Just Good Friends Read online

  “Did Zoe get back to you yet?” her dad asked her mom.

  “She had to take some phone calls at work, so she was too busy to tell me anything,” her mom replied and took another picture of the room.

  Tyler snickered, and Tiffany glanced over at him. Zoe wasn’t fooling him at all. She was upset that her parents’ nightmare vacation had turned into anything but a nightmare. Maybe he shouldn’t get a sadistic pleasure out of upsetting her, but truth be told, she had it coming after all the crap she put Tiffany through over the years.

  “This is a cute little place,” Tiffany’s mom said, smiling as she got comfortable in the chair. “When will you decorate it for Christmas?”

  “Oh, well, I don’t go through the whole decorating thing,” Tiffany replied. “Christmas is about what’s in your heart, not what’s hanging on a tree.”

  “I know that Christmas is about what’s in here,” her mom pointed to her heart, “but the decorations are so pretty. They make the season more festive.”

  On this point, Tyler had to agree with her mom, something that surprised him quite frankly, because he didn’t think he’d ever agree with her mom on anything after spending the weekend with her. But who knew? Maybe there was more to her mom—and her dad—than he realized. First impressions weren’t always accurate.

  “Even so,” her mom continued, “I’d like to pay for some things to decorate this place. We could go together. It’ll be fun.”

  Since her mom was looking at Tiffany, Tyler figured he was off the hook from the shopping trip, which was a relief since he didn’t enjoy long trips to the mall. He’d much rather go right in to the store of his choice, pick what he wanted, and head right on back out.

  “We should take a before and after picture, so I can post the differences on Facebook,” her mom said. “It’ll be so much fun. Just like those makeovers we used to do when you were younger.”

  “You did makeovers?” Tyler asked Tiffany, thinking it was adorable.

  “Not as often as I wanted,” her mom teased, shooting Tiffany a mischievous glance, “but she’d humor me once in a while and do it.”

  “One time my mom had me dye my hair black,” Tiffany replied.

  “To see what she’d look like. That’s the whole point in a makeover. To do something different. And we’ll do that to this room. Just imagine how wonderful it’ll look with a big green tree, white lights, and red and gold ornaments. Then we can put some red bows around the place with candles and little Christmas trinkets. Oh! And we won’t forget the mistletoe. Every time you and Tyler walk under it together, you must give each other a kiss.”

  “The mistletoe’s my favorite tradition,” her dad told Tyler.

  “Wow, Mom,” Tiffany began as she crossed her arms, “you haven’t been here for five minutes, and you’re already taking over.”

  “I’m only trying to help,” her mom playfully replied. “I remember the year it was your turn to decorate the tree, and that was what you chose to do.”

  “I thought it was a good look,” her dad spoke up then turned his gaze to Tyler. “Did you used to decorate your place for Christmas?”

  “I never went all out, but yes, I’d put up a couple things,” Tyler said. “I usually put out a small tree and a few lights.”

  “Well, this will be much better than that,” her mom promised then rose to her feet. “Mind if I use the little lady’s room?”

  “It’s through the bedroom.” Tiffany gestured to the bedroom then looked over at Tyler, sending a secret message that her mom might be going through their things.

  And sure enough, the woman took ten minutes to return. Meanwhile, her dad asked Tyler more about his job and what they could expect from the tour.

  By the time her mom came back, she was sorting through more pictures in her phone, and Tyler hoped she had only taken pictures of the bedroom and bathroom instead of his and Tiffany’s personal items. Usually, he wouldn’t even question it, but it was hard to tell what her mother would do.

  After an hour of telling them all about their Las Vegas wedding, Tyler and Tiffany took them back to the hotel. On the way back to Tiffany’s apartment to drop her off, he said, “One day down. Thirteen to go.”

  Tiffany leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “Today was a long day.”

  “It went better than I thought it would. They seemed to believe everything we said about our time in Vegas.”

  “Did you realize everything we said was based off of several TV shows we’ve seen over the years?”

