Just Good Friends (11 page)

“
Thank you,” she said,
feeling better after spending the whole morning feeling like a
freak of nature. After a moment, she added, “I mean it, Tyler. I’ll
write the letter and explain everything. My parents know how Zoe
is.”

“
You think Zoe will ever
grow up and pay more attention to her own life instead of someone
else’s?”

“
I don’t know. Some people
don’t want to change how they are. I learned a long time ago that
it’s pointless to even try to talk to them because they only hear
what they want to hear.”

“
As much as I hate to say
you were right about coming to Montana, you were right. I can see
why you dread coming here.”

“
I just hope there’s no
weddings or funerals for a long time.”

But who knew? After her parents read
the letter, they might be so upset, they wouldn’t even want to talk
to her for a while. It was a reprieve, of sorts, she supposed, but
she wasn’t looking forward to it.

“
For what it’s worth, the
trip was bearable because you were with me,” she said. “Thanks for
coming.”

“
Are you sure you’re glad I
came? I got you into a big mess,” he replied.

“
I asked for it. It was my
idea to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“
We weren’t very convincing
at it since we didn’t hold hands or kiss.”

“
That’s because we didn’t
want Zoe to miss her shining moment,” she joked, recalling her
father’s words.

Tyler laughed and pulled into the
driveway of her parents’ home. “Right. Because we’re so concerned
about making sure she gets all the attention.” He turned off the
ignition. “Does that make us saints?”

“
Of course, it does. We’re
very selfless people.” With a roll of her eyes, she opened the
door. “Let’s get our things and go home.”

Nodding, he followed her into the
house.

***

The next afternoon, Tiffany called up
Beth. She needed someone objective to help her write the letter to
her parents, and there was no one better she could think of than
Beth for the task.

When she arrived at Beth’s home, two
fifteen-month-olds almost plowed into her. Laughing, Tiffany leaned
down and gave Jacob and Stacey Ann a hug. “Hi, guys,” she told
them.

As they greeted her, Beth came over to
her and laughed. “You know, the day’s quickly coming when they’ll
be able to outrun me.”

Tiffany chuckled. “They just want to
give you a good workout.”

“
I’m sure.” Beth tapped her
children on the shoulders. “Come on. Give Tiffany a
break.”

“
They’re fine.” Tiffany
stood up and faced her friend. “They’re a lot better to deal with
than my family. All of them came rushing over to Tyler and me at
the airport. It looked like a stampede.”

“
How did your trip
go?”

“
Worse than I thought it
would.”

“
Really? Even with Tyler
there to fill in as your boyfriend?”

Tiffany followed Beth and her children
down the hall. “Yeah, well, that’s why I wanted to come over. Will
you help me write a letter telling my parents I’m not really
married?”

Beth paused right outside the playroom
and turned to her. “You told them you and Tyler are
married?”

“
It’s a long story. I’ll
explain everything.”

“
Sounds
interesting.”

Ryan came down the hall. “Hi, Tiffany,”
he said then kissed Beth’s cheek. Turning back to Tiffany, he said,
“I saw the pictures your mom posted on Facebook of the wedding. I
didn’t recognize you in your dress.”

Tiffany groaned. “Did you friend my
mom?”

“
She sent me a friend
request because I’m cousins with her son-in-law.”

Tiffany couldn’t believe it. Zoe’s
wedding had just been yesterday, and her mom took a ton of pictures
for her scrapbook. Tiffany thought her mom would have at least a
week’s worth of work before she had time to hop online to post
wedding pictures or start friending Tyler’s family on
Facebook.

With a chuckle, Ryan asked, “Is there
something I missed? I thought you and Tyler were only pretending to
be dating.”

Beth’s eyes grew wide. “Why didn’t you
tell me?” she asked Ryan as she picked up Jacob before he took off
down the hall. “Stay in this room,” she told the boy and set him
and his sister in the spacious room set up with all sorts of toys
that any kid would love. “Ryan, will you set the gate up?” She
glanced at Tiffany and sighed. “I try to get those things locked in
place, but for some reason, I can’t.”

“
It’s so easy,” Ryan said
and hurried to obey.

“
So you say.” Beth gestured
toward Tiffany. “What is this thing about a son-in-law?”

Tiffany looked from Beth to Ryan and
knew they were both waiting for her answer. “While we were there,
Tyler got fed up with everything and told the whole family we
eloped last week.”

Ryan burst out laughing. “He
what?”

“
It wasn’t his fault. My
parents were relentless in hinting about us getting married, and my
sister only added to it. Something in him snapped, and he blurted
it out to get them off our backs. But we really aren’t married, nor
are we going to be. So I need your help,” she pointed to Beth,
“writing them a letter explaining that Tyler and I are only
friends.”

“
Well, that’s better than
the time Ryan’s parents and my parents forced us to get married,”
Beth said. “At least, your parents didn’t drag you to the Justice
of the Peace.”

“
Hey, if it weren’t for
them, those two little people wouldn’t be here today,” Ryan argued,
motioning to Jacob and Stacey Ann, who were currently fighting over
a toy when there were plenty of other toys around to play
with.

“
See how they’re acting?”
Beth asked. “Ryan and I were just like that when we were first
married. It was brutal.”

“
But it was worth it because
look at us now.” Ryan hugged Beth and kissed the top of her head.
“Sometimes parents know what’s best.”

“
Yeah, well, my parents are
going to freak when they learn the truth,” Tiffany replied and
pulled out some folded blank paper and a pen from her purse. “I
hope you don’t mind helping me with my apology.”

Beth offered her a sympathetic smile.
“I’ll be happy to help.”

“
Thanks, Beth.”

