Page 18 of Just (Fake) Married (Calloways vs. McGraws #1)

TWELVE

HARMONY

The Lodge, when you got close to it, was huge.

A behemoth of a Craftsman built by a man with an ego to match.

All the windows glowed with lamplight and firelight.

I knew the property had lots of barns and bunkhouses, workshops and garages, but they weren’t close to the lodge.

The house was alone in the dark. A castle.

I parked my truck in the shadows next to the house, next to Ethan’s tin can rental car, and gave myself a little pep talk.

Don’t. Be. Yourself.

Don’t try and fix things. Or make things easier. Don’t apologize. Don’t wonder what he’s thinking and do not, do not, think about that kiss in front of the judge.

I pulled my duffle bag filled with my essentials out of the back of the truck, and slung it over my shoulder, and then I got Jenny and Bruce out of the cab, with a minimal amount of fanfare.

I was getting worried about Bruce’s wing. I knew she’d never be able to use it again, but it was dragging so much, I was scared. The vet I’d taken her to had been right. Eventually, she would need it amputated.

Actually, what the vet said, was that she needed to be put down. That’s when I’d covered Bruce’s ears and called him a monster. So, he’d said the second-best thing I could do was amputate the wing. If that was second best, that man and I had very different scales of “best.”

The wind howled through the valley and I rushed my animals to the front door of the castle. Just as I was stepping up to the porch, Tag came out of the house.

I never had any beef with Tag. When I needed some help around Mom’s house with something animal related, I had no problem asking him for help.

Apparently, he had hidden talents as an alpaca whisperer, as evidenced last fall, when one of them wouldn’t stand on her legs for any apparent reason, and he’d just talked her into getting up.

“So, you’re really doing this?” he asked me, cutting to the chase in his Tag way. Then, because he was who he was, he took my duffle bag off my shoulder and escorted me back into the house.

“Yep.”

“Okay, just-”

“Don’t get comfortable?” I filled in. “Don’t forget he’s a McGraw and I’m a Calloway? Don’t let my guard down for a minute?”

He blinked his big, brown eyes at me. “I was going to say just go easy on Doc E.”

“You’re telling me to go easy on him ?” I asked.

When has Ethan McGraw ever gone easy on me? Never. Not once. Certainly not today. Bringing me coffee and a hangover sandwich and picking out such a beautiful ring, and then breaking the kissing rule.

“Maybe you could give yourself some grace and forgive both your high school selves,” Tag said enigmatically, pushing open the door to let me into the house.

Like she’d been waiting in the foyer, Mrs. Walker was there, smiling at me like I was the queen coming to visit. She’d always been nice to me and my family in town, but in the feud, she was team McGraw all the way, so this welcome was a little disorienting.

“Harmony!” she cried. “Come in, come in and get out of the cold.”

I stepped fully inside the foyer, the animals following me, and Tag with my duffle bringing up the rear.

“Ethan said you’d be coming tonight and that you were bringing your…pets.” Mrs. Walker looked at Jenny and Bruce like they were aliens.

“They’re house trained and pretty old, so they’ll mostly stick to one area,” I said. “They’re really no trouble.”

I crossed my fingers behind my back.

They could be a little trouble.

“Well, we’ve had plenty of house cats and a few dogs that Mr. McGraw let sleep in the kitchen. But a goose? A goose is brand new around here.”

Bruce lifted her head, her dark eyes shining in the firelight from the big fireplace, and she honked once as if to say: I know. We’ll all get used to it. And then she herded Jenny over towards the fire, where they sat waiting for me to tell them what we were doing next.

I wish I knew.

“Is Ethan…?”

“He’s in the study,” Mrs. Walker said. “But I have prepared a room for you, if you would like to settle in first. It has an ensuite with a jacuzzi tub,” she said, with a little wink. “Ethan said you were partial to fancy bathtubs.”

There the jerk went again. Being thoughtful.

“I can have dinner brought up to you if you’d like-”

“No. No,” I said looking around. “I’m fine.”

Was he going to come out? Say hello? Yell at me? Kiss me?

I expected to see him at least. It was our wedding night.

“Tag,” Mrs. Walker said, over my shoulder. “You can leave the bag.”

I turned and smiled at him, taking my bag back. I didn’t know if he was looking at me with pity or worry. Maybe both. But then he tipped his hat and left.

“So,” I said with a smile to Mrs. Walker. “About that jacuzzi tub?”

“Follow me,” she said, guiding me toward the staircase that led to the second floor. I hoisted my duffle bag higher on my shoulder and clicked my tongue so Jenny and Bruce would follow me.

