Drawing in a breath, I slowly let it out. “Well, after the bidding war went down, I pulled Emmerson off to the side to ask her why in the hell she went so high, and that’s when Jason showed up.”
“I never did like that guy,” Malcolm mumbled, and my father nodded in agreement.
Emmerson picked up the story once again. “Anyway, Jason introduced us to his fiancée, Lillian, and then he made some messed-up comment about me not being able to love someone.”
“What did he mean by that, the little punk?” Paislie shouted more than asked.
Malcolm jumped in. “So wait, he pops off with some stupid remark and you come back with the idea that you’re engaged? Emmerson, it doesn’t sound like you to be so…what were you being? Jealous? Competitive?”
With a long groan, Emmerson replied, “I know, I know! I don’t really know what came over me. It’s just, everyone I know is getting engaged, and then that jerk-off said I wasn’t able to love. It really pissed me off.”
“So you invented a fake engagement?” my mother asked.
“I honestly don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t care less if he’s engaged or married or whatever. But when he said that about me, I…I…”
What is it, Emmerson? You wanted to prove him wrong because deep down inside you know you’re in love with me?
Okay, so I couldn’t say that.
“It was me not thinking and running my mouth off. I guess I was hurt by his comment more than anything. So yeah, I blurted out that we were engaged. Then Janet walked up and heard it and then Lillian shouted out that we were getting married in December.”
I cut in. “Janet took off like a damn race horse for the stage so she could announce it, not even once thinking to ask us first.”
Malcolm rubbed at his temples. “Why get up onstage with her and confirm it?”
I had to keep the anger out of my voice when I replied, “What were we supposed to do, Malcolm? Say ha ha, not really, Emmerson simply said that to her ex because he was engaged and told her she wasn’t capable of loving anyone? Think about what that would do to her business. Janet had already opened her big mouth, but we did try to stop her first.”
“He’s right, sweetheart. We all know what a bit of bad press can do to someone or their business,” Paislie added.
Emmerson cleared her throat. “That’s why Landon and I have agreed to keep up this charade for a few months. It really won’t be hard since we’re always together anyway, it seems like.”
“Wait, you’re going to continue this lie?” This came from my father.
“I don’t see the harm in letting it go for a few months,” I said. “Plus, it will give Emmerson a chance to relate a bit more to her clients and to pull in more clients once they see her going through the motions of her own wedding planning.”
“Fake wedding planning,” my father stated.
With a sigh, I went on. “Emmerson and I will amicably split at some point, and that will be that.”
Hailey opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when Emmerson and I both shot her a look of warning.
“Besides, I’ve already gotten so much publicity today,” Emmerson said. “Both from the People article and from tonight. If I come clean now and say I had only made it up to get back at an old boyfriend, my clients would lose trust in me. And think about Landon’s business as well.”
“Some press? I’d say you’ve gotten more than some,” Hailey mused.
Paislie leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I don’t know, Emmerson and Landon. What if you get caught in a lie or someone figures it out?”
Emmerson sighed. “The only people who know it’s a fake engagement are sitting at this table. For years, everyone has been talking about Landon and me being a couple. Maybe now that it’s out there, they’ll stop being interested in when we were finally going to admit it, and they’ll move on.”
I nodded in agreement. “I’m not going to lie and say I won’t be upset to be off the market for a bit.”
“So while you’re in this little fake engagement, you don’t plan on dating anyone?” my father asked.
My throat suddenly got thick, and I fought to form words. I had never in my life lied to my parents.
“No, we’ll be dating,” Emmerson answered with a huge smile. “Each other, just not how everyone thinks.”
I looked at her and smiled. She had told the God’s honest truth, and I think I fell a bit more in love with her right there.
“Well, I hate that you two got yourself in this pickle, and a part of me is screaming that something bad is going to come out of this,” my mother said.
“Mom, you worry entirely too much. Besides, think how fun it will be to plan my wedding, and now we’ll get to pretend-plan Emmerson and Landon’s too!” Hailey said with a wide smile.
Paislie and my mother both frowned.
“We have to plan a fake wedding?” Malcolm asked.
“Well, not really,” Emmerson answered. “I was thinking that it might be fun to have Landon and me do a cake tasting or venue shopping and do like a diary of sorts on my Instagram. It would give my followers a bit of a different perspective on wedding planning, like Landon said. If they think I’m the bride and not just the planner, I’ll be able to connect with them more.”
For a moment, I swore Emmerson actually sounded excited about all of this.
My mother shook her head. “I don’t know…”
“Don’t worry, Addie, Landon and I will not ask any of y’all to do anything that would be deceitful.”
“And what happens when people back home ask us about it?” Malcolm asked.
Emmerson shrugged. “It’s simple—just say something about how we’ve always been two peas in a pod. Or how it’s no surprise it would happen, considering it’s Emmerson and Landon. You don’t have to say what the it actually is.”
Malcolm raised one brow as he stared at Emmerson. “That’s still lying, sweetheart.”
All she did was shrug. “I don’t see any other way, Daddy. And like I said, we are dating, just not how everyone thinks.”
Malcolm let out a long sigh. “Unfortunately, I agree. You two dug yourselves into this mess, and it will be interesting to watch you climb out of it.”
My father grinned as if he knew something the rest of us hadn’t figured out yet.
Emmerson and I exchanged a look. When she smiled weakly at me, I reached over and took her hand in mine. “It’s all going to work out just fine. You’ll see.”
I wasn’t exactly sure who I was trying to convince. Myself, Emmerson, or the rest of the table.
After our parents excused themselves for the evening, Hailey and Mike invited us to go out with them. I wasn’t really been in the mood, but I also wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going back to my hotel room and sitting there alone, either.
“So this is the Container Bar, huh?” I asked as we walked up to the popular nightclub on Rainey Street. They had taken shipping containers and stacked them to make a two-story bar.
“This is it! One of my sorority sister’s boyfriend is the DJ here,” Hailey shouted back at me and Emmerson.