Chapter 14 Caroline #3
“Shirley told me about NYC. You must be excited. Do you have plans?” Britt asks.
I should be skeptical because she rarely takes this much of an interest in me, but I tell her the truth anyway.
And I can’t help it, my excitement bleeds into my words.
She’s smiling when I finish telling her about the reservation Tahoe made at a restaurant I saw on Sex in the City.
“You’re lucky, Caroline. I’m so happy for you,” she says, her eyes downcast for a moment, then on her fiancé next to her. All traces of happiness vanish as she looks at Whit, and my stomach flips with unease.
“Want to grab a drink?” I ask, making a grab for her arm. She smiles politely and comes with me toward the kegs. When we’re enough distance away. I just come right out and ask what’s on my mind. “Is everything okay? You seem really sad.”
Her smile is wistful. “I’m always such a bitch to you, and yet you’re the only person who has noticed I’m not the bubbly bride I’m supposed to be. Why is that?” she asks. I can’t tell if it’s rhetoric.
I glance back over my shoulder and meet Tahoe’s gaze.
He winks once. To Britt I say, “Because it’s Bronze Bay and everyone in it ignores things that might rock the boat.
All I do these days is rock the boat. Are you okay?
You don’t have to give me details,” I say, shaking my head.
“But if you need anything, let me know.” It’s the neighborly thing to say, and I think she’ll respond better to that than if I pry into her life.
“You’re so sweet, Caroline May. That’s why this place didn’t take you down.
Why you’re getting out of here with a man like that.
I’m not sure how you managed to remain unscathed, but thank your lucky stars, okay?
” She grabs me by both shoulders. “Nothing is as it seems around here.” If she’s just realizing this, I gave her too much credit all of these years.
“I know that,” I deadpan. “It doesn’t mean you can’t change if something isn’t sitting well with you, though.
You don’t have to do something because that’s what everyone else expects you to do.
” I learned that the hard way. No one thought I’d get my pilot’s license.
Not one of these people, aside from Shirley and maybe Malena, thought I’d eventually take over the airport.
They saw my future as the uneducated daughter of really good people. The diner was where I was relinquished.
She gives me that look. The one that says I don’t have a clue how the world works, and I bite my tongue.
“He’s cheating on me with Milly,” she says, and then heaves an exasperated sigh.
“He was drunk. Because how could he not be?” I mask my face the same way I do when someone at the diner mentions something scandalous and I want to be trusted.
She’s not done. Not by a long shot. She wants to spill it all, and she thinks I’m lapping it up.
“I mean, he’s always cheating on me. I thought maybe once we were engaged he would stop.
And then when that didn’t happen, I figured maybe when it gets closer to the wedding he would stop, but now I realize it’s a life sentence if I don’t break up with him now. ”
Swallowing hard, I try to straighten my face into something sympathetic.
“I’m so sorry, Britt. You deserve better than that.
” I always assumed she knew, but I guess I didn’t realize the extent to which Whit was digging himself down.
I can’t help but glance back, but Whit is nowhere to be found, and Tahoe is with a group of his friends surrounding the keg.
He’s laughing, and his smile makes my heart skip a beat. He would never be a Whit. He couldn’t.
“So what do you think?” she asks, drawing my attention back to her.
“You want my opinion? I’m hardly the person to give opinions about relationships. Mine is so new I’m still peeling off the purchase sticker,” I reply. We slide onto a picnic bench because I can tell this conversation is far from over and she’s latched on to me.
“If it were you, what would you do?”
“Are you asking for permission to break up with your cheating fiancé?”
“Of course I don’t need permission,” she says, letting her gaze wander.
Probably looking for her manwhore. “Everyone would freak, Caroline. Everyone. I’m basically finished planning.
I’ve got wedding gifts lining our hallway.
All the gossip aside, we’d lose so much money. God, he’d never forgive me.”
I narrow my eyes. “Do you really want his forgiveness?”
She shakes her head. “You’re right. It’s so hard when you’ve been with someone for so long. You wouldn’t understand.”
Burn. Typical. “I think you should do whatever you want, Britt. I think you can handle whatever happens, but I also know you’re a beautiful girl with a ton of prospects. Maybe one that wouldn’t cheat.”
“All men cheat, Caroline. It’s a fact of life,” she breathes, tossing her hair back. “A man like yours is the worst kind.” I guess my non-opinion on her love life made me the punching bag.
“A man like mine?”
“One everyone wants.”
My stomach roils. “I’m going to get a drink. Want one?”
She nods, and I rise and make my way toward the keg opposite to the one where someone wearing boots and shorts is doing a keg stand. The raucous cheers and sloshy voices ricochet off the trees lining the sides of the property.
