Carrie
Carrie
C arrie wasn’t sure of anything anymore. She went along with Mina’s plan to leave with Evan because they were both right. Staying in the building would have been a mistake. Alastair knew where she lived now and if he wasn’t able to stake out the building himself, he’d put one of his guys on it. She was sure that he wouldn’t have come to America by himself. He usually traveled with an entourage, and he wouldn’t give that up just to come to the states.
Evan pulled into a very nice, gated community just around the corner from her apartment complex. She hadn’t realized that she lived so close to him, but then again, how could she? He pulled into a driveway and the garage door opened when he pushed a button up by his rearview mirror. “This is me,” he almost whispered.
His house was huge and gorgeous. “This is beautiful,” she said.
He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I bought it when my mother passed. She left me a hefty inheritance and I used part of it to buy this place and some more to purchase my partnership with McTavish Industries. I needed to invest, and my lawyer told me that investing in property is never a gamble. This neighborhood was up and coming, so I took his advice and bought this place.”
“It’s great,” she said.
“You might want to hold off on your judgment of my home until you actually get into it. I’ve lived here for over a year now and it’s still only sparsely furnished. I never really got around to decorating the place, not that I’d have any idea how to do that. I bought a sofa, a few tables, and a television. I outfitted the master bedroom and one guest room, but that’s as far as I got.”
“Well, I’m sure that what you’ve done will be lovely,” she assured.
“Let’s head in and we can eat. I ordered way too much food at my favorite place; we’ll just have to warm it up.”
“I’m pretty good at cooking in a microwave. Warming up takeout is my specialty,” she teased. “Thanks for letting me stay with you, Evan. If this gets too weird, please let me know.”
“I’m sure that it will be fine. I’ll show you to the guest room and you can get settled in after we eat—I’m starving,” Evan said.
“I am too,” she said. “I’m usually either hungry or exhausted these days. I thought that it was from the move across seas, but from reading my pregnancy books, it might be because of the baby.”
“Well, if you need some time off, just let me know and we can work it out,” Evan offered.
“No,” she breathed. “I need the work and if I take off for no reason, Alex and Rod will stick their overly protective noses into my business.”
“You know, they do that because they care about you, Carrie,” Evan countered. “Alex asked me to keep an eye on you and let him know if you need anything.”
“You promised,” she insisted.
“And I’ll keep my promise to you, Carrie. I’m a man of my word. You don’t know that about me yet, but you’ll figure it out. I won’t tell your cousins about your ex or the baby.”
“Thank you,” she breathed, “is that why you showed up at my apartment tonight?” she asked.
“No,” he said, “I mean, I promised Alex to keep an eye on you, but it’s not why I showed up at your place tonight. I just had this feeling. I can’t explain it without sounding crazy, but I knew that I needed to check on you. I got to the front of my development and turned around to drive back to your place.”
“Well, I have to admit, I’m happy that you did. I don’t think that staying with Mina would have been safe for either of us. I planned on taking off before dawn after I got some sleep.”
“That message you got earlier was from your ex, wasn’t it?” She had told him that she had received a message from home that made her homesick, but that wasn’t the truth.
“Yes,” she admitted, “it was a message from Alastair, and he told me that he knew about the baby. Apparently, he asked around about me, after I left home, and my overly chatty neighbors helped him trace my steps back to the pharmacy where I purchased the pregnancy test. He put two and two together and figured out that I was carrying his baby and then, he followed me here. Like I said earlier, my ex is a powerful man and has a lot of resources back home.”
“So, you didn’t change your number or get a new phone when you got here?” he asked.
“No, why?” she asked. “I wanted a way for my father to reach me if he needed to. He refused to come with me, and I was worried about leaving him back at home by himself.”
“I understand, but your phone can be traced. It might be the way that Alastair found you. Is it on now?” he asked.
“No, I turned it off after I read his message. I didn’t want to know if he tried to text me again, so I completely shut it off,” she admitted.
“Well, that helps. Can I have your phone please?” he asked. She pulled it from her pocket and handed it to him. Evan took it and got out of his car, placing her phone on the ground in front of the front tire.
Evan got back into the car and smiled over at her. “Sorry about this, Carrie. We’ll get you a new phone in the morning and you can call your dad.” He pulled forward, crushing her phone under the weight of his tire. She wanted to cry. Her last tie to home was gone, and she worried that if Alastair couldn’t reach her, he’d go after her father.
