get to see her again?” Mom piped up. “I hope we didn’t scare her off.”
“I’m not sure,” he stalled. “We both have busy schedules over the next few weeks—” His voice trailed off.
“Dad and I don’t mind driving into the city for dinner one evening,” Mom said.
“I don’t know?—”
Quickly, Logan tried to figure out when and how their fake relationship could end.
“I want to come,” Danielle interjected. “It’s about time Michael and I went on a proper date without the twins. The neighbor across the street said she’d babysit for us.”
“You mean Shelby?” Logan grumbled. “She’s your neighbor across the street, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t even know if she can do it. I have a few options. Besides we would be coming into the city, and you don’t need to be concerned about who watches the girls.”
His jaw twitched. “We’re both swamped for the rest of the month. It would have to be next month.”
This imaginary date he had no intention of seeing to fruition.
“How about the first week of next month?” Mom asked.
“Maybe.”
“I’ll take that as a yes until I hear otherwise,” Mom said.
“I saw this restaurant on social media I want to try,” Danielle added.
“Fine, we’ll hash out the details later. I need to run it by Brooke. Talk to you soon.”
Then Logan hung up before any future plans with his fake girlfriend could be made.
CHAPTER 8
A week later, Brooke perused the racks of wedding dresses. One dress caught her eye. Little intricate beads covered the bodice then spread down the length of the full skirt. She ran her finger over the beadwork. She wondered if she’d ever have a chance to wear something so beautiful. Her heart ached. A deep loneliness settled inside her. Her hand lingered far too long on the delicate pattern the beads made. Would she ever find someone who loved her enough to marry her? The thought vibrated around in her head as she traced each bead.
“Can I get you something to drink?” asked the voice from behind her.
Brooke flinched. Then she shoved the dress to the left and busied herself with examining the next dress on the rack. “No. I’m fine,” she replied with a quick glance over her shoulder at the attendant. “My friend should be out soon. She is trying on her wedding dress for her final fitting. I couldn’t help myself from browsing through the dresses here. Not that I’m in need of one.”