“
Since the kids aren’t
happy, I’ll take them to the park while you two work on the
letter.” Ryan removed the gate and called out to his children who
rushed over to him. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

“
Good luck keeping up with
them,” Beth told him.

“
It’s nice that things
worked out between you and Ryan,” Tiffany said as she followed Beth
to the sunroom.

Beth led her over to a counter with a
pot of hot water. “What kind of tea do you want?”

“
Green.”

“
I’ll give you the green tea
with ginger. It’ll help settle your stomach. You look like you’re
ill.”

“
I’m not ill. I’m just,”
Tiffany shrugged as she studied the blank pieces of paper in her
hands, “in dread of what they’ll do when they read the
letter.”

Beth poured them both the hot water
then added the tea pouches to them. “Go ahead and explain
everything to me, and I’ll see what I can come up with to help
you.”

Tiffany took a deep breath and began
her sad, sordid tale.

Chapter
Ten

“
Beth and I worked for two
hours on a letter to my parents,” Tiffany told Amy and Danielle
first thing at work the next day. “And I’d like for you two to tell
me what you think before I send it out.”

“
How long is it?” Amy asked,
slipping her purse under her desk.

“
A page. Beth said the
simpler, the better,” Tiffany replied, lowering her gaze to the
piece of paper in her hand.

“
We’ll be happy to listen to
it.” Danielle sat in front of Tiffany’s desk, frappuccino in hand.
“Go on and read it.”

Tiffany released her breath. “Okay.
Here goes. ‘I know I should have told you this while I was in
Montana, but with Zoe getting married, I didn’t want to ruin
everything. The truth is, when Andy broke up with me, I didn’t want
you to pair me up with someone, so I asked Tyler if he would
pretend to be my boyfriend. While we were there, the constant hints
about marriage got to be too much. Tyler was only trying to make
things easier for me when he stood up and said he and I were
married.’”

Danielle, who’d been drinking her
frappucino, started laughing. She quickly put her hand over her
mouth to avoid spitting it out.

“
I’ll get napkins,” Amy said
and hurried to the small kitchen in the back.

“
Can you face away from my
desk?” Tiffany asked Danielle as she hurried to put her purse
safely out of reach, just in case Danielle ended up spraying
frappucino everywhere.

After a long agonizing moment, Danielle
swallowed, and Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief then placed her
purse back on the desk.

Amy returned with a group of napkins.
“Do we need to clean anything up?”

“
No, thank goodness,”
Tiffany told her.

Danielle took a deep breath then burst
out laughing.

“
I don’t see what’s so
funny,” Tiffany grumbled.

“
It’s not the letter,” Amy
assured her as Danielle kept laughing. “I think it’s the fact that
Tyler told your parents that you two were married that’s funny.”
She glanced at Danielle. “Danielle’s always had a weird sense of
humor.”

“
Well, you have to admit, it
wasn’t expected,” Danielle said. “I thought she was going to tell
her parents that she’d had enough of the whole ‘get married’ thing
and if they didn’t cut it out, she’d stop talking to
them.”

“
No, it wasn’t like that.”
Though at this point, Tiffany really wished it was.

“
Now that Danielle’s had her
good laugh,” Amy began, “want to finish it?”

“
Hold on.” Danielle looked
at Tiffany. “Did anyone mention you being pregnant?”

“
No,” Tiffany
replied.

“
Good. Then I don’t think
anything else will take me by surprise. Continue.” She picked up
her cup and took another drink.

Tiffany turned her attention back to
the letter. “‘I’m really sorry. This is not Tyler’s fault. Please
don’t hold this against him. It was my lie that started everything,
and now it’s snowballing out of control.’” She glanced at Danielle.
“Don’t drink anything for a moment.”

Danielle’s eyebrows rose, and she set
the drink down. “I thought you said there were no babies on the
way.”

“
There aren’t, but there is
something else that you might find funny.”

Danielle nodded and indicated that she
should continue.

Tiffany picked up where she left off.
“‘Please don’t friend anyone else in Tyler’s family on Facebook. I
had to explain to one of his cousins that he and I aren’t
married.’”

“
Which cousin?” Amy
asked.

“
Ryan Jackson. He and Tyler
are pretty close, so it makes sense she’d go to him first. I
already told her not to friend anyone else until I’ve had a chance
to explain why.”

“
What does the rest of the
letter say?” Danielle asked.

She put the paper down. “There’s
nothing else. What do you think? Is there anything I should
change?”

“
Yes,” Danielle said. “Say
that you two are having a terrific honeymoon.”

“
You’re not helping,” Amy
told Danielle.

“
Oh come on.” Danielle
picked up her cup and returned to her desk. “This is hilarious.
Your parents asked for it with all the times they’ve been bugging
you to get married. Besides, what’s the harm in letting them
believe it? It’s not like they ever come for a visit.”

“
It’s about doing the right
thing,” Tiffany said. “I can’t let them believe a
lie…indefinitely.” Granted, she was willing to let them believe a
lie for a short time. She was no saint. But this was much more than
she intended. “I have to make things right.”

“
Exactly,” Amy agreed. “It’s
about integrity.”

Danielle shrugged. “Integrity’s
overrated.”

“
I’m shocked you’d think
such a thing.” Amy paused then shrugged. “Okay. I’m not shocked.
You’d do anything if the price was right.”

“
Hey, I have no shame in
taking advantage of a good opportunity when it comes
knocking.”

“
Sadly, that’s
true.”

“
I helped you out in the
past because of it,” Danielle told Amy, giving her a pointed
look.

Amy glanced at Tiffany. “Sadly, that’s
also true.”

Tiffany chuckled, feeling a little
better. But only a little. There was still the letter she had to
send out.