Page 38 of The Marriage Mistake

“Barely,” Jack grumbled jokingly, throwing me an indecipherable look.

“How was your evening?” I asked.

“Good. We stayed up until ten watching a movie.”

“Oh?” Jack asked, brows arching as he drove.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Darby grinning. “Yep,” she said.

“Did you get any piano practice in yesterday while I was gone?”

Darby groaned at her father’s question. The same way she always did when he brought up piano.

“I’m guessing that’s a no,” Jack said.

“I’ll practice today, before family lunch,” Darby said, saying it like she was agreeing to scrub all the toilets in the house with her toothbrush.

I couldn’t resist sticking my nose in their business. “What’s the deal with the piano?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

Jack glanced at me. “What do you mean?”

I meant why was he forcing his beloved daughter to do something she clearly hated. But all I said was, “You’re very good, Darby. It takes a lot of dedication to practice as much as you do.”

“I only do it because Dad wants me to,” she grumbled, staring out the window as we drove.

“That’s not true,” Jack protested, his hand tightening on the steering wheel. “You love piano.”

Darby didn’t answer, and I decided this whole thing was, in fact, none of my business. I was leaving in a few weeks anyway. Wasn’t I?

We took a detour to go to the medical center so Jack and Darby could get their Day 7 rabies shot. The wait was short, and once again no one fainted. Finally, we got home, and I went up the stairs as Darby said her arm was too sore to practice piano and Jack grumbled his reluctant acceptance. I changed and tried to hype myself up for our next and most difficult hurdle yet as a fake couple: Sunday family lunch at Etta’s estate.

One short hour later, we piled into Jack’s car and headed over just before noon. The closer we got to the big colonial home, the more my stomach knotted.

From the back seat, Darby asked, “So I’m not supposed to tell anyone that you guys are lying?”

Jack grimaced. “Remember what I told you? We’re trying to be delicate with what your great-grandma wants for the town. But neither Ember nor I wants to get married, so we’re just…scratching each other’s backs.”

“By lying to everyone.”

I glanced over at Jack, who met my gaze with a grim look on his face. “Well…yes.”

“And making me go along with the lie.”

“Right.” Jack inhaled. “Lying, generally, is bad. This is an exception. Remember?”

“Dad.” The flat tone of Darby’s voice conveyed a whole lot of meaning. She was not impressed with our master plan, and she was resentful of having to go along with it. I didn’t blame her. Maybe she was still grumpy about the piano negotiation, even though she’d won that round. I didn’t blame her about that either; she probably knew there would be another battle about it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

“I fear we didn’t think this through properly,” I murmured.

Jack clicked his tongue. “You say that now?”

“I hadn’t anticipated so many complications.”

“You should’ve hired someone on Craigslist.”

“I tried that,” I said. “All I got were weirdos. One guy said he’d marry me in exchange for a lifetime supply of feet pictures.”

The car jerked as Jack’s foot spasmed against the gas pedal and he threw me an incredulous look. When he’d recovered, he said, “You’re joking.”