CHAPTER ELEVEN #4
“You don’t have any idea how often I’ve wondered that same thing.”
“And now here we are,” he said, “older and in control of our own lives.” His eyes dropped to my mouth again, and I knew I needed to stop the direction of this conversation.
For all I knew, he was still with Sara MacAllister.
I had been very clear six years ago and several times since then when talking to Livy or Declan.
I had wanted to hear nothing about Edward Ashton.
So, I truly had no clue what was going on in his life.
“Well, ain’t this something!” Garrison’s voice boomed out right next to me, causing both of us to jump.
Edward almost spilled his champagne. “So, you two know each other pretty well, it seems. Cara made it seem like you were barely more than acquaintances.” He gave me a look as he took a sip of champagne.
“Libby was filling me in. Childhood friends, huh?”
I blushed, remembering how ‘friendly’ we’d been with each other over those long summer nights. Especially the night his father died. “Yes,” I said.
Edward nodded. “I haven’t seen Cara for… years. I hate that it’s been so long.”
“You can’t have been all that close if it’s been that long since you’ve seen each other,” Garrison said, his calculating eyes darting back and forth between Edward and me.
“It has been a while,” I agreed, not wanting to admit that I knew exactly how long it had been. And I definitely wasn’t going into the problems we’d had with Garrison Hart.
“Well,” Garrison patted Edward on the back, hard, causing a few drops of his champagne to spill on the floor. Garrison didn’t seem to notice. “Let’s get those papers signed, Ashton. We’ll get you home as soon as possible. You don’t even have to stay the night if you need to get on the road.”
I raised my eyebrows. Garrison was acting… strangely.
Edward stayed calm and pleasant. “Actually, sir, I think I’ll be extending my stay a while longer. I’ve already called and arranged hotel accommodations for the next few days. But thank you for your hospitality. I’d love to sign those papers, and then I think I’ll get out of your hair.”
“You’re going to stay awhile? In Charleston?
” Garrison couldn’t hide the panic on his face, and I frowned.
Was Edward right? Did Garrison want to pair me up with Monty?
I’d never once heard him say a word about it, so it was difficult to believe.
“Well, you might as well stay here with Libby and me,” he finished lamely.
“You could get to know Nora better, too.”
Well. I didn’t like the thought of that at all. I glanced over at my friend. She was leaning against the wall, casually drinking champagne and staring at Edward. There was no denying the look of interest on her face. I frowned.
Edward thought Garrison and Libby practically had me married off to Monty. And it was clear they were interested in Edward for more than a contract with Ashton Orchards.
I’d like to be friends with Edward, but I knew I didn’t want to find myself in the middle of a war with Nora over a man I had no intentions of ever dating again.
I started to excuse myself and walk away, but Edward lurched forward and grabbed my arm. I stared up at him, shocked, and saw the pleading look on his face. I stayed where I was. I might as well hear what he had to say.
“No, sir. I have some other people to see on this trip. I’ll be moving around within the state a bit. I have appointments in Aiken, Columbia, and Greenville as well.” He looked at me. “But there’s no reason I couldn’t make Charleston my home base for the rest of my stay.”
“Well. You’re a busy man, indeed. Cara,” he said turning to me, “I’m going to steal him from you. Hope you don’t mind. Why don’t you go find where Monty’s hiding?”
“When we’re done, sir, I’m going to take Cara home. She said she was feeling a bit tired.” He smiled at me, and there was a pleading look in his eyes.
I hesitated but then nodded. “I’ll wait for you,” I said, and he looked relieved.
Garrison appeared speechless for once. He merely cocked an eyebrow and stood there for a second, searching for something to say.
I marveled as I watched Edward easily stand up to Garrison. Not many people did, but Edward didn’t seem at all cowed by him.
“Fine, fine,” Garrison said in a voice that told me exactly how not fine it was. Whether it had anything to do with Monty or Nora, Edward had been right about one thing. For some reason, Garrison Hart didn’t want Edward and me around each other.
Edward walked away with Garrison but gave me a quick look over his shoulder. He winked at me, and I turned pink. It caused him to grin, and, not for the first time, I wished I didn’t have such pale skin.
While I waited on him, I decided to have a couple of glasses of champagne to calm my nerves.
