Chapter 2 Candy and Sugar
CANDY AND SUGAR
BECKETT
“Ship?” I echo, remembering Luna’s wedding in a sick flash of guilt. “I didn’t—”
“No.” Her voice slices through mine. “Don’t start with the excuses, Beckett. Not this time. You’re coming.”
“I wasn’t—” I try again, but she barrels on.
“You will fly with me and the boys to Long Beach this week. We’ll get on that ship together.
You will come to all the wedding parties.
You will walk my sister down the aisle, smile for pictures, and convince everyone we’re still the same happy couple we’ve always been.
And I don’t want to hear one word about work or meetings or—” Her voice catches, a small, breaking sound.
And that sound hits harder than any accusation.
“So you haven’t told them yet?” I take a moment to glance around the sterile apartment I’ve been exiled to. Nothing but unopened boxes and endless takeout food.
A long, weighted sigh filters through the phone. “I can’t, Bex. She’s so happy. You know Luna. If she thinks we’re unhappy—if she thinks I’m unhappy—it’ll ruin everything.” That tone—soft, fierce, protective—used to be how she talked about me.
“I know,” I murmur, already trying to map how I’ll manage my mess from a cruise ship.
But I owe her. God, I owe her.
“So you’ll be there?” The doubt in her voice stings.
“Of course I will.” Even though it’s going to be next to impossible.
Silence stretches between us, long enough for me to wonder if she’s hung up. I’d deserve it if she did.
“Good,” she says finally. “Because Luna can not know we’re splitting up. I’ll tell her and my mom everything after she and Noah get back from their honeymoon. After we tell the boys, But until then…”
“We fake it,” I finish for her.
“Exactly.”
Faking it’s the last thing I want, but if that’s what she’s offering, I’ll do it.
I grab a notepad and pen. “What do I need to do?”
I can picture her even without looking—blonde hair twisted into a knot on top of her head, sexy reading glasses sliding down her nose as she flips through her planner.
She’s probably standing in the kitchen, leaning over the island, or sitting at that tidy desk in the office. Or maybe she’s on the bed—our bed.
“I never got around to changing the reservations. You can just meet us at the gate Friday morning. Flight 2455.”
I want to drive us there myself. As a family. But… It’s better this way.
Safer.
“You’ll need to book your own hotel room in Long Beach,” Ashley continues. “Since I only reserved one.”
Separate rooms.
“Won’t your sister notice?”
“Everyone else is booked at the Hilton. It won’t be a problem.”
“Okay. When does the ship leave?”
“Saturday at four, but we board in the morning. At ten.”
I try to think of something else to say, something to keep her from hanging up.
“How’s Luna holding up?”
There’s the smallest hitch and then, “She’s fine. Excited. Everything’s fine.”
“Good.” I swallow, the word a lump in my throat. “Anything else I should know? Cabin numbers?”
“They’re being assigned, but I reserved two cabins. Adjoining.”
“Ash—”
“I can put my stuff in your room, just in case. But I’ll be sleeping with the boys.”
Another pause, wide as the Pacific.
“Sure,” I finally say. “Of course.”
“The boys are excited. I showed them videos of the ship. They can’t stop talking about the water slides.”
“You mean Max is excited,” I say automatically. “Blakey might be acting tough, but you know he’s nervous.”
“He says he’ll go down if I do.” There’s a quick laugh, bright and unguarded, and I feel it everywhere. For a second, she forgets to hate me.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say. We both know she's not comfortable swimming.
“We’ll see,” she answers, voice cooling again.
I wish I could say something she wants to hear. But I can’t.
Instead... “Okay, I’ll stop by tomorrow. Get my passport. Tuck the boys in.”
Things I used to do without asking permission.
“I can drop it at your office,” she says smoothly. “In case you don’t show.” Again. She doesn’t have to say it.
“I’ll be there,” I growl, rubbing a hand down my face. The thing is, sometimes, I just don’t have a choice. “Ash—”
“Beckett.” Just my name. Flat. Final.
I stare at the wall that’s void of photographs or anything homey. She used to say my name like it meant something. Now it’s a door closing.
“Anything else going on that I should know about?”
“No,” she says briskly. “I’ll… I’ll pack your tuxedo. But you’ll have to figure everything else out on your own. And… So help me—”
“I’ll be there, Ash.”
But there’s a beep. A quick glance shows another call. Damnit.
“You better get that.”
I let it go to voicemail.
“It’s not important,” I say, taking a breath. “But I’d like to talk. Just you and me. When I come by.”
“Goodbye, Beckett.”
The line goes dead.
Ashley’s shutting me out now. And it shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. But I’d shut her out first.
“Help me understand…. Just talk to me…”
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
It’s their timeline now, their terms…
The guilt of my bad decisions is eating away at my gut, but having to do exactly what they tell me to protect her and the boys is a hell I never saw coming.
I lean back against the counter, run a hand through my hair, and laugh under my breath. Now, after asking me to move out, with everything on the line, she wants me to float around in a boat for a week.
I glance down at the notes I scrawled, and the smallest flicker of something stirs in my chest. If we’re trapped on a boat together, celebrating her sister’s wedding, she can’t ignore me.
My phone starts ringing again. Persistent.
“Hey, Sugar.”
A pause. Then, “Trying to ghost me, Carrington?”
“Not yet. But...” My voice comes out rougher than I mean it to. “I need a week. Starting Friday. Ash’s sister’s getting married on a cruise. Their dad passed a few years ago and the bride wants me to give her away.”
Silence. Not the good kind.
“We’re too close,” Sugar says finally.
“Maybe so, but HR’s calling everyone in. Mandatory compliance review. One-on-ones. Outside counsel.”
There’s a blustery sigh. “When were you gonna tell me?”
“Just got the email this morning. But… It might not hurt,” I add, “for me to be out of town when my name comes up.”
“I need to be able to get a hold of you,” Sugar says. “We might need another dump.”
A laugh slips out. Bitter. “The ship has internet. I won’t be unreachable. Hell, you’ll know exactly where I am.”
Sugar exhales slowly. “Candy isn’t gonna like this.”
“Candy never likes anything.” I manage a smile that feels carved out of habit. “Besides… what have I got to lose?”
A huff. “More than you think. Watch your back.”
I close my eyes.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I know.”