Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
CARLIE
I only stay at Law’s house one night before I drive to face the music with my family. Jenna manages to keep a straight face through me telling the whole ordeal and is genuinely serious when I confess to how bad I feel about screwing things up with Scarlett and Zoey. She says a lot of the same things Law already has—being worried about what I’ve done, asking me to get help, and it’s easy to tell her I will when I’ve already promised Law.
But then she excuses herself to go make dinner, and I hear her muffled laughs in the kitchen. You have to admit, aside from my criminal behavior, you can see how some of it would look funny to an outsider.
I share a look with Caleb. “Good to know you were wrong,” he says with a smirk.
“You’re an accomplice, you know.” I poke him in the arm. “I’m taking you down with me.”
He arches an eyebrow. “I leave no trace.”
We both chuckle then. The worry that I saw in his expression a few days ago when I asked him to hack into Chad’s security cameras left his expression as soon as I promised Jenna I’d work harder on my trust issues. He’s my twin, and he’ll do anything for me—he’s definitely proven that—but he also believes in me and he knows when I’m telling the truth.
“Have you heard from Ivy?” I ask in a low voice. I haven’t seen him in a couple days, and I can’t help but wonder if Malcolm’s departure from Houston has changed Ivy’s mind about the space between her and Caleb.
But he shakes his head. “I’m going to go find us an apartment.” He pushes himself up off the couch where he was sitting next to Grandma.
I settle into the seat he left behind. “What do you think, G?” I ask. “Did I royally screw that up, or what?”
“You did.” She looks sterner than I’ve seen her in a while, but then she softens and pats my hand. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Besides, you love those girls and you love that job. It will work out.”
“Grandma.” I sigh out her name and shake my head. “I accused my boss of murdering his wife. I don’t think I’m coming back from that.”
She threads her fingers through mine and squeezes. “Be patient. I think he’ll see it for what it was, especially if you explain where your heart is.”
I lean my head on her thin shoulder. “That’s what Law said.”
“Smart boy.”
A couple days later, I’m inexpertly helping Jenna put up drywall in the areas the electrician had to redo. The work is slow, and I know she’d much rather have Devin over here helping. Jett has been banned from helping, since she thinks he’ll just spend the whole time trying to convince her to move into the house he bought her. Maybe she’s actually just worried she’s going to cave.
We’re sitting in the middle of the floor, having a quick dinner, when I bring it up. Maybe it’ll get me banned too, but I won’t let her enforce that.
“Move into the house, Jenna,” I say. I try for the same tone that Ava used that night when she was trying to convince her. It just earns me a narrow-eyed glare from Jenna. I put up a hand before she can argue. “If you had known how bad I had let things get, spiraling with Chad and the girls, what would you have done?”
She shakes her head, and she’s pressing her lips together and sucking in breaths in a way I know means she’s holding back emotion. It makes it build up in my chest too.
“What would you have done, Jen?”
“Anything,” she finally says. “Anything to help you.”
“Why won’t you let us do that? Why won’t you let Jett?”
She stares at me for a long time and then finally drops her head, resting it on her knees. Her entire demeanor shows how exhausted she is, and the house is still at least another few weeks away from being ready.
“I don’t know,” she whispers.
I scoot over next to her, wrapping my arms around her, and she leans into me. “Move into the house,” I repeat.
She’s quiet for a long time, but she’s relaxed against me. “Okay,” she says.
It’s another week before I get a text from Chad.
Chad Boss
Law insists that you need a chance to explain yourself. Can you meet me somewhere for coffee?
I smile when I read it. I can imagine Law championing my case, telling Chad there’s more to my actions than what he saw that night.
Carlie
I would really appreciate that. Thank you.
He chooses a place and texts me the address, and I agonize over what to say for the next few hours until our meeting. I make sure to dress professionally, like the teacher he hired, and I walk into the coffee shop with as much confidence as I can muster. Apologies and explanations are all I have left to give to Chad, and I hope, at the least, he can accept that I never really meant him harm.
He stands when I approach the table, and I sit quickly. He follows suit on the opposite side of the booth.
“Thank you again for letting me explain,” I say.
His expression is tense, but not angry like it was before. I recognize the caution in it. “Law was persuasive.” One side of his lips even ticks up a little, which feels promising.
“First off, let me apologize. Whatever explanations I give you today probably won’t make up for everything I did, so I just want you to know that I’m not trying to make excuses. I recognize that what I did was wrong and terrible to you and your girls, and I’m sorry.” I clasp my hands in my lap so he won’t see them trembling. I want to stay professional, but I also hope that he sees how much I mean what I said. How much I regret the relationships I damaged by my assumptions.
“Thank you.” He nods, and his expression softens the slightest bit. Also promising.
So I tell him about Xavier, how I thought I knew him so well and then he tipped everything on its head. How he hid an entire life from me without so much as a hint to what was really going on, and how it all crumbled spectacularly one night when the FBI busted down my door and dragged him away. By the time I finish telling him that, all tension has left Chad’s face, and he watches me with interest and even sympathy. Really, we’re two people who have been used by the people who should’ve loved us most.
“Like I said,” I finish. “It’s not an excuse for what I did, but I want you to know that when I looked back on it, I never really thought you were capable of hurting Shelby. Too much didn’t add up to me, but that’s because I didn’t have all the pieces. That’s because there were pieces I didn’t necessarily have a right to have. After Xavier, I just relied too much on what the facts in front of me meant and not enough on my heart.”
He sits back for the first time since I arrived and studies me. “I should apologize too?—”
I shake my head. “Please, don’t think that you need to do that.”