Once we reached the top of the hardwood staircase, Mrs. Walker pointed out a door on the opposite side of the hallway, “Ethan’s room is that way. Mac’s room is on the third floor, but he’ll be staying in the bunk house with the boys.”

“On account of me?” I asked.

“Oh, who knows why these McGraws do anything?” Mrs. Walker said.

So, the answer was yes. Because of me.

“Here you go,” she said, and pushed open a door. Jenny and Bruce ran in ahead.

I stepped inside a giant bedroom, with a fourposter bed and a fireplace. The king sized bed was covered in a thick, fluffy quilt and stacks of pillows. When I pushed the curtains back to look out the window, I found it was actually a door out to a small balcony looking out on the western pasture.

“Sweet,” I muttered.

The colors were pretty. Feminine. A vibrant purple. A deep rose. Bits of green. The colors seemed almost floral, without there being a flower in sight.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, turning the light on in the bathroom. A whirlpool tub. A rainfall shower head. Nothing but white, clean granite everywhere. All as promised.

“There’re fresh towels in the cupboard there and I managed to find some toiletries that weren’t for men,” Mrs. Walker said.

“This is an amazing room,” I said. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I’m heading home now, but if you get hungry there’s plenty of food in the kitchen.” She started to pull the door closed, but I turned and she stopped, blinking her big eyes at me.

“Whose room is this?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“It was Mrs. McGraw’s before she passed away.” Mrs. Walker said. “But it honestly hasn’t been used in ages. I’m glad you’re here. It’s too pretty to sit empty.”

I thanked her again and Mrs. Walker closed the door behind her with a soft click.

I looked around, feeling like Alice in Wonderland.

On her wedding night.

The bath was amazing. I ran enough hot water for two baths.

I turned on the jets. I turned them off.

Remembered some book I read where a woman masturbated using the jets of a hot tub, and I gave that a shot, but all it did was kind of hurt and felt like the ghost of Leroy McGraw might be watching – so I gave up on it.

The toiletries were fancy, and smelled like lemongrass and tea. So I used all of them on all parts of my body. I shaved my legs all the way up to my hips, and, because of the tub, I did some minor contortions to try to get the spots on the back of my knee I always missed.

All in all, it was an A+ experience.

Sleeping in this bed, however…not so good. The sheets were both soft and crisp at the same time. The pillows the perfect amount of squishy and firm. The mattress could only be described as perfection.

But as I lay there, staring at the ceiling, my brain refused to shut off.

Ethan’s parents had separate rooms. That seemed sad, and the room felt haunted by the ghost of their unhappy marriage. And then I thought about my parents and wondered if their marriage was as happy as it had seemed.

Which made me think about my marriage – because I was married.

I’d told my mom, but I hadn’t told Amity and Bliss yet. I would call them tomorrow.

Also Sunshine…she could wait. She was not a fan of this entire plan.

And with everything my baby brother Boone had on his plate, on whatever military assignment he was on, it was doubtful he would even care about hometown drama. By the time I saw him again, I would most likely already be divorced.

My stomach growled, and Jenny, curled up on the rug beside my bed, woofed a low, quiet bark, a dog version of “are you all right?”

“I’m good, honey,” I told her, reaching down to pat her head and getting Bruce instead, who woke up with an unhappy squawk. Which made Jenny bark.

“Shhh,” I said, painfully aware of how loud my entourage was. “It’s okay. I’m okay. You guys hungry?”

They made noises that sounded like yes and that was good enough for me.

Finally, I threw the blankets off, immediately realized how cold it was in the room.

I hustled into a sweatshirt over the tank top I slept in and pulled on some thick socks.

Quiet as a mouse being followed by a blind dog and a goose, I crept down the hallway to the staircase.

The fire was still burning in the fireplace in the big living room downstairs and it wasn’t until I was halfway down the stairs that I realized Ethan was there.

I stopped and thought about creeping right back up to bed before he saw me.

“Hello, Harmony,” he said.

He didn’t turn to look at me and I noticed the drink in his hand.

“You can go back and hide in your bedroom if you want. I won’t blame you,” he said. “Or, I’ve got some food if you’re hungry.”

My stomach growled in answer.

I shot Jenny and Bruce behave glances and came the rest of the way downstairs and over to the couch to see what kind of midnight snack he was offering up.

Cheese and crackers. Some grapes and apples.

Those were good snacks. I gave Bruce a grape and Jenny some cheese. They wolfed it out of the air and settled down in front of the fire with a happy sigh.