Love in his Lie

Surprise

I rode the escalator up from the subway and into the airport. Brightly lit signs rose above the top of the stairs, directing me to the left to find baggage claim. Instead, I thought of doing a sharp U-turn right then and there, and catching the next train heading out to nowhere in particular. But I tightened my grip on my basket of bear claws and made the left as instructed.

On my way, I passed the elevator I had marked as my escape route. As I had noted on the airport map, there was, in fact, a women's restroom right next door. However, as my heart beat quickened with each step I took towards baggage claim, I thought I may just bypass the restroom diversion completely and choose a more reckless approach of simply tossing the bear claws at Justin's face and sprinting for the elevator instead. With a sigh, I pushed that thought away and continued forward with my head down and my eyes lacking focus, which meant it was a complete surprise when Lucy snatched my hand.

"You came!"

The vibrant teenager went in for a hug, but after a sharp rebuke from her father about minding my ankle, she instead just bounced by my side with my hand still clasped in hers. "Wes said you weren't going to come."

"Oh, well," I mumbled, casting my eyes up to scan over the Sanders family. Betty, Randall, and Brendan were all huddled together, close to where airplane passengers would exit through security and into baggage claim. Not far from them stood Wes, hands in his pockets and his lips caught in a half smirk as he gently shook his head at me. A violent blush turned my gaze back to the floor. "I guess he said that because we weren't sure how my ankle would be doing, or if I could get someone to cover for me at the bakery."

Lucy dragged me over to the family, where Brendan gave me a little wave; Betty gave me a half hug, wrapping her powerful arm around my shoulders; and Randall bent down a little to inspect my bare ankle.

"Looks like it healed up all right. From a medical standpoint, I would have recommended a little more time." Randall sighed before looking up at me with a warm smile. "However, outside of that, I'm glad to see you here and doing well."

"Thank you," I muttered with a meek smile.

"Now if one of my children has any sense of decency," he continued, his voice firm and authoritative, though still playful, "they'll make sure you don't have too much weight on that ankle and take that giant basket from you."

"I..." started Brendan with an eager look in his eye. However, the basket was torn from my hands before the youngest son could grab it.

"I got it," said Wes from over my shoulder, his voice awakening the rest of my body to just how close he stood behind me. "If Brendan gets his hands on these, there won't be any left for Justin and my guess is these are only for him."

"I..." Wes, now with basket in hand, stepped around me and looked down at me with a sad sort of glint in his eye. However, he hid it beneath the bend of his brow and I couldn't tell if I was simply imagining the look of longing there or if he really envied his brother's basket of goodies. "It's his favorite, so..."

"I know," said Wes, who turned to look towards the security gate as a fresh batch of travelers filed out. "He used to always complain about how the cafe never had bear claws. Then he stopped whining about it a little over six months ago. I guess I know why now. He'd found something better." A flash of a smile dimpled his cheeks, but he turned away and with it his grin disappeared.

"What's your favorite?" I asked with a tentative cadence to my words. My question only caught Wes's ear, since the rest of his family was busy scanning the stream of people heading into baggage claim.

"Why? Will you bring me a basket next time?" A playful smirk stretched his lips as he turned his head so only I could see it.

"That depends," I said as I swallowed back the fiery emotion burning in my throat, "on which your favorite is?"

"Cake donuts."

"Cake donuts?" I asked, taking a slight step back at the simple answer.

"Rarely matters what's on them—powdered sugar, chocolate icing, cinnamon..."

"Who doesn't love cinnamon?" I replied with a wide smile.

"Justin actually."

"C-come again?" I stuttered, my mouth gaping.

"Justin!"

This time Lucy answered, and I bounced with surprise. However, after a moment's confusion, I realized the effervescent teenager was dancing with delight because her older brother was making his way out of security.

"Lucy?"

I couldn't see him. The Sanders were all taller than me, but I knew for certain it was him. Once I heard his voice cut through the din of the airport, my spine curled and my shoulders dropped. There was no hope now that somehow we'd all confused one Justin for another. Not that it was a reasonable doubt, but at least it posed one more alternative escape route for me, one that would have ended with a hearty laugh and a clear avenue to pursue Wes. But there was not a single doubt now that the Justin they all believed to be my fiancé was the Justin that had come in several times a week for months. That he was the Justin I drunkenly committed my life to.

"Surprise!" shouted Betty, rushing forward to give her middle son a hug.

With her breaking away from the pack, I got a good view of our unsuspecting target. He wore leather loafers, linen slacks, and a breezy cotton button-down. He looked effortlessly comfortable, though his strained smile and stiff embrace of his mother said otherwise.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, his brow pinched while he maintained a tense smile. "I thought we were going to meet for dinner?"

"We just had to see you," said Betty with some hesitation. "You see, we've been busy while you were gone..."

"Look who I found, Justin!" Lucy grabbed my hand and pulled me forward before I could even register what was happening. "No reason to hide your fiancee from us anymore!"

In the teenager's eagerness to present me to her brother, along with my shaky ankle that was in a shoe that really didn't have any arch support, I lost my footing and stumbled. A shot of pain climbed up my calf and my leg folded. I fell forward, straight into the awaiting arms of my supposed fiance. He scooped me up, pulling me into his chest to steady me. To anyone else, it would have looked like I was leaping into his arms. When I tossed a quick glance over my shoulder, the dark shadow that hid Wes's eyes told me he may very well have been one to share in that belief.

"Dani?" asked Justin with a light, trembling laugh in his voice. I turned back to look up at him and caught the tremble of panic in his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Before I could answer, though, another voice cut in.

"Fiancee? You didn't tell me you had a fiancee."

The words, firm and cold, caused a shiver to ripple up Justin's spine. Releasing me from his hold, he turned to the woman who joined up next to his side. Her arms crossed, her lips thin, and her eyes like daggers.