35. Carter
CHAPTER 35
CARTER
S aturday morning, I lounged around in the living room while Megyn took a bubble bath. She had invited me and I would have accepted, but I thought she deserved some time to herself after how hard she had been working as of late. Every now and again, I heard her splashing around and the smile on my face grew even bigger.
I had the TV on, playing old sitcoms. I watched with one eye while going through some work emails, typing out short replies to the ones that needed answering right away. The rest, I filed aside to deal with later. I wasn’t about to get stressed today and potentially ruin the fun, relaxing day of cuddling and sex I had planned.
A commercial came on, much louder than the old show I’d been watching. I flinched, startled, and grabbed for the remote. I pressed the mute button and tossed the remote aside again.
This is a commercial for toothpaste. Why is everyone yelling?
A sound slid through the silence. I tilted my head, wondering what Megyn could possibly be doing in the bath to make such a noise. The sound grew closer, more defined, and I started for the second time in as many minutes when I realized what it was.
Someone had driven up and was pulling into the driveway.
“The media,” I grunted to myself. I pushed up from the couch and went over to the window, craning my head around to get a glimpse of the vehicle. I expected a news van, expected to see camera men and reporters climbing out; how they had gotten past the gate wasn’t really a question in mind, since they technically couldn’t be turned away if they hadn’t done anything wrong or weren’t on the denial list.
But it wasn’t a news van of any sort.
It was a gleaming silver Porsche, a new model that looked to have just driven off the assembly line. An older man climbed out from the driver’s side. He looked familiar in a way I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
A much younger woman got out on the over side of the car. I immediately distrusted her as soon as I saw her. Perhaps it was unfair to judge her based on her purple hair and the big gold hoops in her ears, the giant diamond ring on her fingers, the designer clothes she wore; unfair or not, I was wary of what I saw.
The woman waved with impatience to the man. She went around to him and grabbed his arm with hers, and started yanking him along up the driveway, to the ramp.
My eyebrows furrowed, I went over to the front door to meet them. I opened it before they arrived, folding my arms across my chest.
The woman darted around the last bend in the ramp and shouted to me. “Hi! Are you one of Carter’s butlers?”
Oh, this person has a very incorrect view of me.
I had one live-in helper and he mostly cooked.
“Honey,” the man called, sounding tired and out of breath, “I think that is Mr. Bryant.”
The woman ignored him and came up to me, though she didn’t look at me so much as she looked around me into the house.
My hackles rose. I leaned into her view and stared down at her. “What can I help you with?”
“Are you really Carter?” the woman asked, her eyes big with way too much innocence for it to be genuine.
“Yes, I am.”
“I can’t believe you’re really a billionaire!” she gushed. “We’re here for Megyn. We’re her parents. Does she really live here? Can we come in?”
My stomach felt tight. The television interview had, so far, done a world of good for both Megyn and myself, but here was a consequence, nonetheless. I knew Megyn hadn’t mentioned our relationship to her parents. These two must have seen the news broadcast or otherwise heard about it, perhaps from a friend, since they did used to live in the area.
“I think I should go get Megyn,” I said. I winced internally, though I kept my aggravation from showing on my face. Poor Megyn. I’d meant to give her time to relax and now I had to interrupt her and bring her into a situation that was as far from calming as possible.
“Don’t worry,” a quiet voice said. I spun. Megyn came down the hallway, her hair still damp, wearing the same clothes she’d taken off before her bath. “I’m already here.”
“Megyn,” I said. I went over to her and grabbed her arms. I brought my lips close to hers, but instead of kissing her, I whispered, “Go back to the bedroom. I’ll take care of this.”
Megyn’s lips curved into a slight smile. Wordlessly, she pointed over my shoulder. I turned and dismay gripped me as I saw the woman—Crystal—stepping over the threshold into the living room. She let out a wordless exclamation of delight and spread her arms wide, spinning in a circle on the spacious floor.
The man, Megyn’s father, came over to me and held out his hand. “I’m Jeremy,” he grumbled. “Megyn’s father. That’s Crystal, her step-mother.”
I took his hand but didn’t shake it. I held it tight and looked hard into his eyes. “It would have been nice if you called ahead. It’s a long way from California to New York. Plenty of time to make an announcement.”
Jeremy looked over at Crystal, his expression blank, like he wore a mask. “You know how women can be sometimes, getting ideas in their head. She wanted to drop by and surprise the two of you.”
“So that we couldn’t say no,” Megyn muttered.
Jeremy avoided her gaze.
I squirmed from the sheer awkwardness of it all. Clearing my throat, I decided to try and regain some semblance of control. “Well, why don’t you come in and we can talk now you’re here? No sense turning you away again so soon.”
Jeremy nodded. He called over, “Crystal, we can stay for a bit.”
Crystal came running back over. She grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed tight, pricking my skin with her sharp nails. “Thank you sooo much,” she cooed in a falsetto. “Your house is so lovely! And right on the beach. Is that a firepit? How much did it cost you to install?”
I wrapped my arm around Megyn and brought her with me to the living room. “I didn’t install it. I bought it and dumped it out there on the sand. It’s not a permanent fixture.”
“What?” Crystal’s baby blues open up wide. “Even Jeremy can afford a firepit like that. Surely you have the money to do something better?”
Jeremy, I noted. She didn’t mention a thing about her own money.
I sat down on the couch with Megyn. “Well, that’s what I bought, and that’s what’s out there.”
