He smiled. “Well, that’s just it. I wonder if we shouldn’t set some . . . ground rules. No. Ground rules sounds so formal. I just want to make sure I behave like you would expect me to. Do we hold hands? Should I keep my arm around you? And what’s our story? How did we meet? How long have we been dating? I’m guessing people will ask those questions, so we probably ought to figure out the answers.”

All very good questions. “Right. Okay. Let’s start at the beginning. We met on the soccer field right after I moved in. We don’t even need to lie about that one.”

He nodded. “Good. And we started dating right away?”

“Sure. We can even talk about how you helped me out at the inn, and because we spent so much time together, falling in love was really easy.”

“Yes. Good. That works.”

“Holding hands is great,” I said. “And an arm around me every once in a while would be nice. Don’t hover though. We have to be casual enough that people believe we’ve been dating for months. In tune with each other but not overly infatuated.”

“I can do that.”

It came to my mind, not for the first time, just how big a thing this was. How generous Simon was for going along with the whole crazy plan. “Thank you for doing this, Simon. For me and for Jamie too. I know how crazy it must feel.” He looked up when I mentioned Jamie’s name, our eyes meeting for the briefest of moments, then he looked down at his hands. I turned my focus back to the road, wondering if he was going to say anything. He looked like he wanted to, so I continued to wait.

“Don’t think anything of it,” he finally said. “My brothers are a lot of things, plenty of things I don’t like. But the one thing Hamiltons have never lacked is loyalty. Jamie in particular, for all his insults, would do anything for me. I don’t doubt that for a second. It’s only right I do the same for him.”

“Well, thank you for making such a noble sacrifice,” I said.

He smiled. “Sacrifice, indeed. You’re pretty terrible company, Lane. Spending four days with you is going to be rough. For Jamie, I can endure. But I don’t have to like it.”

“Very funny. Did he make it to the airport okay this morning?”

“Yeah, he did.” He paused. “You know this is really hard on him, right?”

“I know. He’s told me he’s sorry five million times. I’ve told him it’s fine, but . . .”

“He doesn’t believe you?”

I shook my head.

“But he should?”

I looked at him. “Why does everyone doubt me? I get it. His work is important right now.”