It’s a good thing I have already thought of this issue. “You just need to blame me and tell everyone that I’m a horrible girl who broke your heart. They will see how you’re the victim.”
He shakes his head and gets to work with his portion of the form. “It doesn’t work that way for the Parkerson men.”
“Why?”
“My father is a piece of shit. He’s known around here for being a cheater, manipulator, and jackass. People here will assume I’m at fault no matter what I tell them because of him.”
Oliver finishes and hands it to me. I take it, filling out all the appropriate boxes, still a little shellshocked we are doing this.
“She seemed to love you,” I note absently, pondering over his statement about his father.
“Not sure that will stop the gossip. It won’t really matter that I’m nothing like him or that I’m the easygoing Parkerson who laughs at everything.”
“I remember that about you,” I say softly.
I never really thought about why he did that. Why he always seemed to make himself the center of the laugh. Maybe it was because he was trying so hard not to be so serious.
“Yeah, well, nothing about this will be funny when the town sees our marriage fails and I look like the man I loathe.”
“I’m sorry, Ollie.” And I really am. I hate putting him through this. I scrawl my signature at the bottom and turn to him. “I want you to know that no matter what gossip is spread, you are a hero to me. You’re kind and helping a friend when you didn’t have to. I know you have reasons to do this as well and while it’s not completely selfless, you have the best intentions.”
Before Oliver can comment, Mrs. Garner is back. “Are you done with the form, honey?”
Oliver hands the filled out form to her. “Here you go.”
She takes it with a smile, looking at me. “You are so beautiful. It’s no wonder Oliver couldn’t help but fall in love with you.”
I smile. “Thank you. It’s me who is the lucky one though.”
He chuckles. “Clearly, we know that’s not true. Mrs. Garner has known me since I was in diapers and is well aware of my failings.”
She makes a dismissive noise. “You are nothing close to a failure, Oliver Parkerson. You were always my favorite.”
He leans in. “Don’t tell anyone this, but you were mine too.”
She blushes a little. “You and your silver tongue.”
Oliver winks. Literally winks at the woman. “Remember, it’s our secret.”
“Sign this before I fill in that I’m the bride,” she jokes.
Oliver moves his hand up my back. “If I wasn’t in love with Maren, I might just take you up on that.”
The blush that paints her face is adorable. “You watch this one, sweetheart. He’s one of a kind and you’re a lucky woman to have a chance with him.”
I grin. “I’m a lucky girl.”
“Yes, you sure are. Now, you’ll have to come by the house tomorrow and pick up something for you both.”
Oliver tilts his head. “For us? How could you have something for us?”
She pats his hand. “You don’t worry about that. I already have Marivett working her busy little hands.”
He groans. “Already?”
“Already what?” Mrs. Garner asks.
“You told her?”
She shakes her head. “Well, I had to get to work on a wedding present.” She gasps. “Oh! When is the wedding? I do hope it’s a big one.”
I step in quickly. “No, it’s just immediate family. We want it really small. My father is in cancer treatments, so we can’t expose him to too many people.”
Her eyes go soft as she takes my hand in hers. “You poor thing. The Lord took my Vincent just ten years ago. It was so hard to watch him go. Is he responding to the treatments?”
I shake my head. “No, the doctors say it won’t be long now.”
Moisture builds in my eyes, and I look away. Oliver wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me to him as emotions start to become too much. I sink into his embrace, letting his strength keep me up.
You’d think I would have come to terms with this. He’s been sick for so long, suffering and trying to live for whatever reason. Years ago, I thought I had accepted that my father wouldn’t live to see me married or meet my children. Now, I’m faced with the reality of it, and it’s so much harder than I thought.
Oliver clears his throat and rubs my back. “Thank you for everything, Mrs. Garner.”
“Of course. I’m sorry to make you cry, sweet girl. Come by tomorrow, don’t forget.”
I wipe at my tears and push a smile onto my lips. “We’ll be there.”
As we exit the courthouse, Oliver chuckles. “You have no idea what you just agreed to.”
Maybe not. “How about we go grab lunch and you can tell me what I’m in for.”
“Food is always a yes.”
I grin. Such a guy.
Eight
OLIVER
We got the license taken care of and picked out wedding rings that will be ready in a few days.
Of course, I looked like a total asshole because I never bought her an engagement ring since we aren’t really engaged, but try explaining that to Mrs. Villafane’s son. I really hoped to have lunch out of town, since we’d seen enough people for the day, but my sister demanded to meet with Maren, so we’re here at Jennie’s.
“Thank you for today,” Maren says as we sit.
“It’s not a problem.”
She tucks her hair behind her ears. “I wouldn’t say that. You did get a lecture on women and diamonds.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“I could always use the one I had—”
“No.” It might be easier, but we both already agreed it was better not to. She took it off and plans to give it back once she’s back in Virginia Beach.
“I agree, but I don’t want people to say anything.”
“Will your family?”
Maren shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so. They know I’m not really traditional, so it won’t come as a surprise. They know we rushed everything, so we can just say we plan to get one later.”
That’ll work for me. “Then we’ll just go forward not using your ex’s ring.”
She nods once. “Perfect. So, Oliver Parkerson, silver-tongued charmer that you are, tell me what you’ve been up to for the last ten years.”
I lean back in my seat. “You know up until I left Sugarloaf, right?”
“I do.”
I figured Devney told her everything, and I would rather not rehash being dumped. “After we ended things, I went to Wyoming to open a new inn for my father. It was . . . a damn mess. While I was there, my family kind of went crazy. Dad was cheating on Mom—as always—and we were all sick of cleaning up his messes.”
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
I plaster on my smile and shrug. “Could’ve been worse. I could’ve been Grayson and had my dad sleep with my ex—who is Amelia’s biological mother.” Her eyes widen. “Yeah, he’s a winner, and that is reason number 794849 that I will never get married. My blood is tainted.”