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“I’m all ears.” Jordyn leans her hip against the counter, giving me her full attention.
I’m grateful we don’t have any customers. “Okay, so you know that my sister, Chloe, is getting married in a few months, right?”
“I do.” Jordyn nods.
“And you know how my mom has been pressuring me to bring a date.”
“You’ve mentioned that a time or fifty.” She chuckles.
Her reply helps me relax a little. Jordyn is an incredible boss, and maybe she can give me some advice on how to handle this with my mom. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she’ll understand and won’t be mad at me or, even worse, fire my lying ass.
“Right. Well, she called me just now, and I was on break, so I answered. That was my first mistake. She was hounding me about meeting someone and insisted I needed a date for Chloe’s wedding. I was standing here looking at a picture of your family, and I just blurted out that I had a date.”
“That explains the sour look on your face.”
“It gets worse.” So much worse.
“I’m listening.”
“I was ready to tell her it was a lie just to get her off my back. Then she went and used her soft mom voice and told me she was proud of me, and I panicked.”
“I can understand that.” Jordyn nods again.
“Yeah, well, she was insistent I give her a name. I scanned the picture again, and Merrick’s name was out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.” I cover my face with my hands because I can feel my face heating from embarrassment.
“Courtney.” Her tone is soft, but also firm enough for me to know she’s not going to let me hide from this.
I spread my fingers to look at her. She’s smiling. “Is that all?”
I drop my hands. “Is that all? Jordyn! I lied to her, and you don’t know my mother. She’s going to have the entire town thinking that I’m dating Merrick, and it’s a lie, and he’s going to find out, and I’m going to look like a fool.” My heart is thumping wildly in my chest at the thought of Merrick finding out.
He was two years older than me in school. I was the quiet bookworm, and he and his twin brother, Maverick, were both at the top of the high school popularity food chain. How could they not be? They’re both gorgeous, and they were sweethearts. They weren’t the cocky guys who treated people differently. They were nice to everyone and friendly, and after working for Jordyn and meeting some of their older brothers, including Jordyn’s husband, Ryder, I know that their entire family is the same way. I’m mortified to think they’re going to know that I made up lies about Merrick and me just to appease my mother.
What the hell was I thinking?
Oh, right, I wasn’t.
“I understand that you lied to her, but I also understand why you lied to her.” She shrugs as if it’s not a big deal.
It’s a big damn deal. How can she not see that?
“She’s going to tell the entire town,” I groan, making Jordyn laugh.
“It’s not the end of the world.”
“It really is. Merrick doesn’t need me telling lies about him. What if he’s seeing someone? She could hear about this and it could cause problems for him. My mom has probably already alerted the local media to put out a bulletin.”
“Come on now, she’s not that bad. Merrick is as laid-back as can be. He’s probably going to laugh his ass off about this if it gets back to him. We don’t know that it will. You’re speculating that your mother is going to tell the entire town.”
“Oh, she’s going to. Trust me. I know my mom. She’s going to be singing like a damn canary.”
Jordyn chuckles. “Fine. Even if she does, it’s all going to be fine.”
“Fine? How is it going to be fine? Merrick is going to find out. Not only will I look like a fool in front of him, but your entire family, and all of Willow River. I can’t believe I just blurted that out. Who does that?”
“What am I going to find out?” a deep voice says from behind me.
I freeze, my eyes wide as I stare at Jordyn. We both turn to see Merrick standing behind us. “Dad finished fixing the legs on the small entry table for you. I was there and told him I’d drop it off on my way home,” Merrick explains to his sister-in-law before his eyes find mine. “Courtney.”
