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CHAPTER ELEVEN

ROZ

My eyes darted to the grandfather clock in my parents’ living room. Olivia was late.

I frowned. She better show. She was the whole reason I was in this mess to begin with. And if she didn’t play the part she’d created for herself, we’d both be screwed.

“Auntie Roz, you’re not paying attention!” Lottie yelped.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” I focused back on the Monopoly board spread across the lush carpet in front of us.

“So why have you been keeping Olivia top secret?” Matt asked, sliding his thimble piece across the board. “Is she the real reason you moved back?”

I paused. I didn’t like lying to Matt. But my parents were in the next room and could potentially overhear us. I couldn’t risk that. Not only were they terrible actors, but they wouldn’t approve of the fake-dating situation we’d found ourselves in. And they were both so thrilled to hear I was finally dating someone; I was eager to keep them in happy ignorance for a little longer. Mom’s constant badgering about me needing to settle down was pressure I didn’t need right now with everything else that was going on.

“No, it’s complicated,” I said. “I’ll tell you later.”

I stared at him meaningfully over Lottie’s blond head. Matt raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject.

Lottie had just declared victory when the doorbell rang. My pulse quickened. Was it Fred or Olivia? I glanced around the living room. I was used to meeting business partners in sleek meeting rooms with associates I trusted. My family members were loose cannons. And having Olivia present was going to add another layer of unpredictability to the mix. For the tenth time today, I wished Mom hadn’t insisted on Fred coming to lunch. I knew she was trying to be helpful by welcoming Fred into our family, but I preferred to keep business and family separate. My parents had a history of trying to be helpful in ways that were anything but. My chest tightened at the memory.

Lottie bounced up and raced to the door. I rose stiffly off the floor, following her.

By the time I’d reached the long hallway, Lottie had already opened the front door. Fred and Olivia stood on the doorstep, Fred dressed in tan pants and a navy polo shirt, and Olivia in a blue dress covered in purple flowers.

“Hello!” Lottie waved in their faces.

My mother’s familiar footsteps echoed behind me. I quickened my pace.

“Hello, I see you’ve met my niece, Lottie. Come in.” I smiled to mask my nerves as I shook Fred’s hand and then turned to Olivia.

Shit. While it’d been a long time since I’d been in a relationship, I was fairly confident that in this situation, most people would kiss or hug or show some type of physical affection toward their girlfriend. I needed to do something.

As I stared at Olivia, frozen in place, she leaned forward and brushed her soft lips against my cheek.

“Hi, babe,” she murmured, her breath tickling my earlobe.

A shiver rushed down my spine. Something like that .

I managed a strangled, “Hi,” took a deep breath and then reintroduced Fred and Olivia to my mother, who was hovering behind us. Dad trotted out, wearing a navy apron over his jeans and checkered shirt, and extended a hand, and then Matt followed suit. Once the introductions were complete, Dad, Lottie, and Matt disappeared off.

Mom squeezed her hands together. “So lovely to see you again, Fred. And you too, Olivia.”

“Thanks for having me,” Olivia said as we walked back down the hall. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’d love a hand with the salad,” Mom said, whisking Olivia into the kitchen.

My stomach sank as they vanished out of sight. I didn’t trust either of them right now. On the plus side, at least it gave me the opportunity to speak to Fred without Olivia present. I ushered him into the living room, taking a seat on my parents’ cream couch, while Fred lowered himself into the matching armchair. The smell of roasted potatoes wafted in from the kitchen.

“Did you have a good morning in Sapphire Springs?” I asked, smiling.

Fred rested an elbow on the armrest. “It was lovely, thanks. I went for a stroll down to Dockside Park.”

“Oh, wonderful.” I leaned forward. “Have you had any more thoughts about our discussion yesterday?”

Fred nodded. “So far, I’m impressed. But I’d like to get some more information about supply and demand for your proposed event space and taproom. I want to understand what your competition is around here, whether they are booked out or have capacity, and how you’ll differentiate your function space from other venues in the region.”

My shoulders sank. I’d done enough research to know that the event space and taproom would be profitable, but I hadn’t had time to do a deep-dive competition analysis. It had been a weak spot in my proposal, but I’d hoped Fred wouldn’t notice. I should have known better. I was used to having minions to do this type of work for me.

