Page 30 of Just (Fake) Married (Calloways vs. McGraws #1)

TWENTY

ETHAN

I took her hand just as we reached the town hall. She glanced down at our joined hands but didn’t pull away, like she understood the assignment.

Pretend to be in love in public.

Inside, there was a small lobby where a teenage girl sat at a desk.

“Marion,” Harmony said. “What are you doing out here?”

“Mrs. McCormick wanted me to take attendance,” she explained.

“Ethan, this is Marion Blackfeather,” Harmony introduced us. “She’s Sandra’s daughter as well as our town’s amateur historian. She works at the museum on the weekends.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand. “What’s it like in there?”

“Full.” Marion said. “You better get going. Mrs. McCormick is like totally freaking out that you won’t be showing up.”

We climbed the creaky wooden stairs to the second-floor museum, which held more awesome moments from our shared past. Past the stairs was a giant wood-paneled room that used to be the train depot waiting room.

And it was full to bursting with people facing a small stage where Mrs. McCormick was laying out her cookies and arguing with Ida Strunk.

“Oh, wow,” Harmony said, stopping by the doorway and trying to stay hidden. “I’m nervous. I’ve never been nervous before a meeting before. You know, maybe I shouldn’t be in charge of the committee. What if-”

I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around the corner to a small alcove before the entrance to the museum. I pushed her against the wall and braced my arm near her head.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“You can’t go in there like you don’t know what you want. You’ve got to go in there like you’re ready to take control of that stupid festival.”

“It’s not stupid,” she snapped back.

“See, that’s the Harmony I know,” I said. “Now, you have ideas for the festival, right?”

“Sure. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be elected chairperson.”

“Of course you are. You are the right person at the right time. Now go show them what the future looks like for this town.”

“You’re right,” she said, standing up straight, shoulders back. “Let’s go do this.”

Damn. I wanted to kiss her.

When we walked in, all the chatter in the room died with a hush as everyone turned to look at us. Our hands still joined. Her ring winked in the overhead lights, drawing everyone’s attention. Mrs. McCormick came rushing over.

“Come, come,” she said, squeezing both of us in a quick hug. “The mayor is about to start the meeting but I saved two seats for you.”

“Thank you,” Harmony said, and we hustled up front, aware that everyone was watching us.

When we sat, I stretched my arm across the back of her seat, stroking my thumb along the slice of skin revealed on her shoulder.

She jumped and looked at me like she didn’t know what I was doing, so I winked at her.

This is part of the show, I reminded her with that wink. This is what we’re here to do.

She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear.

She got it. She pulled that exploding purse up on her lap and dug through it until she found a notebook.

She kept the notebook and put the purse under her chair.

We all heard the water bottle fall out of it and roll from the front row all the way to the back.

I laughed, I couldn’t help it.

“Want me to get that?” I whispered in her ear and she shook her head, nudging me back with her shoulder. I was close enough to smell her. Cedar fire from the store and the hot chocolate she’d been drinking. But under that was the smell of her skin. I leaned closer.

“Are you smelling me?” she whispered.

“Yep,” I said, without embarrassment.

Mayor Gallup stood up behind the small lectern on the table in front. Beside him was Mrs. McCormick, acting as secretary and taking notes.

“Howdy everybody, good to see such a big crowd here tonight,” he began. “Now, we know what we’re all here to discuss. We want some fresh ideas to bring our once proud and unique festival back to its former glory. To that end, we’ll need to select a chairperson-”

“I nominate Harmony Calloway as chairperson,” Mrs. McCormick jumped in, using her best school teacher voice, which was still incredibly effective.

“Well,” Mayor Gallup said, his smile turning into a frown. “We should maybe discuss a potential list. I could also certainly add my name to the roster of candidates-”

“I second Harmony’s nomination,” someone in the back said. I couldn’t see through the crowd to be sure, but it sounded like Dr. Sandra Blackfeather.

“All those in favor?” Mrs. McCormick asked, and nearly the entire room lifted their hands.

I looked back at the crowd and so did Harmony. Everyone was smiling at her, looking at her with such faith and energy.

Our marriage might be fake, but the pride I felt for her in that moment was very real.

“Oh, my gosh,” Harmony breathed. She blinked away the tears that had sprung up in her eyes. “That was so fast…”

“Say thank you,” I breathed in her ear. “And get up there.”

She stood up with her notebook and headed over to the table with the lectern on it. She shook Mrs. McCormick’s hand and Mayor Gallup’s, who did not seem as excited by the events as our fifth-grade teacher.

Marion, the teenager from the front desk, slipped into the room and sat against the wall. I pointed at the seat Harmony had just left next to me, but she shook her head. She opened up her gigantic backpack and pulled out a laptop.

“Thank you,” Harmony said, standing behind the lectern.

“Thank you, very much. That’s very kind of you and very unexpected.

I appreciate it.” She opened up her notebook and cleared her throat.

“I’ll cut right to the chase. I think it’s time we moved the Feud Day Festival away from the past and into the future. ”

“Hold on a second,” Mayor Gallup interrupted. “The historic re-enactments are what the visitors love about our festival. Any town can have a dunk tank and a bake sale. We bring the past to life.”

