Unexpectedly Yours (Shores of Dora #2)
Chapter 1
“C ARRAH B RIGETTE C HàVOUS Andrews!”
Carrah’s spine went stiff. She took one last glance at the email from Hurston House Publishing then slammed her laptop shut. She sprang from her desk chair and dashed across her bedroom to the door to cease the pounding knocks from the other side. Before she could turn the knob and open it, her sister, Aubrey, barged into the room.
Carrah folded her arms and made her face tight, successfully camouflaging the anxiety eager to spiral out of control. “You’ve got some nerve, barging in here and calling me by my full name like you’re Mom. My door was closed.”
She evil-eyed her sister. Only for a second, though, since she became captivated by the way Aubrey pranced into the room. Their mother called it the beauty queen charm that had been passed down from mother to daughter. Aubrey was a spitting image of their mother. Above-average height, thin with high cheekbones that accentuated her medium brown skin and made her look like a Vogue cover model. Aubrey embraced their gene pool and used it to her advantage in all facets of life; Carrah was the opposite.
She preferred to wow people with her brains, not beauty. It was already hard enough that people compared her to their great-great-grandmother, who had been known as a beautiful, yet infamous, voodoo queen in New Orleans. Beyond the comparisons that were hauntingly real, and most times hard to accept, because ignorant people claimed she was the woman born again. Beyond the Haint Paint believers, Carrah struggled with traditional conventions applied to beauty. Aside from her long, silk-pressed tresses, she was short and had to count calories while working out like a maniac to maintain her hourglass figure.
“True, but it wasn’t locked.” Aubrey stuck her tongue out at Carrah, releasing a giggle. She then stepped past her, commanding the space as usual while poking her nose around Carrah’s desk. Aubrey’s presence seemed more overwhelming than usual since she had tossed the business suits she normally wore for a more relaxed summer wardrobe that showcased all of her assets.
Typical, they were in the Shores. This was the place her family came to year after year to rejuvenate. The glow radiating from her sister was new, unmistakable, and simply divine as highlighted by the white linen romper she’d paired with dangling gold and diamond-encrusted earrings framing her heart-shaped face.
Aubrey picked up a stack of papers as a questioning expression furrowed her brows. “You should’ve been downstairs twenty minutes ago—you are not even dressed. People have already started to arrive, and we are lining up soon. Please don’t mess around and be late, Carrah. You know our mother and her grand entrances.” She sighed. “Why are you working anyway?”
Carrah moved at the speed of light and snatched the papers from her sister’s hands. What Aubrey held wasn’t exactly work. It was Carrah’s first completed manuscript. A dream she’d forgotten she had until last year when she needed a way to express the suffocating effects of life and the demands her family placed upon her. It was by chance that the universe had wanted her to remember the way she crafted words onto paper and imagined different worlds, and was now ready to grant her wishes true.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Carrah lied. No matter how close they were, Aubrey wasn’t allowed to see the desires lurking in the shadows of her heart because nothing was ever more important to her oldest sibling than Noir Cosmetics, their family’s business. “Dad and Beau have been after me to review the product performance from the trials on the new anti-aging serum.”
Her sister chuckled. “Well, that is important. I decided not to ride your ass because this is supposed to be our downtime and of course the acclaim you garnered from Aimer . Sales have been through the roof on that fragrance. The company hasn’t seen a product command so much attention from the beauty industry in a long time. We waited too long to give you free rein in developing a pipeline.” Aubrey frowned and looked off for a second. “I know how hard you work. Besides, we are all counting on that genius brain of yours to develop the next big thing. Maybe even finally surpass the Olina Chennault Cosmetics Company.”
Carrah held in her sigh. The business rivalry between the Andrewses and the Chennaults started over forty years ago. They were fierce competitors in the industry as two of the most respected Black-owned cosmetics conglomerates in the world. Right now, Chennault had the advantage. They often outspent Noir’s advertising campaigns, gained access to the top shelf for many retailers, and were the preferred choice for Black skin care products.
She was also willing to bet that the person heading their R & D division didn’t have as many restraints. Freedom to innovate could’ve enhanced Noir’s pipeline two years ago. Beyond business, the tension between the two families always seemed to impact Carrah’s summers the most since they all vacationed in the Shores.
Of all the children between the families, she and the oldest Chennault, Christopher, were the closest in age. They shared many friends and were often invited to the same functions. It was hard not to be in the same space. Still, whenever possible, the Andrewses and Chennaults didn’t attend the same parties, mingle in public, or pretend to like each other. This was the way it had been since she was old enough to remember. Hell, she and Chris Chennault had even kept their distance a few weeks ago when they went out on the boat with their mutual friend Duncan McNeal, to Dorian’s Cove.
