Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
LAW
I don’t for one second think that Chad might have done something to Shelby, but I do have to admit that while Carlie’s conclusion is skewed, she’s not wrong that all the pieces look sketchy, plain and simple. Chad is the one who told everyone that Shelby had just up and left after they had a huge fight one night. He’s the one who told me she yelled that she’d never wanted any of this and then walked out—without her phone and purse.
I knew about the purse. The phone part is new.
I haven’t hung out with him since Carlie started working for him. When she’s free, I’ve been with her, and those are the times when Chad’s not working. I pull out my phone to text him.
Law
You working tonight?
Chad
Not yet.
He adds a laughing emoji. I smile at that. The few times I’ve seen Chad in passing, that desperate look has been gone. Having Carlie to help with the girls has taken a weight from him, and that all comes through in the fact that he can laugh about being called in at all hours.
Law
I’m bringing over the new FootballPro game. I’m in this one!
Chad
I get to be you.
I chuckle and pocket my phone to gather up my gaming stuff. My TV is way better than Chad’s—given that the only time he spends using his is stolen time like this when he’s not at work—but the girls are probably in bed, and he won’t call Carlie to come over just so we can play video games.
When he lets me in the front door, I feel a little guilty that I’m checking out all the photos, noting that Carlie’s right about Shelby being completely erased here. I don’t remember a lot about before Shelby left. I was just starting to get to know Chad then, but I do remember a big family canvas of them in this entryway. The wall where it hung is bare now.
I shrug that off as I follow him back to the family room. Everything is neat and tidy in here, all the toys put away in a tall basket tucked behind one end of the sectional couch. The kitchen counters and dining table are clear and wiped off. Chad was never a slob, and he does have a housekeeper, but Carlie being around has helped bring some organization here too, whether that’s Chad having more time to straighten things up with her help or Carlie doing some of that.
“You seem more relaxed,” I can’t help saying to Chad as I set up the console.
“Everything’s been easier since I hired Carlie. She’s a magician. Thanks, man.” Chad pats me on the back before taking a seat on the couch and leaning back.
“She is pretty amazing.” I rock back from where I was kneeling and hand him a controller, taking my own seat a few cushions away from him.
He smirks at me and turns to the TV, going to work setting up his team while I click away putting mine together too.
“How are you doing?” I ask carefully.
He doesn’t look away from the TV. “Feeling good, like we’re finally back in a good routine.”
I’d bet money he’s not feeling good about Shelby leaving, but him relegating the grief in his life to something to get by and back to his routine reminds me of the way Malcolm would answer me when I asked him the same thing. Mom wants to announce this new bill right away, and I’m loving digging into the work on this one . Sure he was—it kept him from thinking too much about anything that might be wrong in his life.
“Have you talked to the girls about it? How are they doing?” I pretend my own concentration on the screen as our game starts. Chad did indeed choose the LA Rays, the team I played for before coming to the Pumas.
“They’re too young to understand,” he says shortly. His tone is a clear request to drop the subject.
Which I ignore. “Have you heard from her yet?” If anything will calm Carlie’s mind about all of this, it will be knowing that Shelby’s been in contact with someone. Well, maybe. She might point out to me again that I heard it from Chad, not from Shelby.
His only answer is a snort of derision.
I shouldn’t say what I do next, but Carlie’s in my head in more ways than just that I can’t stop thinking about her. “You’re not … worried that something might have happened to her? I mean, it’s weird that you haven’t heard a peep, right?”
Chad’s jaw clenches as he presses buttons on his controller so Rays quarterback Eli Dash passes to a very lifelike version of me. “Nope,” he says simply.
“Good,” I say, but I don’t know if I sound convinced. I mentally growl at myself. It’s stupid that I let Carlie’s worries get to me. I know Chad. He would never hurt Shelby.
So why am I thinking about why he’s not more worried?
I mentally shake it off. He’s probably still angry. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have someone walk away like that. Malcolm was a mess last year, but there weren’t kids involved and a house and a whole life they’d built together.
Chad whoops as game-me runs in a touchdown.
I laugh and shake my head, but then I eye him. “Listen, I know the last thing you want to do is talk about this, but Ivy is a terrible influence. So when you do want to talk, call me anytime,” I say.
His jaw works and he just nods before turning back to the TV and setting up for the kickoff. I nod to myself too, pretending focus on setting up my own plays. I’ll do what I did when Malcolm refused to talk and none of the tactics I’d learned from Ivy worked on him. I let it go.
But this time, I can’t just ignore what we’re not talking about.