Page 38 of Marry Me Tomorrow
I grip the brim of my cap, twisting it nervously. “You know how my grandfather’s been on my case about settling down?”
Niall nods.
“There’s a reason for that. He’s ready to pass on the marina to me, but when he wrote up the stipulations for handing over the marina, he included a rule that the new owner has to be married.”
Niall lets out a low whistle. “That’s . . . an interesting requirement to run a marina.”
“Tell me about it,” I mutter, then continue. “Anyway, my extended family knows that my grandfather is itching to pass on ownership. And they know that I’m not married, so they want to know if the marina can go to one of them instead.”
“You’d be heartbroken,” Niall says, “if you lost the marina. This place is everything to you.”
“It is,” I say. “So all this has been weighing on me for a while, and Jenny noticed I was acting a bit off, and she asked me about it. I ended up opening up to her about my frustration with the whole situation. And apparently, she’d been thinking about what I’d said. Because not too long after, my mom came into the shop talking to me about finding someone to be in a relationship with, and Jenny told her she and I were engaged.”
“She what?!” Niall sits forward, nearly knocking over the cooler.
“Yeah, it threw me too,” I admit, letting out a dry laugh. “I eventually wanted to get married, but I’d been so focused on improving things at the marina and lodge that I hadn’t taken the time to look for someone. This proclamation from Jenny completely shocked me. Later that day, Jenny and I had a heartfelt conversation and I found out Jenny had her own reasons for wanting to get married. So, we came up with the agreement and decided to, you know, get married.”
“So this whole engagement,” Niall says, eyebrows raised, “is all fake?”
“Kind of,” I say. “It’s fake in the sense that we didn’t date and then fall in love in the traditional way. But it’s real in the sense that we’re getting married in two days.”
“That’s a lot.” Niall says.
I place my head in my hands. “Am I making a huge mistake? I feel like I’m dragging Jenny into something she doesn’t deserve.”
Greg shakes his head slowly. “First off, you’re not dragging her into anything.”
Niall asks, “She offered to get married first, right?”
“Yeah,” I say, “she did.”
“So,” Niall says, “what’s she getting out of it?”
“Job security and a place to live forever,” I say.
Niall’s brows knit together, his head nodding in understanding, while Greg claps me on the shoulder. The weight of my secret feels lighter now, the tension easing with their silent support.
“And” Greg says, “how are you feeling about the arrangement now?”
“I still want to go forward with it, but there’s something else there too.” My voice raises as I finish, almost like I’m asking if there is.
“What?” Niall asks.
“I think I’m falling for her.”
Niall lets out a laugh. “That’s only good news, mate. And for most marriages, what you would expect.”
I smile too. “I know. It’s a bit ironic.” I shift to a more serious tone, “I’m just worried that if I fall for her and she doesn’t fall for me, this deal or marriage or whatever you want to call it is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
Niall nods, and Greg says, “You two will figure this out. I know it.”
We cast our lines into the water, the quiet punctuated by the occasional splash of fish or creak of the boat.
As the evening wears on, the stars grow brighter, their reflections shimmering on the dark surface of the lake. We laugh, tell stories, and tease each other like old times.
On the way back to the dock, the boat hums softly, the marina lights glowing faintly in the distance. As we pass my house, I glance up and see Jenny’s silhouette in the great room window. I hope she and the girls are having just as much fun at their bachelorette party. Her figure is backlit by the warm glow of the lamp inside, and for a moment, the world feels still.
“Oh crap,” I mutter, sitting up straight.
