Just Good Friends (19 page)

“
She stays with me for that
money,” Nathan told them, which earned a hearty chuckle from her
parents.

Tiffany glanced at Tyler, and he rubbed
her back, hoping to ease some of her discomfort. He knew he
couldn’t make her feel completely better, but maybe he could help
ease some of her tension. She smiled and edged closer to
him.

Nathan glanced at them with raised
eyebrows. Then he turned to Tyler’s office. “And this is where your
son-in-law works.”

Tyler and Tiffany followed, their steps
slow. He realized this was awkward for her, but it occurred to him
that he didn’t have pictures of her anywhere in his office, and her
parents might notice it. Nathan, after all, had a ton of pictures
of Amy and their daughter lining his desk. But if her parents did
notice, they didn’t say anything.

“
I met Tyler while we were
in college,” Nathan rambled as they all stood in Tyler’s office,
which overlooked downtown Omaha. “He was always so quiet and
reserved. At the time, I felt sorry for him because he was always
in the library studying. But you know, those are the people who
make the best employees. I knew that if he could be so disciplined
in his studies, he’d take that same level of dedication to his
future career. I only hire the best because the company is only as
good as the people working for it. And as it turns out, I was right
about him. He’s hardworking, punctual, and diplomatic. You should
be proud of him.”

Tyler wasn’t sure he liked being talked
about as if he wasn’t in the room or as if he was getting a
referral from Nathan. He wasn’t applying for a job, after all. He
was supposed to be Tiffany’s husband.

“
We’re so pleased that our
daughter married so well,” Tiffany’s mom said, glancing at Tiffany
and Tyler with a wide smile. “You don’t mind if I take a picture,
do you?”

Next to him, Tiffany let out a low
groan, and Tyler rubbed her shoulder.

“
Of course not,” Nathan told
her then gestured to Tiffany and Tyler. “You should take one of
them right here in front of the window. I don’t know about Tyler,
but I like having lots of daylight when I work. They say it
improves your mood.”

“
I bet it does,” her dad
agreed.

When Tyler hesitated to go to where
Nathan was waving for him and Tiffany to go, Nathan sighed. “I
didn’t realize Tyler was so camera shy. There’s no need to be
self-conscious. You look great. Come on.”

Tiffany trudged forward, so he
followed, and soon her mom had a couple pictures taken.

“
Don’t put those on
Facebook,” Tiffany said.

“
Why not?” her mom asked.
“You’re not wearing that horrible bridesmaid dress.”

“
I just don’t want you to do
it, okay?”

Though she frowned, she consented.
“Alright. I won’t post them, even though you two are a good looking
couple.”

“
Can I see the picture of
the bridesmaid dress?” Nathan asked.

“
Sure.”

While she picked out the picture and
showed it to him on her phone, Tyler wanted to ask why Nathan cared
what the dress looked like but figured he already knew. Nathan was
nosy and couldn’t help but stick his nose in where it didn’t
belong. He’d been that way in college, too.

In fact, it was on the tip of Tyler’s
tongue to tell her parents that Nathan didn’t make many friends
because of it, but he chose to keep quiet. While Nathan didn’t make
many friends, he did make many business alliances, probably because
he knew not to interfere in the lives of his business
acquaintances.

But despite all this, Nathan had proven
to be a good friend. And it was this friendship that allowed Tyler
to keep his calm during this whole “your son-in-law is such a great
employee” spiel.

Nathan laughed at the picture. “Yep,
that’s a horrible dress alright. I can see why Tiffany doesn’t want
anyone to see her in it.”

“
At the time, it was the
only picture I managed to get of them,” her mother replied. “But
now that I have the ones from this office,” she smiled at Tiffany
and Tyler, “I can delete it.”

“
Good,” Tiffany mumbled
under her breath then looked at Tyler. “I meant, it’s good she’s
getting rid of the picture from the wedding,” she
whispered.

