“Why would he give you a ring the size of—of—it’s huge. Mom said she saw something about your being engaged on the news this morning. How did this happen?”
“Amy, my head’s going to explode. Please shut off that light, too.”
Amy was never, ever going to buy this. Emily had no other option than to tell her the truth.
“How can you marry someone you don’t know?” Amy said.
“Take it easy,” Emily said. “If you’ll sit down for a minute, I’ll tell you what happened.”
“Mom and Dad are going to flip out.”
“Mom already has. Didn’t you say you liked him?”
“I said he was cute. I didn’t tell you to marry him,” Amy said. She paced from the bedside to the window in the now-dimly lit room. “You can’t marry someone you’ve known for twenty-four hours. How did this happen?”
“Try the ring on,” Emily said.
Amy jammed the ring onto her finger. “This is the biggest freaking ring I have ever seen.” She moved her hand around in the light from the small lamp at Emily’s bedside. The diamonds shot prisms of blue fire onto the walls of the room. “He must have told them he wanted the biggest one they had.”
Maybe it was better Amy didn’t know that was exactly what Brandon did. Emily pushed herself up on the pillows.
“Did you know that Tiffany’s wraps the little box up in wrapping paper, but they don’t use tape? When you take the bow off, the paper springs open, and there’s a little blue suede ring box,” she said dreamily.
Amy gave her a disbelieving look as if she couldn’t believe her sister had turned into such a sap. She handed the ring back to Emily, and sat down next to her on the bed. “So, are you going to tell me how this happened?”
“Here’s the short version. When I had to go to the hospital yesterday, the nurse was joking around, and called me his fiancée in front of a large group of sports fans.”
“And they believed it.”
“He thought it was funny. I don’t know if he said anything at the time, but then he started getting calls about it early this morning.”
Emily crossed her ankles and stuffed another pillow behind her back.
“Why didn’t you tell them it wasn’t true?” Amy asked.
She fidgeted a little. “I had five booking requests this morning.”
A speculative light came into her sister’s eyes. “Really? That’s great, Em.”
“There’s one more thing. James called.”
Amy reached out for Emily’s hand. “That bastard. What did he want?”
Emily felt a lump form in her throat.
“He wanted to congratulate me. He said that he and Heather are happy for me. He wants to let go of the bitterness. After all, we can be friends.”
A flush climbed up Amy’s neck and spread over her face. Her eyes glittered with anger. “What an asshole.” She shook her head.
“I hung up on him. I can’t believe he had the gall to call me, Amy. ‘Friends’? Not in this lifetime.”
“What did Brandon do?”
“He has his own set of reasons why it’s good for us to be engaged right now.”
A smirk curved her sister’s lips. “Let me guess. His ex-girlfriend won’t get off his back.”
“He also said something about his contract negotiations, and the coach being happy about this.” Amy squeezed Emily’s hand as she let go. “So, we agreed that we’d stay engaged for a month. It tells the ex-girlfriend to get lost, the team’s happy, and James will get the hint that someone else actually wants me.”
Amy squirmed a bit on the bed. “So, Em, I realize you’re not going to know this because you’re not here a lot and you don’t watch football, but I guess I’d better tell you. Brandon’s a bit of a handful.”
“That’s the truth. I can’t figure him out. One minute, he’s sweet and funny, the next minute, I’d like to throw something at him.” Emily thought for a moment. “He did say something about a public relations issue.”
“You might say that.”
“What happened?”
“You’re not going to
“Amy, my head’s going to explode. Please shut off that light, too.”
Amy was never, ever going to buy this. Emily had no other option than to tell her the truth.
“How can you marry someone you don’t know?” Amy said.
“Take it easy,” Emily said. “If you’ll sit down for a minute, I’ll tell you what happened.”
“Mom and Dad are going to flip out.”
“Mom already has. Didn’t you say you liked him?”
“I said he was cute. I didn’t tell you to marry him,” Amy said. She paced from the bedside to the window in the now-dimly lit room. “You can’t marry someone you’ve known for twenty-four hours. How did this happen?”
“Try the ring on,” Emily said.
Amy jammed the ring onto her finger. “This is the biggest freaking ring I have ever seen.” She moved her hand around in the light from the small lamp at Emily’s bedside. The diamonds shot prisms of blue fire onto the walls of the room. “He must have told them he wanted the biggest one they had.”
Maybe it was better Amy didn’t know that was exactly what Brandon did. Emily pushed herself up on the pillows.
“Did you know that Tiffany’s wraps the little box up in wrapping paper, but they don’t use tape? When you take the bow off, the paper springs open, and there’s a little blue suede ring box,” she said dreamily.
Amy gave her a disbelieving look as if she couldn’t believe her sister had turned into such a sap. She handed the ring back to Emily, and sat down next to her on the bed. “So, are you going to tell me how this happened?”
“Here’s the short version. When I had to go to the hospital yesterday, the nurse was joking around, and called me his fiancée in front of a large group of sports fans.”
“And they believed it.”
“He thought it was funny. I don’t know if he said anything at the time, but then he started getting calls about it early this morning.”
Emily crossed her ankles and stuffed another pillow behind her back.
“Why didn’t you tell them it wasn’t true?” Amy asked.
She fidgeted a little. “I had five booking requests this morning.”
A speculative light came into her sister’s eyes. “Really? That’s great, Em.”
“There’s one more thing. James called.”
Amy reached out for Emily’s hand. “That bastard. What did he want?”
Emily felt a lump form in her throat.
“He wanted to congratulate me. He said that he and Heather are happy for me. He wants to let go of the bitterness. After all, we can be friends.”
A flush climbed up Amy’s neck and spread over her face. Her eyes glittered with anger. “What an asshole.” She shook her head.
“I hung up on him. I can’t believe he had the gall to call me, Amy. ‘Friends’? Not in this lifetime.”
“What did Brandon do?”
“He has his own set of reasons why it’s good for us to be engaged right now.”
A smirk curved her sister’s lips. “Let me guess. His ex-girlfriend won’t get off his back.”
“He also said something about his contract negotiations, and the coach being happy about this.” Amy squeezed Emily’s hand as she let go. “So, we agreed that we’d stay engaged for a month. It tells the ex-girlfriend to get lost, the team’s happy, and James will get the hint that someone else actually wants me.”
Amy squirmed a bit on the bed. “So, Em, I realize you’re not going to know this because you’re not here a lot and you don’t watch football, but I guess I’d better tell you. Brandon’s a bit of a handful.”
“That’s the truth. I can’t figure him out. One minute, he’s sweet and funny, the next minute, I’d like to throw something at him.” Emily thought for a moment. “He did say something about a public relations issue.”
“You might say that.”
“What happened?”
“You’re not going to
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