Page 22 of Won't Back Down
I kept casting glances at her to gauge whether she’d hit the point of freaking out or wanting to call the whole thing off. Mirrored sunglasses hid those changeable eyes from my view. She seemed… not exactly relaxed, but not as if she was dreading what was coming. I wondered if the reality of it had even sunk in yet. She’d had to handle so much the past few weeks. Especially in the past few days. I wouldn’t be surprised if it hadn’t processed. That she hadn’t asked for more details herself spoke volumes. But when Mimi insisted she’d take care of booking things for the wedding, we let her. What else were we going to do?
Mama Flo spoke up from the seats behind us, raising her voice loud enough to be heard over the engine and wind. “Okay, you two, we need to discuss some things while we’re all in private, as the four of us will be the only ones who know the truth of what we’re doing today.”
I glanced over my shoulder from where I stood at the helm. “Such as?”
“There will probably be a challenge to the marriage because it’s new, and we need to discuss how you two can make it believable that you’ve been engaged and in a long-distance relationship for years, if that becomes necessary.”
“We’ve been friends for years. We wrote to each other during my entire career in the navy. Letters, emails, texts. We had phone calls. There’s history. Who’s to say it didn’t turn more intimate than it actually did?”
My brain conjured up an image of Willa’s hair spread out over my pillow.
Not a good enough reason to use the word ‘intimate,’ dumbass.
But it did make me think about what it would have been like if she really had been waiting for me at home all this time. No question, I’d have come back a lot more often. As often as I could’ve managed. She’d have been absolutely worth whatever headaches making the journey would’ve brought. I might even have elected to retire sooner by choice if she’d been mine, because I wouldn’t have wanted to be that far away from her.
Willa swiveled in her seat. “All of that is true, but what if we’re expected to produce some kind of documentation about all of this? We’ve talked about intimate things, but none of it is the ooey gooey and mushy or the kind of interactions you’d expect from two people in love and in a long-distance relationship. If they subpoena our email or text records, nothing in that correspondence is going to sound like more than friends.”
Intimate. There’s that word again.
I cleared my throat and tried to focus on the matter at hand instead of picturing her naked. “I know a guy who can help with backdating and creating an electronic trail, if needed.” Dax owed me for saving his ass a few years back, and he had a real soft spot for damsels in distress. He’d help.
She tipped up her sunglasses and stared at me.
I shrugged. “I know a lot of people who can do a lot of things.” And I’d call in every single favor anyone owed me to keep her safe. This was my chance to finally do what I’d wanted to do for her all my life. And, yeah, maybe it was temporary—how things would officially end, and when, were more details we hadn’t discussed—but the threat wasn’t going to pass quickly. Her dad was absolutely the type who’d circle like a shark, waiting for the faintest hint of blood in the water. People had to believe this marriage was legit, and that meant we had to make it for more than a few months. I staunchly ignored the part of myself that was grateful for that because it meant I got to spend more time close to her, even if it would be a marriage in name only.
“I don’t know if a judge would grant a subpoena for your personal correspondence, but it probably wouldn’t be a bad thing to lay the groundwork there,” Mama Flo said.
“You also need to lay the other groundwork for the questions people will ask as soon as they find out,” Mimi added.
“Like what?” Willa asked.
“Like, how did he propose? How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell anyone? You’ve lived on Hatterwick almost all your life, sugar. You know how everybody is.”
I glanced at Willa again, checking her reaction. Her face was screwed up in a wince.
“I know you hate having people up in your business, Wren?—”
“But they’re not wrong. We’ll decide on a story. If I know what I’m supposed to say, I should be fine.”
“We’ll stick to the truth as much as possible. That makes for fewer details we have to remember.”
Truth: I’ve been willing to do anything for you pretty much from the time you first took my hand when you were four and looked up at me with those big, trusting eyes.
Willa probably didn’t need to know that.
“There’s also the matter of when and how you’re planning to get the news out,” Mimi continued. “I had some ideas on that front.”
Willa glanced at me, and I didn’t need to see her eyes to catch the trepidation now. “Can’t we just sort of drop it in the island grapevine? It’ll spread like wildfire.”
“You could, but you want to be seen, honey. Out and about and happy. Y’all are eloping because you just couldn’t wait any longer, and you want everybody to know.”
“You mean some kind of party.”
I didn’t blame Willa for the flat tone. She’d been massively over-peopled already in the past week.
“Just a little one. Friends and family. The ones who matter. You won’t have to do a thing but show up. I’ll take care of the rest,” Mimi assured us.
I reached out to lay a hand on Willa’s shoulder and squeezed. Much as she had at the memorial service, she reached up to curl her fingers around mine.