He Swapped Himself Out at the Altar, So I Married the Honest Stranger novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Hand Number Three

"I'm not here to cause trouble," the man in the hoodie said.

"Then take your hood down," Cal said from the doorway of the shop.

"She can't read your face either way. I'd like to."

The man pushed the hood back.

He was young, maybe twenty-six, with the scrubbed look of someone who waits tables and auditions on weekends.

"I was the third guy," he said. "I'm Hand Number Three, I guess."

"I know," I said.

"You knew?" He swallowed. "On the lawn, I mean. You looked right at me and went on."

"Your tap was fast."

"He made me practice it for a whole evening." His voice cracked. "Two slow presses, he said. I couldn't get the pause."

I stood very still.

Cal brought him a chair, and then a glass of water, and the young man held it with both hands.

"Start at the beginning," Cal said.

"I'm an actor. Mostly dinner theater." He rubbed his face.

"A guy called me on a Tuesday and said he needed a professional for a prank on his fiancée. Five thousand cash, two hours' work. He said she'd be in on it."

"Hoyt," I said.

"He said you loved games." He looked at me and away. "I thought, easy money."

"What was the job?"

"Wear his ring. Wear his cologne. Stand third in the row. When you take her hand, tap twice."

He swallowed. "Then walk her to the arch and say your vows to her, in front of everybody."

He looked at his hands.

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