Page 54 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
She ended the call before I could say anything else. “Shit, shit, shit.”
This was not supposed to happen. The engagement thing had been reckless. I never imagined it would get out. Someone must have posted the news on social media. Either that or someone told someone and that someone told their family back in New York. This was one of the downfalls to being who I was. Despite living in this great big world, it could still be very small. Someone always knew someone that knew me or my family. It was bound to get back to them.
I looked up the number for the hangar. “This is Ryan Jones,” I said when someone answered. “I need my plane fueled and ready to go in an hour.”
“Mr. Jones, are you aware of the tropical storm warning?” the man asked.
“No. When is it supposed to hit?”
“It’s projected to hit south of us sometime tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll be back before then,” I said. “I’ll be back tonight, possibly tomorrow morning.”
We finalized the details of my flight plan. I checked the storm for myself. It wasn’t anything big and the trajectory had it a good hundred miles south of the island. I wasn’t going to bother packing a bag. This was going to be a quick trip. I hopped in the shower and thought about what I was going to say to my parents. I felt terrible for the way they had found out.
My family and I were close. I could only imagine what they felt when they heard I was engaged. I didn’t think to ask if there had been pictures. I knew I owed them one hell of an explanation. When I told them what I had done, I had a feeling they were going to be even more pissed. Maybe I wouldn’t tell them the whole story. I could tell them it was a joke. A drunken comment while out with friends.
Before I left, I needed to let Claire know I was going to be gone for the day. I felt guilty about bailing on her, even if we didn’t have any concrete plans. It sucked to be losing one of the few days we had together, but if things went well, we’d have more time after this little arrangement.
This trip home could be an opportunity to tell my family about Claire and what I hoped would happen. If things went well, I’d be bringing Claire home to meet them. I knew they would love her. Eliza already knew her, so that would ease the way.
This was going to be good.
