Angie remembered to put on her fake smile. Atlanta and local TV news vans were parked on the grass. Crews set up their cameras and microphone equipment to record the ceremony. Once there was a time when she would’ve loved to be on a TV segment. She was a teen, then. Today, she wanted nothing more than to turn and walk away.

She passed a refreshment stand with clear plastic water cups and hors oeuvres. Where was Max?

She followed Rob to where a small group of people clustered in the grass. Some men and women were dressed in suits while others had on faded jeans and neon orange vests. She waved to Steve and Charley. Angie then spotted Max among the contractors. He shook hands with a man wearing a hard hat. Max saw her, excused himself, and rushed over.

“Angie, sorry I couldn’t be at your house this morning. I had to meet with the contractors here.” He walked her away from the people starting to gather on the lawn. He leaned in to mutter in her ear. “Did Rob talk to you?”

“About Jordan and his gossipy email to the news station? Oh, yeah. Just when I thought I was done with him.”

“He’ll be getting slapped with a libel lawsuit for sending the email.” Max huffed. He looked tired. “I didn’t mean for you to go through all this. It’s not fair to you and your family.”

A warm sensation curled through her chest. Max’s concern gave her a tiny bit of comfort. “Raymond and my grandmother don’t know about Jordan’s email. I’d like to keep it that way.”

He agreed. “The news station agreed to not share the email. After this, Rob will head over to get the station producers and managers to sign an agreement. The chain stops with us.”

“Whew. That takes the edge off.”

Max put his arm around her. “Trina and my mother are here. Let me introduce you.”

Angie steeled herself to meet his mother. She never saw Max’s parents while he was in high school. Early this morning, she planned a polite introduction to his mother, but the news of Jordan’s petty little surprise made her forget all her lines. Instead, her mind ran with all the possible ways in which she could embarrass herself.

Max brought her over to where his sister and an older woman stood talking. They stopped when he and Angie approached. He embraced his mother. “I’m glad you and Trina made it out this morning.”

“We wouldn’t miss it for anything.” His mother was tall and elegant, with shoulder-length dark hair and the same blue eye color as her son. “Your father would’ve been so proud of you.”

Angie watched emotion play on his face at the remembrance of his father. “Mom, I want you to meet my fiancée Angie Franklin.”

“I’m glad to meet you, Mrs. Kelly.” Angie went to shake her hand. His mother surprised her with a small hug instead.

“It looks like I’ll be calling you daughter very soon. Congratulations.”

She waited for Max to add to the conversation. Instead, he pointed to the spot marked with red ribbon. “It’s time for the ceremony. Angie and I will come back to talk after it’s over.”

Max’s mother reached out and cupped his face. “I’m so proud of you. I know your father is smiling down from above.”

Angie watched, quiet. Despite the rough start to the day with Jordan’s email, this was still an important day for him. His hard work was going to pay off, and that made her happy to see.

She stood at Max’s side as he talked to the crowd gathered to hear him. He spoke about his father’s dream to build a hospital with the most modern facilities in Harper. Towards the end of his speech, he picked up the shovel and stuck it in the ground. The crowd applauded as he scooped out the first shovelful of soil. Cameras captured it all as Max shook hands with city officials who congratulated him on the hospital project. Angie smiled and nodded as they congratulated her and him on the engagement.

Then the show was over. As people went to the refreshment table, Max’s mother and sister came up to them. Angie peeked at Max. He gave her a wink. Alrighty. At least one half of this pretend couple is in a good mood.

Max’s mother interrupted her snarky thought. “I have to apologize for not congratulating you on the engagement sooner. I was in Florence, Italy. Trina came home early once she heard the good news.”

“Angie and I have spoken a few times already.” Trina gave her a genuine smile. “I’m excited to welcome her into the family, too.”

Max got back into the game and put his arm around Angie. “Patience, ladies. She and I actually have to get married first.”

Mrs. Kelly and Trina giggled, but Angie almost winced. Something felt wrong. She didn’t want to keep misleading his family, yet she couldn’t say anything to give their sham engagement away. Her mouth went dry. “Excuse me, I’m going to go find a cup of water.”

She pivoted to return to the refreshment table. To her shock, there was Jordan, talking to Steve and Charley.

Max saw Angie tense up as soon as she turned to find a drink of water. He followed her line of sight to discover Jordan McKinney fifteen yards away. The deadbeat was trying to schmooze it up with Preston and Landers. The previous landowners did not look happy to be talking to him.

“Max, is something the matter?” He heard his mother ask.

“Mom, you and Trina stay here with Angie.” He put his hand on his fiancée’s shoulder as he walked past.

People were suddenly in his way. He couldn’t tell if he said “excuse me” when he went between them or simply barreled through. All he knew was one moment he was chatting beside his fiancée, and the next he was facing down Jordan.

“What are you doing here?”

“Howya doin’, Max? I was just talking with these two philanthropic gentlemen.”

