Page 45 of Rory Rides Her Fake Fiancé
Rory’s eyes widen and she puts a finger to her lips. “Grandma, don’t worry about it.” She listens for a beat and then rubs the space between her eyebrows. “God, no, Grandma. Jesus. I’m not cheating on Morgan. It is Morgan, okay?”
I grab the phone from Rory and ignore her protests. “Good morning, Mrs. Patterson. Lovely day out today, isn’t it?”
“I don’t need to hear all about your good morning,” she snaps. “Are you at her place or your place?”
Rory tries to swipe for the phone. “My place,” I answer.
“Good. Has she moved in with you yet?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Well try harder. I need help with my computer this week.”
“I could come help you.”
“It’s personal. Banking stuff. You’re not trusted until you lock her down, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m working on that too.”
She harrumphs. “Put my granddaughter back on the phone.”
I hand the phone over and listen to one side of an argument about where Rory should live. Rory’s losing.
“I haven’t moved to Here because you can’t make up your mind about where to live. . . . I’ve moved three times for you! . . .You can’t stay here because of me. You’ll be miserable again in two months. . . . Because I know you, that’s why! . . . Fine,” Rory finally snaps. “I’ll move. Are you happy now?”
Once Mrs. Patterson achieves victory, the call is short. Rory hangs up and glares at her phone.
“So your grandma moves a lot?”
Rory huffs. “She’s hated every place she’s lived in so far. She wants to live with me, but I’m home so rarely. I sleep in hotels more often than I sleep at home. Actually, I sleep at Grandma’s more than I sleep at home.”
“It does make sense for you to move then.”
“I’m not really moving,” she says. “How would she know, anyway?”
“Another lie?” I tsk at her. Princess whines by the door so I get up and let her out into the backyard.
Rory makes a face. “What Grandma doesn’t know doesn’t hurt her. Just told her I’d move; I didn’t say when.”
Morgan
* * *
Friday morning I have a cleaning job with Kit. It’s one of the regular ones, not a show, so Kit and I buckle down with a little less fanfare and a little more chit chat.
“How are things going with Rory?”
Kit’s the only one who knows that this engagement isn’t real, but he also knows that I am totally into Rory.
I think about my words carefully. “It’s slow going. But we’re spending more time together. Last week she fell asleep on my shoulder when we were watching TV.”
Kit gasps. “The scandal.”
“Shut it,” I say. We’re cleaning the kitchen right now, so I’m tackling the dirty dishes the vacationers left behind and Kit’s cleaning the stove. “She’s just . . . it’s hard to get her to open up.”
“Yeah.” Kit scoffs. “Classic avoidant type.”
“Avoidant type?”