There would be no use explaining to this woman what I had told Megyn all that time ago, how I felt there were better ways to spend my money. Megyn had understood. Crystal would not.
“Maybe we should tell them why we’re here, baby,” Jeremy said. He sat down in a rattan chair and sagged back, almost seeming to go limp once his legs didn’t have to support him any longer. I almost felt sorry for the guy. His second wife had drained him, of life and probably also of money, if I was reading the signs right.
“Well, sure, but they have to know why already, don’t they?” Crystal tilted her head. She stood by the back living room window, gazing out at the ocean with hunger on her face. “I want to see if it was real, what was on the TV. I needed to see it for myself. I couldn’t believe that Megyn of all people would be able to shack up with a billionaire.”
“You could have called,” Megyn said. She trembled under my arm. I looked down at her, but she didn’t look afraid. As a matter of fact, she looked pretty pissed off.
“As I said, I needed to see it for myself.” Crystal turned away from Megyn and wandered into the kitchen. I heard her picking things up and setting them down, evidently checking out the values of each item. “Is this the only house you own, Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“There’s only one of me.”
Crystal laughed aloud like I’d told a great joke. She peeked around the corner. “No, really.”
“I just don’t,” I said curtly. “And I’d appreciate it if you would quit snooping around. It’s in very bad taste to come into a man’s home and touch all his things.”
Crystal flounced from the kitchen to the living room and dropped down on her husband’s lap. He made a soft sound as if it hurt, though she didn’t apologize or even seem to realize she’d caused harm. “Where do you keep your valuables?”
I curled my fingers against Megyn’s shoulder, trying to keep my cool. I knew very little about this woman and had no idea at all about her background. She might well have been raised in an environment where such behavior as this was encouraged; though I’d have expected a grown woman to realize her errors, I had no idea of the life she’d led. Maybe she was privileged and didn’t know. I shouldn’t judge her.
“I am the most valuable thing Carter has,” Megyn said, voice sharp. She sat with her back stiff as a board, both hands clenched into fists.
Crystal laughed. “Of course you are. But really. Don’t you have an art collection?”
Megyn got up, shaking with a deep sort of anger I’d never seen from her before. “You can’t see it.”
“Really, Megyn. You’re being rude!” Crystal also got to her feet. “This isn’t your house. It’s Carter’s.”
“It’s my home,” she retorted. “I don’t appreciate you coming here just to snoop around and stick your nose in places where it doesn’t belong. You think I didn’t hear you when you first came in? You’re ‘here for Megyn.’ That’s what you said. Well I’m calling bull crap on that because you haven’t said a single meaningful thing so far. You’re here for yourself.”
Crystal looked stunned. With her defenses down, I saw her as the woman she was, confused and tangled up inside, rather than the monster she acted like. She recovered quickly, a sneer curling on her lips.
It was a shame. If she’d admitted to her terrible behavior, I knew Megyn would have given her a second chance. Doubling down like this would do her no favors.
“How dare you?” Crystal sputtered. “Making it all about you.”
I stood behind Megyn, my hand on the small of her back, letting her know I had her. I wouldn’t interfere in this argument. It wasn’t my place.
“You don’t like it when someone else does it,” Megyn said. Her voice shook. “It’s always been about you. You came into our lives. You took Dad away to California. It’s always been about you. But not this time. Not here in this house. You both abandoned me and left me with nothing. I d-don’t… I owe you nothing.”
“Left you with nothing?” Jeremy looked up at her, seeming honestly perplexed. I realized now why he had seemed familiar before. Megyn had gotten her hair and eyes and chin directly from him.
Crystal pounced. “That’s right!” She pointed one sharp-nailed finger at Megyn. “We left you with the house.”
Megyn’s lips twisted. She swatted Crystal’s hand away. “Don’t pretend that the house ever meant anything to you.”
Crystal swiped her hand on her dress, like she couldn’t believe Megyn dared touch her. “After we came all this way to see you. Such disappointing behavior.”
Jeremy approached his wife, putting his hand on her shoulder. She shook him off. He slumped and breathed a short little sigh. “Maybe we’re a little tense from the traveling. It was a long flight.”
The poor man. I wonder how often he has to try to diffuse situations like this?
I decided to choose the lesser of two evils and help the guy out. “Why don’t we go our separate ways for now and try again later?”
Crystal sniffed, her upturned nose in the air. “Fine. Where will we be staying?”
“The house?” Jeremy suggested.
Megyn shook her head. “It’s being worked on. You can’t stay there.”
“Well, then we’ll stay here!” Crystal announced. I frowned, thinking I detected a bit of true desperation in her voice. “Surely there’s a spare bedroom?”
Megyn looked at me, begging me with her eyes. I stroked her arm with my fingers and looked back at her parents. “I’m sorry. There are some cheap hotels over in Brooklyn.”
Crystal bristled, probably at the word ‘cheap.’ She whirled around and stalked to the door, shouting over her shoulder. “Come on, Jeremy! They clearly don’t want us here.”
Jeremy followed her with his head down and back bent, like an old dog that had been kicked a few too many times. He said nothing, and didn’t shut the door behind him.
I turned to Megyn as soon as they were gone and wrapped my arms around her. “Are you okay?” I whispered.
She nodded and leaned on me. “You know they’ll be back and it’ll be even worse.”
“I know.” I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back. “But we won’t spend too much time thinking about that. Did you finish your bath?”
Megyn shook her head. “I jumped out. I could use someone to wash my back though, if you’re interested in the job.”
A wet, soapy Megyn?
I was very interested.