“
I know what you meant,”
Tyler whispered in return.

“
Ah, it’s so sweet when two
people in love share confidences with each other,” Nathan
commented.

Tyler turned his gaze to him and gave a
slight shake of his head, hoping Nathan would drop it.

But as it turned out, Nathan ignored
him. “You know, these two might not act like they’re in love, but
it’s obvious they are.”

“
Oh, we could tell that from
the moment we met him,” her dad said, motioning to
Tyler.

He could? Tyler glanced at Tiffany,
wondering what she thought of his statement. She shrugged in a way
that told him she thought her dad was nuts. Tyler figured she was
right. Her dad saw it because he wanted to see it, not because
there was anything there.

“
Well, now we’ll come to the
end of the tour, and that happens to be where I work,” Nathan said,
leading them out of Tyler’s office.

Glad the ordeal was almost over, Tyler
followed everyone else. Now that Nathan had done his part to
welcome her parents, maybe he’d leave them alone. Then he and
Tiffany could get through the rest of their visit without any more
headaches.

Chapter
Sixteen

It was almost time to go home later
that day when Tyler got the call from his mom.

“
Tyler, I just talked to
Mrs. Clark,” she began in a bewildered tone. “She says she’s
Tiffany’s mother, and she told me she wanted to meet with me and
your father because you married Tiffany right before
Thanksgiving.”

“
Tiffany’s mom called you?”
Tyler blurted out, earning a curious glance from Carmen.

“
I just got off the phone
with her. She said she is looking forward to meeting me when we go
to dinner. She said she wants to meet the parents of her
son-in-law.”

Lowering his voice so he wouldn’t
arouse Carmen’s interest a second time, he asked, “How did she get
your number?”

“
Nathan gave it to her.”
After a pause, she asked, “Is it true? Are you and Tiffany
married?”

“
Um, well…” Should he tell
her the truth and beg her to understand? Or should he ask her to
play along to appease Tiffany’s parents?

“
Because if it is, I think
it’s wonderful.”

“
Y-you do?” He stared at his
wall, not really seeing the diplomas or awards he’d acquired over
the course of his career.

“
Of course, I do. I don’t
know why you’d keep this from me and your dad. We always thought
you and Tiffany would end up together.”

“
You did?”

“
You two have a certain
chemistry together. Anyone could see it.”

“
They could?” Just what
planet was she on? There had never been anything between him and
Tiffany. No spark. No excitement. Nothing.

“
You two always got along so
well. You know what the other’s thinking and are the first ones to
come to the other’s aid. That’s what husbands and wives do for each
other. They sacrifice for the best of the other. Since you and
Tiffany already do that, it’s natural that things would evolve into
more.”

He rubbed his eyes. This was getting
worse by the minute. Tiffany was going to freak when she found out
what was going on. “Mom, I can’t explain everything right now. It’s
complicated.” The explanation was going to take a lot longer than a
few minutes, and he wanted Tiffany with him when he gave
it.

She chuckled. “Young people think
things are more complicated than they really are. But trust me,
it’s not.”

If only she knew… But he was exhausted,
and the last thing he felt like doing was explaining it all to her,
especially when he could hardly figure it out himself.

“
Well, promise me you and
Dad won’t say anything to anyone until I’ve had a chance to explain
it to you,” he pleaded.

“
Alright, we won’t. I know
you’re at work, so I won’t keep you,” his mom said. “I just wanted
to say there’s no reason to be afraid your dad and I won’t approve
of you running off to elope without telling anyone. We’re happy for
you and will do whatever we can to support you both. So if there’s
anything you need, just let us know. Oh, and we look forward to
having dinner with everyone.”

Then she said good-bye and hung up.
Tyler stared at the phone for a long moment then slowly put the
receiver down. Things had just gone from doable to out-of-control,
and it was all because of one person. Nathan. Why would Nathan give
Mrs. Clark his parents’ phone number? Did he like to see Tyler
suffer?