  “A little mix and match never hurt anyone. Hey,” he rubbed her shoulder when he realized she was still tense. “It’s okay. They’re at the hotel. You don’t have to keep pretending right now.”

  “I know. I just hate lying. It makes me feel like a scuzzball.”

  He chuckled. “At least you’re a cute scuzzball.”

  She laughed. “Just what every woman wants to be.”

  “If it bothers you that much, we can get married for real. Then you don’t have to keep pretending,” he joked.

  As he hoped, she relaxed and laughed again. “What kind of people get married to appease their parents?”

  “Probably more than you’d expect.” He patted her shoulder then turned into the parking lot of her apartment complex. “As long as we can keep this up, everything will be okay. Remember, go through it one day at a time. Take deep breaths. Don’t forget to laugh. Have a sense of humor.”

  “I should have told you all this when you were upset about Zoe.”

  “Yeah, you should have.” He pulled into a parking spot and turned to face her. “Two weeks isn’t really a long time. We have the tour thing with Nathan tomorrow. That’s bound to be the hardest part. After that, we should be able to get by with showing them around a couple of places and then we’ll take them to the airport and see them off. Piece of cake.”

  She straightened up and nodded. “You’re right. It’s very doable. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After they said goodnight, he watched her go into the building and wondered just how much he’d really been joking about getting married for real. At the time it had been a way to get her to stop being so serious about the whole thing.

  But there had been a part of him—a very small part—that had hoped she might say they should do it. And that was crazy. After all, there was nothing between them. They were just friends. As he backed out of the spot, he reminded himself once her parents were back on the plane, things would go back to normal. And once they did, it’d be easy to remember why they were only friends.

  ***

  “So, how did it go with your parents?” Danielle asked the next morning when Tiffany came into work.

  “Forget how did it go with her parents,” Amy said as she put her coffee on her desk. “Why are you at work? Nathan said he gave you the weeks off so you could be with your parents.”

  “I’m not here to work,” Tiffany assured them. “I’m here so that when Nathan starts the tour he’s giving my parents, I’ll be ready. He sent me an email yesterday explaining the whole thing.”

  Danielle glanced at Amy, her eyebrows raised. “And here I thought your husband told you everything.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “I don’t keep tabs on everything he does.”

  “Which is probably a good thing considering how much he interferes in other people’s lives,” Tiffany said. “Thanks to him, I wasn’t able to tell my parents the bad news in a letter like I wanted.”

  “To be fair,” Amy began as she sat in her chair and turned on her computer, “I can’t be everywhere. I spent yesterday after work with Danielle who felt the need to go on a shopping spree. We had a difficult customer who came in here shortly after you left.”

  “Oh? What did he want?” Tiffany asked, intrigued.

  “Not a he. It was a she,” Danielle said. “And she didn’t believe that there’s no direct flight from Omaha to Great Falls. I wish you had been here. You used to live in Montana. Maybe you could have convin
ced her.”

  Amy chuckled and waved her hand dismissively at Danielle. “The lady wasn’t that bad, but Danielle will use any excuse to go shopping.”

  “She didn’t come out and scream at me,” Danielle consented. Then she shot Amy a pointed look. “But she did fill out a survey on me, insinuating that I don’t know how to do this job. I’ve been here for ten years.”

  “No one is going to pay any attention to that survey. They know she’s being ridiculous.”

  “Ridiculous isn’t the word I’d use for her.”

  Tiffany caught sight of a car pulling into the parking lot, and she squinted to see who the passengers were. “Amy, does Nathan drive a BMW?”

  “Only when he’s trying to impress someone,” Amy said then sipped her coffee.

  “I think my parents are here.” Tiffany turned to them and put her hand on her stomach. “Tell me the truth. Do I look like I’m going to faint?”

  “A little,” Danielle said. “Maybe you should sit.”

  Tiffany groaned. “Yesterday didn’t go so bad, but then yesterday, it was just me and Tyler with my parents.”