“Of course. I can get all that information for you.”

“Excellent. Thanks Roz. I need to go back to the city tomorrow, but I’m planning to come back on Friday. Could you have it to me by then?”

“Yes, of course.” I gave a swift smile. I could really do with a minion right now.

Dad popped his head into the living room. “Lunch is ready.”

We made our way into my parents’ expansive dining room, which looked out over the sprawling green front lawn. I took a seat at the large, oak table. Fred sat on my left, and a minute later, Olivia appeared, set down two bowls of salad, and slipped onto the seat on my right.

Mom and Dad brought out plates of salmon with dill sauce and roasted potatoes, placing them in front of us. Lottie and Matt arrived, flushed and slightly out of breath.

“We just had a very energetic game of catch,” Matt said, gulping down some water.

As we ate, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at Olivia. It was strangely intimate, inviting someone I barely knew into my parents’ home to have lunch with my family. The last date to meet my parents was Sadie. Not that this was a date. Olivia seemed to be enjoying herself, chatting to Dad about ways to deal with his rose slug problem.

“It’s best to get onto them as quickly as possible, before they multiply,” Olivia said.

“Speaking of multiples,” Mom said, putting down her fork and focusing her attention on Olivia, “do you want children, Olivia?”

I spluttered, nearly choking on a mouthful of salmon.

“Mom!” I snapped, glaring at her. I’d hoped one of the benefits of this ridiculous charade was that it would keep my mother off my back about dating for a while. I hadn’t anticipated she’d just change lanes to this other, equally annoying, line of questioning.

My eyes flickered to Olivia, who seemed unperturbed by my mother’s inappropriate behavior. If anything, I thought there was a glint of amusement in her eyes.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” Mom said, holding up her hands. “I would love to hear how you met, though.”

“We met at Pryde, the gay bar, remember?” I answered, trying to keep my tone civil. Fred was here, after all.

“I know that, but how did it actually happen?” Mom pressed.

“Marie.” Dad placed his hand on her arm. “We don’t need to pry.”

Thank you Dad.

“Hang on a second—is this the first time you’ve all met?” Fred asked, putting his water glass on the table and looking around with raised eyebrows. “I didn’t realize I was crashing your ‘meet the parents’ lunch.”

“Yes. Roz has been keeping Olivia from us for some reason,” Mom said, fixing me with a pointed stare.

“Really? Well, don’t let my presence hold you back, Roz. I’m quite intrigued to hear your love story.” Fred leaned forward. “So how did you meet?”

Shit. We really should have prepped some answers beforehand.I gulped down a mouthful of water.

Olivia looked at me expectantly. From across the table, Matt raised an eyebrow. The silence, punctuated only by cutlery scraping across plates, stretched on far too long.

I had to say something—fast. Best to stick to the truth as close as possible.

“We sat near each other at the bar and started talking,” I said, my tone crisper than I’d intended.

A frown flickered across Fred’s face. Damn.This was clearly not the love story Fred had in mind.

A soft, warm hand grasped my arm. “It was a lot more romantic than that, babe,” Olivia said, winking at Fred and then looking around the table. “I was being an absolute klutz and hit my head on the bar counter—before I’d even had a drink—and Roz struck up conversation with me on the pretense of making sure I was lucid. I then managed to spill my drink all over her, so we had to go to the restroom… And one thing led to another.” Olivia’s cheeks flushed pink. “And it’s great having you here for the ‘meet the parents’ lunch, Fred. It takes the pressure off me.”

“I’m happy to help.” Fred grinned. “How long have you been dating for?”

My chest clenched. All this questioning was probably quite innocuous, but it felt like the Spanish Inquisition. Up until now, I hadn’t directly lied to anyone—the situation we’d found ourselves in had been the result of misunderstandings we’d failed to correct. While my behavior was already morally questionable, I couldn’t bring myself to lie outright to Fred. But I needed to say something. I couldn’t leave him hanging.

“We met six months ago, but obviously Roz was living in New York then, so it’s only recently we’ve been able to spend much time together,” Olivia said, running her hand up and down my arm and smiling adoringly at me. Her hand left a trail of goosebumps on my skin, and it took all my effort not to scowl. Damn my body and its involuntary reactions. I stabbed a crispy piece of potato with my fork.