Before I could even move, several people mobbed me again, wanting to talk about the ballet.
The good part about being a guest of honor was that the wait staff were immediately by my side.
I grabbed a glass, practically gulping it down.
I grabbed another, sipping it slowly this time, noticing the raised eyebrows of the people near me.
God. It was like I wanted to start a social media controversy about drunk ballerinas from the Moonlight. I needed to be careful. This, paired with the glasses of chardonnay I had earlier, was a recipe for disaster. Plus, I hadn’t eaten much today, and my energy was gone.
I was definitely feeling more than a little buzzed.
I looked around the room for Nora. I caught her eye and motioned for her to come over. She looked eager to have an excuse to get away from Eric who was sticking to her like glue. She hurried over to me, with Eric watching her the whole way.
“Hey,” she said breathlessly, pulling me into a corner so we could talk. “What’s the deal with Captain America?”
I laughed, a little nervously. Edward did kind of resemble Chris Evans. “The deal is I’ve known him since I was fifteen and he put a frog down my dress at dance lessons.”
Nora cracked up. “Really? Oh, that is a meet cute story if I’ve ever heard one.
” She eyed me over the rim of her champagne glass.
“He’s gorgeous. And if he looks that good, even in that hideous tux, I can’t wait to see him dressed normally.
Are you interested? If not, I’m going to try to hook up with him. ”
My stomach clenched. I didn’t like that Nora thought he was hot. What Nora wanted, she usually got. And if Garrison was pushing Edward, too? Then the situation was already getting out of hand.
“It’s complicated,” I answered, not sure how to handle things. “But you’re interested in Eric anyway, right?”
Her eyes darted away from mine. “Um… yeah. I guess.” She made a face. “But I’d drop him in a heartbeat for someone like Edward.”
Okay. Now I was suspicious. Why wasn’t she telling me what was up between her and Eric?
In the past, Nora and I had told each other everything.
When had that changed? I racked my brain trying to remember, but I couldn’t.
We’d become so busy over the years with ballet, it seemed our friendship might have suffered without me even realizing it.
It upset me to think that things were different between us.
“I noticed you flipped out onstage when you saw him sitting with my mother. You almost fell. I was worried.”
There was something insincere in her tone, and I looked at her sharply. But she was the same old Nora, a look of concern on her pretty face as she studied me.
“I was just startled, that’s all.”
I could feel her staring at me, knowing I wasn’t telling her the full truth.
I realized maybe we were both keeping secrets from each other.
But I still didn’t want to go there with her.
The things that happened between Edward and me were private, special…
and sad. I wanted to keep them to myself.
I’d never told her about him, not in all our years of friendship, and I knew she would be hurt to hear about him for the first time now.
She’d been the one to help me get over him, but I’d never told her any details or names about the situation.
She’d only known that I had a broken heart.
Nora chatted on about people we knew in common, which dancers had new boyfriends, and generally acted as if everything was fine.
Maybe nothing had changed between us at all.
I was overreacting. I was tired, hungry, tipsy, and I’d just talked to the guy who’d once broken my heart.
I might not be thinking clearly, I thought with a wry smile. I needed to calm down.
I waited anxiously for Edward to return. Hopefully, it would be soon.
As the minutes ticked by, Nora and I stood around and talked with the partygoers. Two things slowly occurred to me. First, I should have exchanged numbers with Edward so I could text to see if he was still here, and second, I had crossed the line from being tipsy to being… kind of drunk.
I needed to get out of the Hart mansion and to my townhouse to sleep this off.
But I didn’t want to leave without a way to get in touch with Edward.
If I left now, he might think I’d been full of crap when I’d said I wanted to try to put things behind us.
I wanted him to take me home, but it was getting late.
Maybe I needed an Uber.
Just when I was about to give up and call one, Edward rounded the corner. His eyes shot around the room until they found mine, and then he made a beeline for me. “Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand without acknowledging the fact that Nora was standing beside me. “Let’s get out of here.”
I gave my champagne glass to Nora and kind of waved at her as Edward and I took off across the room.
We hurried out of the house and down the front steps to his waiting car, some sort of fancy-looking Jaguar, and he opened the passenger door for me. “Hurry and get in, before they realize I took you with me.”