  “Well, if anyone can charm parents, it’s Nathan,” Amy assured her. “He won’t do or say anything to embarrass you.”

  “That is true,” Danielle added. “When they were first married, he had her parents wrapped around his finger.”

  “He still does.”

  Tiffany nodded and turned her attention back to the car where Nathan was taking his daughter out of the backseat. “Well, apparently, he’s decided to bring your daughter along.”

  “Amber?” Amy got up from her chair and headed for the window in time to see Tiffany’s parents step out of the car. “Where’s Tyler?”

  “That’s a good question.” Tiffany opened the door as they approached the building.

  “Oh good, you got my email,” Nathan said and wrapped his arm around Amy’s waist so he could give her a kiss on the cheek. “This is my lovely wife, Amy. She is the one who gave me this little cutie.” He nodded toward Amber who reached for Amy. “Looks like someone wants to say hi to her mother.”

  Amy brought the nine-month-old girl into her arms. “I didn’t realize this tour was going to include a baby,” she told him.

  “Some day Amber might take over the company,” he said. “It’s never too early to get her used to the place.”

  Amy rolled her eyes but didn’t argue as she took the girl over to her desk.

  “Where’s Tyler?” Tiffany asked.

  “Yeah, where’s that gorgeous husband of hers?” Danielle chimed in then sipped on her frappuccino.

  “Tyler has a brief meeting this morning,” Nathan replied. “Don’t worry. We’ll be meeting him later. Right now, I thought it’d be best to start at the ground level and work our way up.”

  “You mean, you went to the hotel and picked my parents up?” Tiffany asked. “I could have done that.”

  “Oh, it was no trouble. Besides, it gave me a chance to learn how you and Tyler surprised us all with your quick trip to Las Vegas.” He glanced at her parents and chuckled. “Would you believe Tyler came right back to work the next day as if nothing even happened?”

  “Now, I do know for a fact that Omaha has direct flights to Vegas,” Danielle spoke up as if someone asked her the question.

  They all looked over at her, and Tiffany’s mom asked, “Did you set up their flight?”

  “No,” Danielle said. “Though I wish I did. It would have been awesome to be a part of something so romantic.”

  “It was romantic,” her mom agreed, shooting Tiffany a smile. “Everyone in the family is talking about it.”

  Tiffany just bet they were, and that made everything much more complicated.

  “Well, part of what we do here at the travel agency is make dreams come true for those in love,” Nathan spoke up. “And this is where the magic happens. Couples of all ages come in here. Some are looking for a romantic getaway, some to get married, some to take that second honeymoon. Whatever the reason, these ladies are here to help them.”

  “There are other people who come in here,” Tiffany added. “Not just couples.”

  “That’s true,” he consented with a nod. “Sometimes grandparents come in for a trip to see their grandchildren. Sadly, my parents are no longer living. But Amy’s parents are alive, and they are thrilled whenever they get the chance to see little Amber. I don’t know what could be more exciting for a grandparent than to hold their grandchild.”

  As if on cue, Amber chose that moment to giggle while Amy was showing her a pen that lit up when she scribbled with it.

  And, as if also on cue, Tiffany’s parents got that wistful look in their eyes. Tiffany quickly said, “Zoe and Brad were talking about trying for a child.”

  “Oh, didn’t you see Zoe’s post on Facebook?” her mother asked.

  “I don’t get on Facebook much,” Tiffany replied, especially when she was rushing all over the place acting as if she was married.

  “Zoe said she’s going to put off having children until she gets a higher position in her company.”

  “When did she decide this?”

  “Just the other day.”

  “Personally, I think that’s a mistake,” Nathan said. “There’s always some reason to wait to have children, but before you know it, you’re forty and suddenly the time you thought you had is gone. The best time to have children is now. Life will find a way of working the kinks out.”

  “Your situation doesn’t work for everyone, Nathan,” Amy called out.