After his shock wore off, he bolted up
from his desk and stormed over to Nathan’s office, not bothering to
knock on the door before he opened it.

“
You gave Tiffany’s parents
my parents’ phone number?” Tyler demanded.

Nathan glanced up from the document he
was reading. “There’s no need to thank me.”

“
Thank you? You expect me to
thank you?”

“
I just told you that you
don’t have to thank me.”

“
Why are you doing this to
me? Don’t you understand that by interfering in my life, you could
be ruining it?” He didn’t intend to yell, but the more he talked,
the louder his voice got. If anyone could bring out the worst in
someone, it was Nathan.

“
Lots of good things can
come from lying, if you know how to do it right.”

Tyler groaned and rubbed the back of
his neck. “Seriously?” Since Nathan stared at him in a way that
indicated he had no idea why Tyler didn’t agree with him, Tyler
snapped, “This isn’t a game, Nathan. You’re messing with people’s
lives.”

With a sigh, Nathan pressed the button
on his phone to get Carmen’s attention. When she answered, he said,
“Bring something in to help calm Tyler’s nerves.” He released the
button and sat back in his chair. “I didn’t do anything that any
other good friend wouldn’t do.”

“
A good friend?” Tyler
gestured to him. “A good friend? You really think that you’re a
good friend?”

“
Yes.”

He groaned. “Now I understand what poor
Amy went through all those times she came barging in here to tell
you to stop meddling in her life.”

Carmen came in with a dictionary and
handed it to Tyler.

“
What is this for?” Tyler
asked. Did she want him to look up a bunch of words to call
Nathan?

“
Throw it at him,” she said.
“It’s the thickest book we got. It should make you feel
better.”

“
When I asked you to come in
here with something to help him,” Nathan began, “I was thinking of
headache pills or some ginger ale to soothe his stomach. The poor
man’s obviously in distress.”

She peered over her glasses and clucked
her tongue. “What he needs to do is let you have it.”

“
Do you even know what I
did?” he asked.

“
No, but knowing you, it’s
not good.”

“
Oh come on. When Amy comes
here, is she or is she not happy to see me?” When neither Tyler nor
Carmen answered, he said, “Exactly. My methods always work. You
honestly think I don’t know something about relationships?” He
pointed to Tyler. “This is going to be the best thing that ever
happened to him.”

“
No, it’s not. It’s a
disaster, and it’s only getting worse. Tiffany and I are only
friends.”

“
At the moment.”

“
No, not at the moment.
Forever. It’s how things have always been between us, and it’s how
things will always be. We aren’t interested in each other that
way.”

“
Yet.”

Tyler stared at his friend for a long
moment, wondering if he heard anything he was saying. Nathan looked
so sure of himself that Tyler contemplated throwing the dictionary
at his head after all. But in the end, he didn’t. He couldn’t. He
hadn’t hurt anyone in his life, and he couldn’t bring himself to do
it now. No matter how tempting it was.

“
You may go,” Nathan told
Carmen.

“
Good luck,” she whispered
to Tyler as she left.

Nathan gestured to the chair across
from him. “Have a seat.”

“
Why?” Tyler
asked.

“
You’ll understand as soon
as you sit down. Now,” he patted the desk, “come on.” When Tyler
didn’t budge, he said, “I’m your boss, and I order you to
sit.”

Grunting, Tyler obeyed. “Is this how
you treated Amy when you first married her?”

“
No, I never ordered her to
sit down because I wasn’t her boss at the time. I fired her,
remember? I didn’t have that card to play.”

“
Whatever,” he muttered,
slouching in his seat. “What do you want?”

“
I took the liberty of
inviting your parents and Tiffany’s parents to dinner at the best
restaurant in town. All I need is for you and Tiffany to show up.
It’ll be tomorrow at six-thirty. I already made reservations, so we
don’t have to wait to be seated.”