“People will expect them,” said Ida Strunk.

“People are bored of them,” Marion spoke up. “We need to shake it up. Do something different.”

“Well, I can announce that all the re-enactments this year will be performed by the actual Calloways and McGraws,” Harmony said.

There was a ripple of excitement around the room.

“As I am sure many of you in this room have heard, Ethan McGraw and I have gotten married.” She held out an arm towards me and I lifted my hand to wave at the crowd, who clapped.

Someone in the back cat-called, and I turned to see Mac standing in the back of the room. I waved. He gave me the finger. It felt like a sign of support.

“Okay, okay,” Harmony said, indulgently. “Calm down. Now, we had a private ceremony in Big Horn, but we would love to close out the Feud Day Festival with a new re-enactment followed by a reception, for the whole town.”

More excitement. Even Ida seemed excited by the idea. But this town always did love a party.

“You’re going to re-enact your wedding?” Marion asked, like the idea was lame. “But nobody dies.”

“Not yet,” I added, and everyone laughed.

Harmony glared at me.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Mrs. McCormick said. “I’d love to see you two get married, even if it’s not real.”

“And then a hosted reception for all those attending the festival,” Harmony said. “That should make people coming to the festival feel more like they’re part of the town than just visiting.”

“Who is going to pay for that?” Ida Stunk said, like she was going to be left holding the bill.

“The McGraws will pay for the beer,” I said, and that got a lot of cheers.

“There should be champagne,” Mrs. McCormick said.

“Ethan will pay for the champagne,” Mac said from the back, and I wished I could give him the finger again.

“I don’t like champagne,” Ida Strunk said, and I had to take deep calming breaths.

“What do you like, Ida?” I asked the woman.

“Peach Schnapps.”

I laughed, but she wasn’t joking. “I’ll…ah, I’ll see what we can do.”

“The high school will serve hot dogs and all proceeds will go towards getting a new curtain for the auditorium,” Marion volunteered.

“The clinic would like to serve something, too,” Dr. Blackfeather said. “Cookies and cupcakes? And the proceeds will go to the clinic.”

“These are amazing ideas,” Harmony said, scribbling everything down in her notebook. Mrs. McCormick was doing the same and they grinned at each other, delighted by the list-making.

“Well, now,” A big man with a mountain man white beard and a pair of overalls stood up. “I have something to say.”

“Oh, Chuck, give it a rest,” Irma Strunk said with affection in her voice, and the crowd laughed. She flicked her pink bangs away from her eyelashes.

“What would you like to say?” Harmony asked.

“I want the record to show that I think this whole feud day thing is nonsense,” Chuck said.

Harmony took a deep breath. “I know, Chuck. You say that every year.”

“The name itself is ridiculous. It’s too long. Can’t we make it Feud Days or Feud Festival?”

Harmony smiled. “And you ask that every year, too.”

“And I mean it every year!” Chuck cried, more passionate about this than I’d seen him about anything but ribs in my whole life.

“Okay, Mrs. McCormick, can you put that on the agenda for our next meeting?” Harmony asked.

Mrs. McCormick lifted her pencil in acknowledgement and wrote it down.

“Good.” Chuck said, stroking his mile long beard. “In that case, I’ll cook up something for the party.”

Harmony looked thrilled, and even I could get behind some of Chuck’s barbecue.

“Great,” she said. “Let us know what you’ll charge-”

“It’s free,” Chuck said. “A gift. For you, Harmony. For your wedding. You and your family have been good to me. Good to this town. And I’m happy to celebrate your happy day.”

“Oh,” she said. And she started blinking, her eyes wet with tears. “Oh, that’s…very sweet.”

Even I was a little choked up. This was more support than I could have dreamt of.

More support than I’d ever had in my life, really.

Especially here. I knew all this love was for Harmony and I was just her plus one.

But I didn’t mind basking in the afterglow of the affection everyone in this room had for her.

“What about me, Chuck?” I asked, giving Harmony a minute to compose herself.

“What about you, nothing,” Chuck said with a disdainful sniff. “I’m Team Calloway all the way.”

That wasn’t surprising. Chuck had never liked the McGraws and had refused to serve my father anything from his BBQ. It might have had something to do with how Dad had treated Chuck’s somewhat nefarious daughter. I wondered if she still lived in the trailer park on the north side of town.

I’d never paid much attention to the story, but I knew Chuck’s only granddaughter had been in Seth’s class. A pretty girl, but she’d dropped out of school and taken off. Probably to get away from her mom.

Dad had always said they were trouble, much like the Calloway women, and to steer clear.

“T-shirts!” Marion announced. “When the visitors arrive, they’ll have to pick which side of the feud they’re on. Team McGraw or Team Calloway! The school will design and print them.”

“The clinic will help,” Sandra said.

“All right,” Harmony said, taking back control of the meeting. “We are off to a great start. But this festival needs even more fresh ideas. So…” she opened the notebook and clicked the end of the pen. “Let’s hear what else you’ve got.”