Once I fill two beers with mostly foam, I head back for Britt and find her talking to Malena, poor old Caroline all but forgotten.
I can tell Malena is getting the same earful, and I can’t help but be a little relieved.
Maybe Malena will have advice for her. Maybe Malena will have the balls to tell her Whit is a disgusting asshole who should rot at the bottom of the bay.
I take a small sip of the light beer and wince.
I hate boat beer. It’s what we call all light beer.
It goes down like water, though and that’s what you want in the hot, hot sun.
Tahoe sneaks up next to me and grabs one of my cups. “What is my DD doing with two beers? This place is awesome,” he exclaims.
Smiling, I nod. “It is. Looks like you guys are having a good time so far. Anyone giving you a hard time?”
He laughs, the beer already gone. “Who is going to give us a hard time and live to tell about it?”
He kisses me. It’s all beer and foam and the light scent of his face soap. I go into his arms willingly. He pulls back and looks at me from the top of my head down to my breasts and back again. “What were you and the bitch talking about?”
I sigh, the mood broken. “Her cheating fiancé. She’s thinking about leaving him. I guess he’s just as bad as he’s always been. She thought he’d change.”
Tahoe throws his head back and laughs. “That’s the oldest, dumbest trick in the book. No one changes. What the other person is willing to accept changes.”
Biting my lip for a moment, I ask. “You don’t think cheating is okay though, right?”
His eyes widen. “You think I would cheat?”
“Of course not,” I say, looking down to the water where several canoes wait for their drunken captains. That won’t happen until later.
“You do think that. Why?”
I shrug, look down, and kick the sandy grass.
“I don’t have much experience with relationships, and Britt mentioned that all men cheat.
I know she probably only said that to make herself feel better, but I have to wonder about you guys.
Always traveling. Never settling down. Your reputation precedes you in that regard.
You admitted you were only in a committed relationship with Stella. ”
I’m glad his sunglasses are on. I hate how sad his eyes get when I mention her name.
Like he’s a failure because he couldn’t make it work.
He leaves his hands on the small of my waist. “You aren’t Stella.
I never felt an ounce of what I feel for you for her.
Do you understand? I would never jeopardize what we have.
You mean more to me than some one-night stand in whatever city I’m staying in.
That’s saying it like I mean it, Caroline.
” He shakes his head. “Never, and I mean never, doubt my affection for you.”
It’s nice to hear, and it does comfort me, but he does still look like a man that every woman wants. “You look so…handsome. Don’t you get hit on constantly?”
He chuckles. “You’re worried about other women hitting on me?
I like a bit of jealousy, but now you’re going overboard.
” Tahoe brushes my bottom lip with both of his thumbs.
“I don’t get hit on because I’m rarely in that kind of situation.
I especially won’t be any more. Remember, this mission is a one-off for me. I’ll be home in no time.
I hop up, throw my hands around his neck, and accidentally knock his sunglasses off his face. The sun is setting, but I can still see his monster eyes.
Instead of picking up his sunglasses, he’s watching my face for a reaction. “Keep them off. It gives you an edge.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “You’re scared of me. I saw it.”
Putting my hands on his stomach, I coax him with a few rubs. “I need to get used to your red eyes if you don’t want to wear the sunglasses constantly, Tahoe. Leave them off and let me get used to it.” I stoop to pick them up for him. He examines them and slides them into his T-shirt.
“Fine. I’ve had just enough to drink to not give a shit, but Caroline?”
“Yes?”
He shakes his head. “Never compare me to other men. That’s not fair.”
My face heats with guilt. “I’m sorry,” I say, interlacing my hands. “Britt said something, and I should have just brushed it off. You’ve never done anything to indicate anything but perfection.”
He lowers his voice. “All these people are jealous of you. All of them. Not because of me, either. Because of you.” He aims one finger at my chest. “I’m not perfect,” he says, backing away from me. “Not even close. I’ve told you there’s no one else for me, and I meant it.”
I’m standing there thinking about various different things. Mostly about how much I love him and how much losing him would hurt. The cheating scenario is there because she said it, but is that how Britt actually feels? I can’t blame her for acting the way she does. It’s unapologetically heinous.
I hand over my piss beer. “Here. Get back to your friends,” I say.
He swallows the Solo cup down in one deep swig. “I’ll find you in a bit. I want you to show me around here. Don’t be talking to any naysayers while I’m gone.” He grins and starts backing away from me, but then lunges forward and pulls me in for a world-halting kiss.
I hear manly cheering, and I know catty, quiet stares are abound too.
But for once, I truly don’t care.