So far, the visit had been going smoothly, though her father had yet to make an appearance ( and he was always the wildcard ). River was... almost disgustingly charming, and she could practically see the hearts grow ten sizes in her Aunt Rebekahâs eyes as they chatted. A part of Hope felt marginally bad about deceiving her, but she remembered how insistent her aunt had been about bringing a plus one to the family reunion, and she no longer felt guilty. Choosing River had been a calculated decision. There was no shortage of people at their school who would have jumped at the chance to âfake-dateâ her, but she doubted any of them would have been able to pull it off half as well as River. And it helped that he was, by all accounts, a genuinely nice guy.
But feeding him to the wolves that were her family wasnât part of the agenda, so she gracefully wove through the crowd and came up beside him. She made up some excuse, complete with an apologetic smile, before she linked her arm with his and pulled him away. âSorry,â she said once they were out of earshot, though with fond shake of her head. âSometimes my aunt forgets that itâs not the 1800s anymore, and I can be single up to the ripe old age of 35 now,â she joked. âBut if itâs any consolation, Iâm pretty sure youâre her new favorite. Youâre quite good at this, Mr. Barkley.â