“It won’t be the serum,” Carrah mumbled, clutching the sheets of paper within her hands that told a love story. The happily ever after she’d written had been the inspiration for Aimer , a fragrance that evoked emotion from a heroine who had loved one man through many lifetimes. “The skin-correcting foundation is going to be the blockbuster product, and it’s far from being ready for trials. Chennault Cosmetics doesn’t have anything like it in market, and if they are considering a formulation, it may be prepping to enter research and development. That is according to a little birdie I know that works there.”
“Honestly.” Aubrey paused, shrugging her shoulders as though nothing Carrah said were important. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll figure it out.”
Carrah blew a long breath, went to her desk, and carefully put the manuscript away. Her family always seemed to need something from her. “Aubrey, you do realize that isn’t fair, right? It can’t only always be me. Mom and Dad have four kids, but I’m the one that has this pressure to produce a blockbuster product that turns the industry upside down and puts us back on top.” Or care for Mom when she’s sick because all of you are too afraid , she wanted to say but didn’t.
“We are heiresses to one of the largest Black-owned cosmetics companies in the world. You sound foolish.” Her sister’s words bit. “Don’t let Mom, Dad, or Beau hear you say that. We all have a part to play that ensures the longevity of this company. Yours is developing new and innovative products. I mean, you are the chemist. You’ve always wanted to do this. You even traded your crown.”
Once upon a time, Carrah thought, and then nodded, knowing that chemistry had really been the equivalent of true love’s kiss. It had freed her from the pageant circuit along with the extra pressure and expectation to fill her mother’s shoes.
Besides, it wasn’t her fault she fell in love with mixing essential oils in Erlenmeyer flasks before pouring them into test tubes or visiting a greenhouse to sniff out the fragrant properties of flowers. Apprehension relaxed and unknotted in her belly as happy thoughts rushed in while she recalled how she used to blend her mother’s old eye shadows together and create new colors. Unintentionally, she had chased her father’s legacy and followed in his footsteps by becoming a chemist while shattering her mother’s dreams for her.
Her mother managed her bitterness by always saying that her father had orchestrated Carrah’s interests by taking her along to his lab, where she had discovered and memorized the periodic chart by thirteen, mixed chemical compounds at fourteen, and created fragrances by sixteen. In truth, Carrah was tired of being dolled up and put on display for people to judge her beauty in a Little Miss This or Miss Teen That Pageant.
Being in a lab behind the scenes was much more appealing than running for Miss America. It was the reason she wasted no time declaring her intent to major in chemistry and becoming the first of her siblings to decline admission to an Ivy League.
She opted to follow her parents’ legacy and attend the historically Black college, Xavier University, before she completed her graduate studies at MIT.
The unfortunate consequence of falling in love with chemistry play sets, blending essential oils, and graduating from her parents’ alma mater was that her siblings believed she was their father’s favorite child. It ruffled her older siblings’ feathers. Especially her brother Beau. The only saving grace was they each believed in her abilities and had confessed that Carrah was the only one who possessed the innovation needed to guide Noir into the next one hundred years. The success of Aimer and the pipeline Carrah had identified proved as much.
So, Aubrey was right. If Carrah had not been distracted with chasing unrealistic dreams, both the serum and foundation would be near ready for market.
“But…” Carrah held her tongue, debating her words. “Haven’t you ever dreamed of doing something different?” There, she finally said it.
“I have only ever imagined working at Noir Cosmetics, being at my father’s side, marketing what you create, watching Beau manage the money, and eventually having Dominic review our complex contracts.” She smirked then stared Carrah in the face. “We planned this out in our tree house and now it’s all come true. Well, almost. Baby bro still has to finish law school. Now isn’t the time for dreams when we have a reality to fulfill.” Her sister’s lips pressed together.
Carrah huffed cynically. She didn’t have the energy to try and explain that life sometimes uncovered and made you remember hidden treasures within. “I’m not sure why I expected a different response from you. Maybe I just hoped that the last year of seeing Mom sick or the joys you’ve found in motherhood had shown you that the life we planned as kids may not be the one we live now.”
A tense silence hung between them, corroding the jovial nature that usually surrounded their relationship. Aubrey looked away for a second, swallowing hard as if she were searching for the right words. The sharp decline in their mother’s health last year had caught them all off guard. It made Carrah reflect on the possibilities that were slipping through her hands. Now, she hoped for something more.
Apparently, it was not the same for her sister. Carrah had decided the unfortunate outcome as Aubrey offered nothing except forcefully brushing past her. “It’s Mom’s birthday. Get dressed. You’re expected to enter with the family.”
The door should’ve slammed behind Aubrey, given her icy words. Except all Carrah heard was the latch clicking against the faceplate, reminding her that there was no escape. She was a fool to think she could change course now. So much had been invested in her to become who and what she was today. No one in her family would understand her contemplation over a glimmer of hope that held no promises.
Not when they were all counting on her genius. Carrah understood she was born into a life full of expectation. Therefore, she removed the last pages of her novel from her desk and packed them away. Maybe one day she would try again. For now, she had to get ready to celebrate her mother and accept that the path she had chosen all those years ago was not one she could abandon for fear of letting everyone else down.