“You’re trespassing on private property.”

“You gonna tell that to the local press and residents who came out to watch you dig up dirt?”

“They were invited. You’ve done enough dirt slinging for one day, don’t you think?”

Jordan gave him a cold smile. “You mean the email? Angela is a gold digger. When did telling the truth become a bad thing?”

Max balled his fists. “You’re a liar, Jordan. Nothing truthful has come out your mouth since you arrived.”

“This man just told us he’s the father of your fiancée’s child,” Charley said. “Is it true?”

Max unclenched his hands. “It’s true, sir, but Angie didn’t keep any secrets from him. Jordan chose to not be a part of his son’s life.”

Steven frowned at Jordan. “What kind of man neglects to support his son?”

“And insults the mother of his child?” added Charley. “Why are you here?”

Jordan blinked, visibly thinking of his next answer. Max didn’t want to hear another word out of his mouth. “He’s here because he’s trying to blackmail me. He said he’d tell people that my engagement to Angie isn’t real if I refused to pay him hush money.”

“You’re a disgrace,” Steven remarked.

Jordan shook his head. “You and Mr. Landers are known for doing business with family guy types. You should know Max’s engagement to Angela is fake.”

“Do you have anything to prove it’s not real?” Charley folded his arms, visibly losing his patience.

“Call it quits, Jordan,” said Max. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Jordan’s neck grew red just above his shirt collar. He cut his gaze to glare at Angie before he looked at Max again. “Angela grew up poor.” Then he yelled, “She got pregnant on purpose. She likes money and will go with any sponge dumb enough to-”

Max couldn’t take it anymore. He slung his fist across the man’s face. Jordan swayed once on his feet before falling in the grass.

Gasps arose from the small crowd. Rob ran up to him. “Max, what are you doing?”

Max watched Jordan get up. “You came here to start trouble.” He curled his fist again. “I could have you arrested.”

“No.” Jordan wiped his nose. “I’m leaving this backwoods town and signing away my parental rights. You and Angie won’t see me again.”

Rob peered at Jordan, wrinkling his nose as though he scraped him out of the bottom of an old fish barrel. “I’ll make sure he actually leaves this time.”

Max let his attorney take it from there. It was just as well. If Rob hadn’t intervened, he likely would’ve punched Jordan again.

He became aware of TV cameras shifting to capture Jordan walking away. Several cameras panned to him. This wasn’t the kind of publicity he wanted to attract. He turned around and saw his mother and Trina, both shocked by the spectacle. Then he observed Angie. She gaped at him with wide brown eyes.

He knew he messed up.

Angie couldn’t take her eyes off Max. She saw what he did after Jordan yelled all those nasty, horrible lies about her in front of everyone. She never felt so humiliated in her life.

“Angie?”

She felt all the condescending eyes on her. People heard what Jordan said. Even if it was a lie, the damage was done to her reputation and Max’s ceremony.

“Angie?”

She realized Trina spoke to her. Max’s sister tapped her on the arm. “Mom and I can drive you home.”

She gave a rapid shake of her head. She couldn’t be in a car with Max’s family and either sit in uncomfortable silence or answer embarrassing questions about her past. “I’m not who Jordan said I am.” Did Trina and her mother hear her? She barely understood the words when they tumbled from her mouth.

Max ran to her. His hair was disheveled and sweat beaded on his forehead. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Her voice was a half-step above a whisper when she replied, “But it did.”

He took her hand and attempted to steer her away from his mother, sister, and the rest of the small crowd. “It feels like a big mess right now. By tomorrow, everyone will forget about it and be onto something else.”

Did he hear himself? She stood in the middle of the field with him, the crowd several paces behind them. “No, they won’t. When this is all over, people will think you called off the engagement because of what Jordan said.”

“I’ll say we parted ways because we’re busy with other projects.”

She would’ve laughed if she didn’t feel so bitter inside. “That excuse only works when both people are wealthy.”

He exhaled, frustration showing in the creases of his brow. “Our agreement worked. Why does it matter what they think now?”

Max had he been living among the affluent for so long that he forgot what life was like in a small town. She gave him a crash course education. “I still have to raise my son in this town. I still have to find a job.”

“You can. You will.”

The last thing she needed from him was an insincere, useless pep talk. “How do you know?”

He pushed his fingers through his messy hair. “Because I know you. You’re resilient. You’re smart and a good person.” He looked at the ring on her hand. “That’s yours to keep or sell. Do what you want with it.”

Angie bristled. Was this his solution to all her problems, to simply hawk her engagement ring? Just like that, he could shake off anything. She didn’t know if he was being helpful or callous. “You don’t know me at all, Max. You never have. You never will.”

She walked fast to get to the nearest waiting cab on the street. She rattled off her address to the driver and closed the door before her fiancé could get off the grass and come to her. The cab drove away.

Angie leaned forward and put her forehead in her hands. Max got what he wanted out of their deal. Why should he care what happened to her after all was said and done?