Fred leaned over and spooned some salad on to his plate. “Oh, that must be a relief to finally be in the same area. Long-distance relationships can be a challenge.”

I popped the potato in my mouth and chewed. Fred was taking this well. Olivia seemed to be much better at fake dating than me. And she’d managed to give answers that were effectively true but also didn’t blow our cover.

“Aunty Roz, are you good enough at driving the tractor yet to take me on a hayride?” Lottie piped up.

I swallowed too quickly, sending the potato traveling painfully down my throat. A change in topic was needed, but could it not be about my tractor-driving skills?

Mom handed Lottie the salad bowl. “I think she’ll need a few more weeks of practice before it’s safe to take you out, sweetheart.” Mom turned to me. “Did you hear back from the insurance company about your car?”

I gave Mom a death stare, willing her to stop talking. “Let’s not talk about insurance.”

Fred raised his eyebrows. “Oh, what happened to your car?”

“It was nothing.” I scrambled to think of another conversation topic. “So, is anyone watching any good TV shows at the moment?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Mom looked at Fred then gave an awkward grimace. “Roz tried to connect the tractor to the hay wagon so she could take Lottie on a hayride. Thankfully, Roz survived unscathed. Her car was less fortunate. We all witnessed it. It wasn’t pretty.”

Fred’s gaze shot to me. “Oh, yikes. That’s rough.”

The tic started up again under my eye. What the hell is Mom thinking?

Mom snapped her mouth shut, as if she’d realized that perhaps telling my potential investor that I’d negligently driven a tractor into my car was a bad idea. Which it most definitely was.

“Oh, it was just a little incident,” she backtracked. “I’m sure her car will be repaired without any hassle.”

Fred glanced at Olivia, who was staring at me wide-eyed.

Olivia blinked, her gaze shifting to Fred. “Um, yes. It wasn’t a big deal.” She wasn’t very convincing, but at least she’d made an attempt to sound like she knew what Mom was talking about.

“It was like this!” Lottie jumped up on her seat, clenched her fists together, and smashed one down on the other. “Crunch, crunch, crunch!”

Matt tapped her back. “That’s enough, Lottie.”

Dad cleared his throat. “So, what do you think of the farm, Fred?”

Fred patted his mouth with his napkin. “I loved it. I was particularly impressed by the focus on sustainability. The geothermal greenhouse was fantastic.”

Olivia put down her fork. “I’m so glad you liked that. I’ve got lots of other ideas for how we could make the farm even more environmentally friendly.”

Not this again. I held back a sigh.This lunch couldn’t end soon enough.

Fred turned to Olivia and tilted his head. “Oh, what were you thinking?”

Olivia leaned in, her eyes bright. “Solar panels on all the barns, a smart irrigation system to help with water conservation, and upgrading the tractors to more fuel-efficient models. Did you know you can get electric tractors too these days?”

I gripped my knife tightly. Yet again, Olivia was trying to hijack things with Fred to further her own agenda. Everything she had just rattled off would cost significant money. Money I didn’t have. The last thing I needed was for Fred to decide to throw his money into sustainable farming instead of a new event space and tap house. While Olivia’s suggestions would probably save some money in the long term, there was no way they’d bring in anywhere as much profit as my proposal would. I needed to shut this down—now.

Fred nodded. “That sounds terrific. Roz, you didn’t mention any of this in your business plan.”

“Yes, well the priority is getting the taphouse and event space built, and then we can explore some of the ideas Olivia mentioned.”

Olivia straightened. “We can incorporate sustainability into the taphouse and event space too, making sure they’re designed in an energy-efficient manner and installing solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system. We could even use reclaimed materials to build them.” Her eyes flashed with excitement.

“Roz, could you update your business plan to include these ideas too?” Fred asked. “I’d love to hear more about them. Being able to market Red Tractor Farm as an eco-friendly sustainable business could be one way to differentiate it from the competition.”

“Yes, of course.” I plastered a smile on my face as I dug my nails into my hands. As soon as Fred left, I’d be having a word with Olivia.