Page 41 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

‘Stay?’

Lee lifts her chin again, ‘That’s what everyone’s been hinting at, right? What if I stay and pretend to be your wife? It would only be for a little while, wouldn’t it? Just until the assessment is over.’

‘I don’t know how long they plan to be here,’ I say slowly, my heart beating a bit faster. ‘It could be a few days, it could be longer. I have no idea.’

‘But they can’t stay indefinitely,’ she points out. ‘My job is flexible. I can work remotely for a while.’

‘What about Gran?’ I ask a bit desperately.

Something passes across her face then, something I don’t like. ‘She doesn’t need me. She made that clear.’

‘What does that mean?’

Lee doesn’t answer; her expression smooths out, impossible to read.

I sigh, realising that Lee has shut the conversation down. I’ll get nothing out of her now, but I file it away – a matter for another time. ‘You’re supposed to be the sensible one here,’ I remind her.

Obviously, I’ve miscalculated. If anything, she looks even more determined now. ‘The circumstances are far from typical. Who says this isn’t the best plan?’

‘A mad ruse in which you and I pretend to be happily married, living in a small town and raising an eight-year-old?’ I laugh. ‘We should just get you a flight home.’

‘Why won’t you let me help you?’ Lee asks.

‘Why would you want to?’ I fire back.

She flinches and I hiss out a breath in frustration. ‘I only meant that this isn’t your problem. I don’t see why you need to be dragged into it. I can handle things.’

‘I thought I was your friend.’ Her voice is small.

‘What?’

‘I know that you and Jack are best friends. I know I’m just his sister, but I thought…’ Her hand drops to the boardwalk and she traces an absent circle with her finger. ‘Before Vegas. I thought we were friends, too.’ She looks up at me then and it feels like someone has taken a baseball bat to my gut.

This morning Lee told Phoebe the story of when we first met, and I realised I hadn’t thought about it for a long, long time. That solemn little girl with the big, sad eyes. She didn’t even cry that day. Not while her parents were inside the house, screaming obscenities that would make a sailor blush. Not when everyone had forgotten about her and she crept away to hide.

Thinking about it now makes me want to put my fist through a wall.

‘Of course we’re friends,’ I say, hoarsely. ‘That’s why I don’t want you wrapped up in my problems. I care about you. I care about you a lot.’

The words hang in the air between us and I resist the urge to laugh them away, to claw them back or make them smaller.

A delicate pink flush tints her cheeks. ‘It’s not fair that your awful dad put you in this situation,’ Lee says after a moment, getting to her feet. ‘It’s insulting. And what’s worse, you won’t let me help you when I’ve told you I can. All that stuff you want for Phoebe? I want that for her, too. If we really are friends then you should know that.’ She pulls her sunglasses down, covering her eyes again, but not before I glimpse something in them. Determination.

‘You don’t need to tell me that Phoebe’s special,’ Lee continues. ‘It’s obvious. And,’ she adds primly, ‘it’s fiscally responsible to start preparing for her future now. It sounds to me like Magda has some sort of plan. I want to hear it.’

I stand as well, dusting off my jeans. I’m a mess of indecision. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t want to drag Lee into this mess, but I don’t know if I can afford to turn down the help she’s offering.

‘Fine,’ I say finally. ‘Let’s go and listen to a plan that’s been put together by an eight-year-old and a woman who believes that I have a navy blue aura in need of cleansing. What could possibly go wrong?’

I don’t know what Magda’s been cooking up, but the fact that she’s roped Bud and Rita into it doesn’t bode well. Lee doesn’t know the people in this town like I do.

When we get back to the house, Magda and Phoebe are playing a game of cards at the table.

‘She said yes, didn’t she?’ Magda says, looking between Lee and me. ‘I knew she would. The second I saw her, I knew. The vibrations… there’s no denying it,’ she beams.

‘Lee hasn’t agreed to anything except hearing the pair of you out,’ I caution as we take the two remaining seats at the table. ‘Against my advice, I might add. I think the idea of her pretending to be my wife is insane.’

‘It’s not pretend, Nico,’ Magda says, her voice surprisingly stern. ‘Lee is your wife. That’s the whole point.’