Page 48

“My family isn’t forcing me to do this or anything,” I rushed to clarify. “I mean, one person is kinda the reason why, but I have a choice here.”
“Which is more than I had,” Lily added.
“And that’sbelowthe bare minimum,” Riley told Lily. “So why marry him for money?”
“My brother fired me and is trying to ruin the neighborhood I live in, so I’m getting married to his enemy to prove a point.”
“That’s shocking but also really in character.”
“I feel the same way,” Lily said. “We’re going wedding dress shopping today.”
“Fakewedding dress shopping,” I corrected.
“The vows might not be real, but the wedding itself absolutely is.”
I bit my lip. I didn’t needrealanywhere close to this wedding. Even only in words.
“That soundssofun. I wish I could join you two. Will you take pictures and show them to me?”
“Of course,” I replied.
“When’s the fake wedding?”
“I’m thinking in two weeks. We haven’t set a date or anything, but his family is coming, plus his coworkers. Meanwhile, I’m probably gonna have an empty side of the aisle.”
“I could come,” she said. “And my family. If you’re okay with my husband and two kids, that is.”
“You’d come to my fake wedding? Er, real wedding with fake vows?”
“I’mcoming to your real wedding with fake vows,” Lily said. “It’s gonna be fun, even if you’re doing it for money.”
“Which no one else knows about, by the way.”
“I’ll keep it a secret,” Riley said. “I won’t even tell my kids about it. They’re the ones that would spill the beans.”
“Then you’re welcome to join.”
“Where is it at?”
“Ah, I have no clue. We haven’t talked about it yet.”
“I had mine at Opryland,” Riley said.
“The hotel?”
“Yeah.” She pulled out her phone and showed me pictures of a gorgeous setup. “Oliver insisted we do exactly what I wanted.”
“I bet Levi would like this.”
“But what about whatyoulike?” Riley asked.
“I always wanted my wedding to be at my house,” I said. “It was my favorite place growing up.”
“That would be nice,” Lily replied. “You have a big backyard, and the guest list isn’t huge.”
“You should do it there, then,” Riley urged.
I shook my head. “Levi said we were going big or going home. I doubt he would wanna do that since it’s not glamorous.”