from them, and my hand lands on Evan’s thigh. My fingers push into the space where her legs are crossed, and she sits comfortably while I imagine what I could do if she was wearing a dress.
“What’s up, you two?” Evan asks.
“We wanted to let you know we’re willing to help you get your fathers on board. We’ll get them to agree to the collaborating Food Channel show,” Mrs. Erickson says.
A wave of relief washes through me, but it’s clear they have more to say.
“And?” I ask.
“Well, we want you to do something for us then,” my mom says, making eye contact with us both.
Shit. This cannot be good.
“What do you want?” Evan asks, her voice laced with skepticism.
“We want you to promise us that you won’t run away from this wedding.”
Evan’s body sinks back into the booth and I know it’s because of guilt. I need to stop this conversation before she outs us. Everything is going perfectly right now. Our moms will get the show to go ahead. We’ll each have our freedom. It’s exactly what we wanted. I feel the guilt every time I look at my mom and see her hopeful expression, but we need to stay the course.
“Why would we run?” I ask.
My mom glances at Mrs. Erickson, and she nods. “Once your fathers find out the love between you is real, it’s going to be horrible. For all of us. And you two.” She says two but her eyes are on me. I’m the runner, after all. I just did it last night. “They still think you guys are faking, and when they realize that isn’t the case, they won’t want to deal with it. And your first inkling might be to run away because it will be hard. We’ll help you if you promise not to run away when the big blowup comes.”
“I don’t understand,” Evan says. “How come you two can be fine and they just continue to hate one another?”
My mom smiles and grabs Mrs. Erickson’s hand. “Your mom and I never stopped being friends.”
“What?” I ask, my voice low.
“We remained friends behind your fathers’ backs,” Mrs. Erickson says.
“But… you forbade me.”
Evan’s accusatory tone strips Mrs. Erickson’s smile. “Because we didn’t want to rock the boat. We’re happy for you two, but you two falling in love has put a crimp in our friendship. Your dads are on high alert. We used to be able to sneak out and meet. That’s becoming impossible.”
“When?” I ask.
“Book club.”
“Book club?” Evan says.
“It’s not actually a book club. It’s just the two of us meeting in Peekskill.” Mrs. Erickson smiles.
“Except we did read that Fifty Shades book, what with all the hype around it,” my mom says, though I wish she hadn’t.
I shake my head. This is crazy. They’ve hidden their friendship for twenty years?
“Now is it a deal?” my mom asks and puts out her hand across the table.
Evan looks at me and opens her mouth to respond, but I beat her to the punch. “Deal.”
I shake my mom’s hand. Evan frowns and doesn’t say anything except that she has to go prepare the cream cheese for tomorrow.
Our moms squeal, oblivious to Evan’s mood. Why isn’t she happy about this? Our plan is coming together and now we have help. Isn’t this what we wanted?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Evan
I’m thinking we made a complete mistake starting this train wreck of a plan. Every day a new revelation. Every day a new problem to fix. A new lie to tell. Now our moms tell us that they’ve kept their friendship a secret all these years? What the hell?
“Can you believe it?” Elsie asks when I reach the back. “Mom told me the other night, but only because I caught the two of them laughing over coffee at a diner in Peekskill.”
Elsie doesn’t care because it doesn’t affect her life, but it does affect mine. I had to end my friendship with Seth because I respected my parents.
“Els, give us a minute,” Seth says, joining us in the back.
“Um. No. This isn’t your bagel shop.” She shoos him away like a gnat. “Go to your own shop.”
“Sure thing, and I’ll take Evan with me.” Seth smiles wide, taunting her.
She blows out a big breath. “You’re going to be an infuriating brother-in-law, you know.”
Seth puts his hands on either side of me on the butcher block counter in the kitchen, caging me in. “Don’t worry, I’m really lovable,” he says to Elsie’s retreating back. “Hey, you.” He dips his head