  “Of course, it does. I could have waited until my wife decided she wanted to quit working to have a child, but I didn’t. I had one right away. Now, can you honestly look at that adorable little girl and say it was wrong for me to have her as soon as possible?”

  Amy groaned. “Nathan, this is too much. I insist you stop at once, and,” she shot him a pointed look, “I love my job. I plan to stay here until I’m too old to work anymore.”

  “And that’s fine with me because I figure we’ll try for another child next year.” Undeterred by her loud sigh, he smiled at Tiffany’s parents. “So you see, nothing is perfect. But you just work through things as they come up.”

  He went over to Amy and picked Amber back up. After giving Amy another kiss, he returned to them.

  “Are you ready to continue the tour?” he asked.

  Tiffany fought the urge to roll her eyes. This wasn’t a tour of his business. This was a sermon on why her parents should get super excited about the prospect of having grandchildren. And it really couldn’t come at a worse time since Zoe changed her mind about having her own children right away. It was the one thing Tiffany had been counting on. Now when she told her parents the whole marriage to Tyler was a sham, they’d be even more devastated.

  Nathan turned to her. “I can only fit your parents and Amber in my car. Do you mind following us in yours?”

  “Will Tyler be there at any part of this tour?” she asked.

  “Sure, he will. I wouldn’t dream of giving this tour without including him.”

  “Okay. Then I’ll come.”

  “Oh, how adorable,” she overheard her mother whisper to her father.

  No, it wasn’t adorable. She was in serious danger of committing murder, and unless Tyler was there to calm her down, she just might run Nathan over for what he was doing. When Tyler had warned her that Nathan could be manipulative, he’d been underestimating just how good Nathan was at it. The man knew how to get people to bend to his will.

  If someone had given her a great discount on airplane tickets, a grand hotel to stay in, and made her dreams seem like they were within reach, she was sure she’d have the same starry-eyed look her parents had right now.

  Tiffany waited until Nathan led her parents back outside before turning to Amy. “Do you know what all that was about?”

  After a moment, Amy said, “I think he wants you and Tyler to get married for real.”

  “Why?”


  She shrugged. “Maybe he thinks you’ll be good for Tyler?”

  “I’d go along with it if I were you,” Danielle said. “Tyler makes good money, he’s good looking, he’s nice, and he’s friends with someone who spends a lot of money on people he likes. Why wouldn’t you want to be married to someone like that?”

  Ignoring her, Tiffany hurried after Nathan and her parents.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyler drummed his fingers on his desk as he waited for his cousin to answer his video call on Skype. He glanced at the time on the computer monitor and wondered when Nathan planned to pick up Tiffany’s parents. He had wanted to do it, but Nathan called him while he was shaving and told him he needed to get on Skype with Ryan first thing in the morning.

  When Tyler arrived at work, Nathan was nowhere in sight, and Tyler couldn’t help but think Nathan was up to something. But for the life of him, he couldn’t think of what it was.

  Ryan answered Tyler’s Skype call, and Tyler turned his attention to the video on his computer screen. “I thought Nathan wanted to talk to me this morning,” Ryan said.

  “He said he had to take his daughter somewhere, so he asked me to fill in,” Tyler replied.

  “Okay.” Ryan gathered some papers on his desk and turned back to the computer. “Well, the initial results of the study he asked for have come in, and it looks like he’d be better off running commercials and ads geared to senior citizens in mid-to-late summer if he wants them to think about heading to warmer climates in the winter.”

  Tyler frowned. “Why would he ask you to run a study like that? The research team here could do it.”

  “That’s what I told him, but he was adamant that Jacob and I do it.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why Nathan does what he does. He’s your friend, not mine.”

  Tyler drummed his fingers on the desk again. Something didn’t add up. He had no idea what Nathan had wanted with Ryan but figured it was more important than telling him the results of a survey Nathan’s people could have easily done. And Ryan’s specialty was commercials, not surveys. “I think this is a decoy.”