He holds up a hand. “Maybe you didn’t have a right to know some of the things I kept from you, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have helped if I’d explained that Shelby was an addict and that I feared she was going to harm the girls if she came back. I thought that if we didn’t talk about her, they’d just forget, but I was wrong. Honesty toward you and the girls would’ve been the better path, and you wouldn’t have felt like you had to protect them from me instead of her.”
I let out a slow breath, so grateful for his understanding that I could hop up and hug him. “I didn’t talk to anyone about what Xavier did for a long time. Don’t beat yourself up too much.” I shift to move from the booth. I’ve done what I came here to do, and I do feel a lot better just being able to properly apologize.
“The girls miss you,” Chad says quickly, stopping me from my slide across the seat of the booth.
I hold my breath, tamping down hope that he means what I think he might. He could just be telling me that I was a part of their life and they miss that.
“What you did to help them these last few weeks more than makes up for our misunderstanding.”
I can’t help the snort of laughter that escapes, and Chad even smiles. “Misunderstanding?” I arch an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he says with a smirk. “Start again on Monday?”
“Absolutely.” I nod firmly. Emotion is already working its way up my throat. Of course I’d hoped something like this would happen, but I didn’t believe I deserved this much forgiveness from Chad. I can make it make sense with Law. I think he might have rose-colored glasses on when it comes to me. But Chad? It feels too good to be true. And I’m just going to trust that something can be too good to be true but still right.
“My brother’s looking for an apartment for us,” I say. “I’ll have him find one nearby? I think it might be a better arrangement.”
Chad looks like he might be holding back a laugh. “Probably.” He slides out of the booth first. I’m afraid my knees might collapse if I try to leave now. “See you Monday.”
“See you.” I watch him walk from the coffee shop before I put my hands over my mouth and quietly squee for joy. I’ve missed Scarlett and Zoey so much.
“I’m guessing that went well?” a voice says, and I look up to see Law scooting into my side of the booth, holding a steaming cup that smells sugary and amazing.
I grin and throw my arms around him. “Been spying, have you?” But I’m laughing with joy.
“Cross my heart, I waited until I saw Chad leave before I came in.” He puts his arms around my waist. “He hired you back, right?”
I bounce in my seat. “He did. Did you talk him into that too?”
Law chuckles. “That, my dear, was all Scarlett and Zoey. They keep asking when you’re coming home.”
My throat tightens. I’ve only known those girls just over a month, but they have my whole heart. I lean up and give Law a peck on the mouth. “When you see them next, will you tell them I’ll see them soon and I miss them?”
“Of course.” His smile grows. “So, you have until Monday, right?” he asks. “And I’m off for another month. What do you say to Hawaii? Or maybe we try something different, like Mexico or the Caribbean?”
I start backward, eyeing him. “Are you serious?”
“So serious. We could both use another vacation, and luckily, I can afford it. And some.” Law pulls me back toward him.
“Okay, but this time, no Ivy.” I can’t help it. I haven’t forgiven her. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I haven’t seen her since she broke up with Caleb, and I think that’s more Law’s doing than it is Ivy’s.
“Definitely not.” He nods solemnly. “Car, I can see how people think that there’s something between us, or was at some point, and I see now that I told her so much I forgot to tell you—which is something I promise never to repeat.”
I hold up a hand to his mouth as soon as he takes a breath, stopping him. “I don’t think you feel that way about her. I did, before she started dating Caleb. She broke my brother’s heart, Law. I should be more forgiving, especially given how forgiving you and Chad have been when I’ve done something far worse, but he’s my brother. And I get the feeling that she’s not coming back to Caleb.” I raise my eyebrows in question, and Law nods reluctantly.
“I don’t think so either,” he says. “She’s moving back to Nashville—but not for Malcolm,” he hurries to add when I scowl. “She says she’s done running away, she’s ready to try new things with her life-coaching business, and she wants to be closer to all her people.” He shrugs, and there’s a hesitancy in his expression that makes me tilt my head at him. He grins. “I love that you know me twice as well as she does with half the effort,” he says softly.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Our friendship is naturally changing—new chapters and all of that. She was never going to be in Houston forever, so this makes sense.”
My heart squeezes. “Change is hard.”
“How about a distraction?” His smile returns. “You choose an island, and we’ll go.”
I grin back. “You are being serious.”
“What’s it going to take to convince you, woman?” He uses the arm around my waist to pull me impossibly close to him.
I laugh. “Cozumel?” I suggest. Mexico is close enough that we won’t have to spend too much time traveling.
He nods, pulling out his phone and not letting me out of his arms. “First class?” he asks, glancing up at me.
More laughter bubbles up. Is this real? I keep finding ways to contrast Law with Xavier, proving to myself over and over again that Law is the better man, hands down. Xavier was filthy rich—literally filthy rich—but he didn’t spend a lot of that on me. On us. He kept his spending in line with a financial advisor who had money to spare.
“Duh,” I answer, staring at him while he books flights for today— today —to Mexico. I lean over and kiss his cheek, lingering and enjoying the moment. “You’re amazing, Law.”
He turns so our faces are millimeters apart. “This might be too fast for you, and I understand, but I want you to know.” He says the words so gently, so carefully. “I love you,” he says softly, and then he smiles and adds, “Don’t be scared.”
The words have made warmth erupt inside me. I shake my head. “I’m not scared,” I whisper back. I lean into his kiss, which is long and sweet, but more on the chaste side, considering we’re sitting in a coffee shop and there’s a decent chance someone’s taking a picture of Law.
He scoots me back against the wall and adjusts so he’s between me and any possible picture takers, which seems silly. I’m the one who should be hiding him. But heat shoots through me as he curls himself over me and puts his lips to mine, definitely not worried about picture takers.
“Good,” he murmurs. “Because next time we’re just going to dig up the body.”
I can’t help laughing, but Law keeps kissing me, and the truth is, I’m pretty sure I love him too.