Loving my fake Husband

Water Pressure

❀ Amy ❀

I stared at the exposed piping beneath my sink like it had personally betrayed me. Which, to be fair, it kind of had. Who knew an old cottage could hide such a labyrinth of corroded metal and leaky joints? I paced the kitchen while Clark worked, crouched with a wrench in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He made it look easy, like every turn of the tool brought us closer to civilization.

"So," I began as I tried to sound as casual as possible. Clark had mentioned that it wouldn’t cost too much, but I was, admittedly, freaking out. “Be honest with me, Clark, how much is this going to cost me?” Clark finished doing whatever it was he was doing before he got to his feet. He didn’t answer me right away as he turned on the tap. It made a loud noise, and I flinched. But when the water started running, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Like I said, not as bad as you would expect,” he finally replied. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not, but I just didn’t want to admit the truth. Especially to him. I just didn’t have the kind of money to replace a bunch of pipes, and I was pretty upset that the realtor hadn’t been completely upfront with me about the house. “We can work out a payment plan, if necessary,” he added. It was almost as if he understood without me having to say it aloud. I wasn’t sure if I appreciated that or not, but I was embarrassed.

“Ok…great, thanks,” I said.

"You have water," Clark said with a smirk. "The pressure isn’t great, but for now you can cook and shower,”

“My hero,” I cooed rather awkwardly, and he chuckled. It wasn’t that I was blind. I could see how sexy he was. The man was tall, broad-shouldered, and rugged in a way that made my heart skip a beat and the butterflies in my tummy dance with excitement. But this wasn’t the time to check out the hot plumber. No matter how sexy he was. I cleared my throat and turned away as I pretended to be fascinated by the water. Clark turned it off and smiled.

“I’ll be in touch as soon as I have worked everything out and spoken to Camden,” he explained, and I nodded. We walked to the front door, and I was itching to ask him again how much it was going to cost. While I appreciated the option of a payment plan, I was still freaking out. “Don’t stress too much about it,” he said just as I pulled open the front door. However, before I could respond, Jessica surprised us both. She was standing on the porch, her gaze curious as she eyed Clark.

“Oh! Jessica!” I exclaimed, and the woman turned her focus to me.

“Hi! Sorry to just barge in on you like this, but I saw that van parked out front and I couldn’t help myself,” she said, and I was extremely tempted to roll my eyes. Nosy neighbor. Once again, her gaze landed on Clark – who was silent. I wasn’t sure why or how, but I could practically see the assumptions forming in her mind. “You must be Henry,”

“What?” Clark whispered in surprise.

“I’m Jessica…Milly’s mother,” she said as she just about grabbed his hand in hers. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Clark glanced at me, but I had no words. Jessica had now assumed that Clark – the plumber – was my fake husband – Henry. I had two choices. I could correct her, or I could use this to my advantage. I shot Clark with an apologetic look before I forced a laugh.

“Yeah…Henry, this is Jessica. The one I told you about…she is Milly’s mother. Eva was at her birthday party this weekend. Do you remember I told you about it?” Clark looked so confused, but he slowly nodded. A wave of relief washed over me when he looked at Jessica and smiled.

“I remember now, yes,” he said as he shook her hand before letting it go. “It’s nice to meet you too,”

“I thought you said he was a pilot?” Jessica then said, her tone filled with accusation. I gulped as I leaned into Clark.

“I did. That was a lie,” I said as I blushed.

“Nothing wrong with being a plumber. A job is a job and so long as you can provide for your family there is no judgment,” Jessica said.

“That is exactly what I told Amy,” Clark said, and I breathed out another sigh of relief.

"Anyway," Jessica continued, and clearly, she was now on a roll. We are having a small dinner on Thursday…nothing fancy, just a few friends. You and Henry should come. It will be great for Milly and Eva since they have connected so well,”

“Dinner…” I echoed as I tried to think of some sort of excuse.

“Sure, why not? It will give me a chance to see everyone,” Clark said, and Jessica beamed happily.

“Great! I’ll text you all the details,” Jessica said to me before she waved and sauntered off down the porch steps. As soon as she was out of sight, I grabbed Clark by the shirt and yanked him back inside.

“Ok…who is Henry?” he asked, and I could see that he was quite amused by the whole thing. I knew I had to explain, but that had been such a close call that I needed a minute. “Hey…Amy…are you ok?”

“I’m…shit…I’m so sorry, Clark. I panicked and…” my voice trailed off as I realized I would have to tell him the truth. As if I wasn’t embarrassed enough.

“So…I’m your husband? My name is Henry, and you lied and told your friends that I am a pilot?” he guessed, and I stared at him rather helplessly.

“Ah…I need coffee,” I said before I spun around and headed into the kitchen. Clark followed me, obviously, but all I could think about was how I was going to get myself out of this mess. “So, ok…when I moved here…I accidentally told a tiny, little white lie…that I had a husband and the reason he wasn’t around was because he was a pilot,”

“That doesn’t sound like a tiny, little white lie…nor does it sound accidental,” he pointed out as he got comfortable at the kitchen table. I filled the kettle with water before I put it on.

“Ok, it’s a massive lie, but it really was accidental. I didn’t want…I mean, it’s no one’s business…Eva…look, the whole thing sort of spiraled out of control and…I just didn’t want anyone to treat Eva differently because her father isn’t around,” I said. I wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining things to him.

“Right…so instead of just telling them you are a single mom, you invented a pilot husband…and now I am him,”

“She assumed you were him!” I cried out in desperation. “What a mess,”

“She did assume, but you didn’t correct her…and yeah, this is a mess,” he said, and I groaned. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but as I looked over at Clark, I knew I was about to make things even messier.

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