“Pleasure is all mine.” He winks. “Perhaps I can get a picture with you later…maybe with Marshmallow?”
Marshmallow is Aunt Kitty’s prizewinning hobby horse. He’s kept in a glass case in her room, surrounded by the ribbons she’s earned for dressage and obstacles.
“I believe we can make that happen.”
I sink down to the floor.
Theo spots me and tugs on the back of his neck. “Pardon me for feeling a bit clueless, but I was under the impression that we were meeting up this morning to get to know each other. There seems to be some confusion on that front.”
I toss my hands up in the air, giving up, while Aunt Kitty holds her hands up like she’s holding reins and tilts her head back with a silent neigh, showing off for Rupert, who is weirdly into it.
Thankfully, Tilly steps in. “Hi, I’m Tilly, Renley’s good friend and neighbor. There has been some confusion. You see, Renley here assumed she was signing up to find a financier, not a fiancé. Unsure how that happened—this is all news to me as well—but she has a candy shop in town that she’s trying to preserve and was looking for help on that front…financially. Somehow wires were crossed and, well, she ended up matching with you, not knowing you were looking for a fiancée. The two words are kind of similar.”
“Especially when drunk,” I mutter while plucking a piece of lint off my shorts.
“Wait,” Theo says, turning to face me. “You thought I was an investor? And that the website we were on was for financiers?”
“That would be correct,” I say in a deflated tone.
“So you don’t want to marry me?”
Is this man for real?
“Dude, I don’t even know you. Why would I want to marry you?”
“Because you were on the website and we matched.”
I stand now. “And as explained, it was a mistake. So if you would kindly vacate my house, I’d appreciate it.”
“Oh, they don’t have to leave. Why don’t we talk this out?” Aunt Kitty suggests.
“There is nothing to talk out. I’m not getting married to him.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, surprising me. “I’m a pretty nice guy if you get to know me.”
“See, he’s a pretty nice guy,” Aunt Kitty says.
I throw a look at my aunt, warning her. “I’m not in the market for a fiancé.”
“And are you final on that?” he asks.
This guy.
I point to the front door and shout, “Out! Now!”
Chapter Eight
THEO
“Well, that didn’t go as expected,” Rupert says as we stand on the porch, staring at the door that was just slammed on us.
Turning to him, I ask, “How could someone think that website was for anything other than finding a fiancé?”
Rupert scratches his chin. “Yes, still trying to figure that out.”
I head down the porch stairs to the pathway that leads to the street. I turn left and make my way to the house next door.
“We need to reconvene and think about how to handle this.”
