Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
LAW
I don’t want to tell Carlie I know about her ex in the middle of some crowded restaurant, so when I ask her if I can see her tonight, I suggest a quiet dinner at my place. She says she’ll pick up food on her way over. I busy myself with cleaning up my kitchen and dining room and getting plates and silverware out for when she arrives.
An hour later, my phone alerts me that Carlie has used the gate code I gave her, so I head outside to meet her. She smiles at me when she gets out of the car and holds out a bag from a place I don’t recognize.
“I already miss the island,” she says with a little laugh. “Hope you don’t mind Hawaiian barbecue.”
“Sounds fabulous.” I pull her into a long hug, which she returns, bags in her hand and all. I take one from her and lead her into the house.
I ask her about the interview right away, so we spend the next few minutes as we pull out containers and dish things up chatting about the salary Chad offered, the beautiful guesthouse he’s offered for her to live in, and the girls.
“It was hard to get a read on them just in the few minutes I met them,” she says. “Do you have anything to add?”
She’s already going to say yes. I can see it in her expression as she talks about all of it—her eyes dancing with excitement, the subdued smile as she tells about what the girls said and did, and the “how can I say no” widening of her eyes when she tells me the salary. “They can be spoiled, and that’s gotten a little worse since Shelby left. Shelby never really said no to anything, and now Chad can’t really say no to a lot. He feels bad about Shelby being gone, about the girls missing her and being confused about the situation, and most of all his demanding job. And they sort of freak out when he leaves them, so that will be an adjustment.”
“Understandable,” Carlie murmurs. “I had a student last year whose grandpa passed away suddenly. They were very close, and my student flipped a switch. He cried every time his mom dropped him off, and then sobbed with relief every afternoon when she came to pick him up. That was a rough few weeks.”
“Yeah, that sounds super hard. I can’t decide if Shelby finally calls or something, it will be a good thing or just make it worse.” I shrug. I still can’t wrap my brain around what Shelby did, just walking away like that. I, of all people, know that families can be hard and complicated, but as difficult as my mother is, I can’t imagine her ever just leaving us behind and never looking back, even when that might have been easier.
Carlie tilts her head at me. “Wait. She hasn’t called or anything?”
I sigh. “Nope. Well, at least according to Chad, right? But I don’t think he’d lie about that. You said it: the girls are his world. If Shelby called, he’d make sure they got to talk to her, to know she’s alright. That’s half the thing with the girls—all Chad can tell them is Mommy had to leave for a little while. He has no answers.”
Carlie scowls. “That’s horrible.”
There’s something more going on in her brain. She’s already admitted to me that she’s nosy and she’s always curious about people’s stories. I bet not knowing more about Shelby is making that mind of hers whir into action. She’s even zoned out a little, pushing around the macaroni salad on her plate. It’s as good a time as any to tell her what my mom told me.
“So,” I say, taking a deep breath. “There was a picture of us in a tabloid.” I looked it up after my mom left, and it’s benign. Just a cell phone shot from someone showing me and Carlie sitting snuggled up on the beach when we were watching the turtles.
She lets out a short laugh. “I know. I saw.” When I tilt my head in confusion, she swallows. “I have alerts set for if my name shows up online anywhere.” She presses her lips together. That has to be because of her drug-dealing boyfriend. I didn’t look anything up on that. I really want her to be the one to tell me, in her words, what happened.
“I see.” I clear my throat. “So, my mom actually has something similar set up. Well, her staff, I guess. And when she saw the picture, they automatically did research on you. Very in-depth research. She likes to be ahead of any possible scandals or whatever.” I rush to explain why she would be looking Carlie up. Especially to the level she has.
Carlie’s shoulders slump as she realizes what I mean. “She knows about Xavier.” She puts her fork down and steeples her fingers above her plate. “I was going to tell you. Soon. But we just never had any time in Maui. It’s a conversation that I wanted to make sure wasn’t interrupted.”
I hold up a hand. “It’s fine. We haven’t known each other long, and I wouldn’t have expected you to open up about everything right away, especially a hard experience like that must have been. I just wanted you to know that I know. Or I know some things. I didn’t look anything up, because I want you to be able to explain exactly like you should have been able to.”
She manages a smile. “That’s sweet, Law.”
“Whenever you want to. No rush or anything.” We’re sitting kitty-corner from each other at my large table. I had to buy it to fit the space, but I wanted our dinner to be more intimate, so I set us up close to each other on one end. I reach across the corner of the table and squeeze her hand.
She smiles at me again, her expression soft, and I hope she knows how much I want her to know she can trust me. “I really have been meaning to tell you for days, so now is as good a time as any.” She draws in a long breath. “Xavier and I were engaged.”
I shove a bite of the teriyaki chicken into my mouth to keep from gasping. She was going to marry him.
“I had absolutely no idea,” she goes on, spearing some of the macaroni salad that litters her plate. “He had a whole separate life—another apartment, another phone. The only redeeming thing, maybe, is that somehow he protected me from all of it. The people they took down after they arrested him, they had no idea about me.” She puts the bite in, chewing slowly and not looking at me. “I was with him the night they arrested him, at his apartment. They broke down the door and all these cops came in with guns and everything. It was the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me.” She stabs at more macaroni, her hand trembling, and I reach over and take it, pulling the fork away from her.
“It sounds like a nightmare,” I say in a soft voice.
She squeezes my hand, and her eyes shimmer. She’s turned in her chair so that we’re facing each other, and I turn mine too. “It was. It was awful. At first I thought it must be some huge mistake, but they just kept showing me all this evidence.” She looks me right in the eye. “I don’t know if I’ve really trusted myself since then. I definitely haven’t had any serious relationships in the last few years since it happened. I’m sorry, Law. I’m just not sure how to trust that you’re everything you say you are.”
She falls forward against my chest, sniffling, and I wrap my arms around her. How can I blame her for second-guessing herself? One minute her life was headed for happily ever after, and the next the rug got completely yanked out from under her. The man she would have pledged her life to lied to her. Lied about everything. It also explains why she’s always looking for the answers, always wanting to know the details.
I scoot my chair closer so her leaning into my arms isn’t as awkward, and we sit like that for a long time. I don’t know if she’s crying—I can’t tell. But she breathes deeply, and I’m happy to just be here for her while she finds some calm.
Irritation toward my mom prickles at me. Carlie is a victim in this, and I hate that Mom tried to sow doubt about her with me. That she acted like Carlie might be a co-conspirator. I get that Mom has to keep her life pristine or her political opponents pounce—and Mom is doing some good in politics, fighting the good fight and all of that—but I’m getting tired of keeping up with perfection.
After several minutes, Carlie draws in one more long breath and sits up. “Okay. Thank you for understanding, Law.” She plants a kiss on my cheek and then blushes as she stands up. “I’m going to get more macaroni salad since I have mutilated this.” She scowls at the plate, and I smile.
“I picked up brownie and peanut butter chocolate ice cream on my way home. It’s my favorite, but if that’s not your thing, we can go get something else.” I dish out some more rice and chicken onto my plate.
“That sounds amazing,” she says.
I made the decision a while ago that Carlie was worth waiting for, was worth going slow for. I’m doubly sure now. I want to be the man that Carlie can trust will never let her down. Not even on the ice cream.