“If you’re really worried about your father, you’ll need to tell your cousins. It might be the only way to keep him safe,” Evan said. She wanted to tell him no, as she had done earlier, but he was right. Putting her father in danger wasn’t an option for her and the only way to keep him safe might be to move him to the States. Alex and Rod were the only two who’d have the resources to help her do that.
“Can I sleep on it?” she asked. “Alastair is in jail for the night, hopefully, and I’m too tired to think straight.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “Let’s get in and get you settled,” he offered. Evan parked in his garage and shut the door behind his car. She quickly hopped out and grabbed her bags from the back seat. “I’ll help with those,” he offered.
“I’m pregnant, Evan, not incapable. I can still handle my own bags,” she said. Carrie liked to think that she was a stronger stock than most other women. She had endured so much, mostly because of her inability to make a good decision. Ever since her mother passed, she felt as though she was cursed. Her father would joke and tell her that if it wasn’t for bad luck, she’d have no luck at all, but she didn’t find it as funny as he seemed to.
Carrie followed Evan into his house and whistled to herself as she looked around. Even the mudroom was impressive. “This is where I usually drop all of my things. It leads to the kitchen,” he said, nodding into the next room, for her to follow him.
“It’s the best kitchen I’ve ever seen,” she said. “Kitchens back home aren’t this grand.” Her father and she lived in a little two-bedroom flat that she had grown up in. Their kitchen hadn’t been remodeled since it was installed back in the nineteen fifties, but she loved it. It felt like home every time she closed her eyes to think about it. Her mother loved that kitchen and when she died, they kept everything as she had it. Her father insisted that they didn’t change a thing, and she felt the same way about their place.
“My family’s home back in Scotland can completely fit into this first floor,” she said, looking through to the open family room. She had never seen an open-concept home. Most homes back in Scotland were very compartmentalized because they were so old.
“I’d really love to visit Scotland someday,” Evan said.
She smiled up at him, “Here I am trying to run away from Scotland, and you want to go there. It is beautiful if you don’t have some crazy, drug-dealing ex-boyfriend coming after you,” she was teasing, but it still made her sad to say the words out loud, because they were so true.
“I’m sure,” he agreed, “I’ll show you up to your room and you can settle in while I warn up dinner. I’d ask if you’d like a glass of wine,” he said.
“I’d love one,” she moaned.
“But, how about a cup of green tea instead?” he asked.
“You have hot tea?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I drink it at night to help me relax. I drink too much coffee, so my doctor got me to switch to tea after three in the afternoon.”
“I miss coffee too, although I’ve read that I can have one cup a day. I usually try to grab it in the afternoon, to help me get through the rest of the day. I start to drag after lunch. Hot tea sounds wonderful.”
“Great, your room is this way,” he said, pointing to the stairs. She followed him up to the second floor and nodded to the first room at the top of the stairs. “That’s me,” he said, “and you’re down this way.” He led the way to the last door on the floor and opened it.
“It’s lovely,” she said, peeking into the sparsely decorated room.
“It’s just a bed, nightstand, and dresser. The blinds will help keep the morning light out.”
“I’m an early riser,” she said, “I usually get up before the sun here. I haven’t been able to sleep past six in the morning since moving here last week. I guess the time difference is really an issue for me.”
“Well, maybe the hot tea will help you the way that it does me. Either way, please make yourself at home,” he offered.
“I appreciate it,” she said. “Would you mind running me back to my place in the morning so that I can grab my car?” she asked.
“I’ll arrange to pick it up. If your ex is watching the parking garage, he’ll spot you, and then, your new secret hiding spot will be found out.”
“Right,” she said, “are you sure it’s not too much trouble?”
“Not at all,” he said, “I’ll get my brother, Eli, to give me a hand. Do you mind having to ride into work with me in the morning?” he asked. She worried that her cousins would see the two of them arriving together and then, what would she tell them? “I promise, no one will see us. In fact, I can let you out at that coffee shop on the corner if you want. No one will know that we’ve carpooled.”
“Okay, I appreciate that,” she said. “I know that I sound like a broken record, but I’m just not sure if telling Alex and Rod is for the best. I don’t want to put them in danger,” she said.
“They’re big boys,” Evan said, “I’m sure that they’ll be able to handle some trouble. Besides if you can’t lean on family in time of a crisis, who can you lean on?” he asked. Carrie wasn’t sure if she had the answer to his question, but apparently, she could lean on her new boss, and she was very grateful for that.