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“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Marry her.”
Maddox burst out laughing. So did I.
“Yeah, right,” I replied.
Once he’d composed himself, Maddox said, “I mean, it would only be half crazy. Imagine Gran’s face if you told her you’re getting married out of the blue.”
I shook my head. “This isn’t helping.”
“But think about it,” Gabe went on. “You’re making bank. The kids actually know and like you. I bet that would help the whole custody thing.”
“Gabe,” I groaned. “Let’s stick to real solutions.”
He shrugged. “I don’t have any. How was your outing with her on Saturday, by the way? You didn’t say a word.”
“We had a lot of fun.”
Gabe grinned. “Fun enough to propose?”
Oh Jesus. He wouldn’t give this a rest.
But strangely enough, I could see the merit in it.
Chapter Six
Nick
My brother’s words kept percolating in my mind for the whole damn week. It was a crazy idea. I couldn’t understand why I simply couldn’t get it out of my mind. I’d called Hugo to ask him what that was all about, and he told me that the simplest solution often worked best, but that he was still working on building a case for Allison. He insisted that starting a smear campaign against the grandparents should be the last resort. After I had time to cool off, I agreed. Kids knew when something was wrong. I knew that only too well.
I hadn’t been shell-shocked when the news came out that Dad had another family. On some level, I always intuited that something wasn’t right: his comings and goings only on the weekend, the fact that he knew stuff about children our age, such as which stickers were on trend, which TV series, and so on. I never truly understood how Mom couldn’t tell and believed my father’s lies that he wouldn’t marry her because his parents wouldn’t approve. How had she not gotten wind that he was married?
Then again, I shouldn’t judge too harshly. Mom hadn’t had all the tools we have today. You couldn’t look up someone’s life with a few clicks. And Dad had been careful. There had never been a mention of his other family in any newspapers. I’d never know how he managed to keep a tight lid on that, especially when his wife was at the helm of Whitley Publishing. It was bizarre, but that information had never been public. It was as if neither we nor they existed... until we were front-page news. Once the scandal broke out, he ran away.
I’d made my peace with all of this a long time ago, though. I wasn’t quite sure why I was now reminiscing about everythingagain. Probably because of this whole custody thing. But right now I had plenty of things to do. I planned to open five more branches of Whitley Fitness this year throughout the country. We had enough in Boston, but there were plenty of areas in the US that I wasn’t covering yet.
I was tempted to put the marriage option on the table for Allison, but it was insane. A marriage of convenience, I supposed. No one could know the extent of what we would be doing because if it ever got out that it was a fake marriage, that would defeat the entire purpose.
Nah, it was a shitty idea. I’d like to help Allison out, but I didn’t think I could do it. It would be too big of a lie.
When I went to bed later that night, the idea was still playing in my mind. But I couldn’t share it with Allison. It was crazy.
The next morning, though, I gave in. I woke up at six on the dot, and it was the first thought that came to mind.
Fuck it. Just get it over with, Nick.
I called Allison even before I got into the shower. I had a golden rule: if an idea kept popping into my head repeatedly, it meant it needed my attention.
“Good morning. I hope I’m not calling too early,” I said when she answered.
“No, I’ve been up for over an hour. But what’s wrong? Any news from the lawyer?” She sounded frantic. Of course she would be—I was calling at the ass-crack of dawn, after all.
Jeez, Nick, way to freak her out.
“No. Not at all. Is this a bad time?”
“Yes, actually. I’m trying to bribe the twins into having breakfast so we can leave.”