CHAPTER NINE
Carrie
Thursday night rolled around, and I was feeling anxious.
It wasn’t because of the decorating party I’d scheduled.
I’d had the party catered, and there was plenty of wine and liquor as well.
I wanted everyone who’d pitched in to help to feel appreciated and have a little fun, too.
This included the decorating committee from the garden club, and as many friends and family as I could convince to come.
My parents were there, as were several of my friends’ parents.
Sadie and Harrison were there, along with Melinda and Drake who were just back from their honeymoon.
Then there was Blair, who’d come without Scott.
Scott didn’t hang out with us often, and when he did he usually looked bored.
I figured he was home watching their children.
Sadie’s brother Tim was there, and I was thrilled.
Harrison and Drake were muscular and strong, but they didn’t have anything on Tim.
He was very tall and probably the strongest guy I knew.
I had him putting together the heavy wrought iron fence I’d brought in to make certain areas look exactly like the Garden District of New Orleans.
Or as close as I could get to it. He was also strong enough to install the heavy replica gas streetlamps by himself.
Harrison and Drake had barely gotten one up between the two of them.
Tim had also brought his best friend Natalie.
Sadie and I exchanged glances. We’d always thought there was something between the two of them, but nothing had ever seemed to happen.
Natalie had been late to ‘bloom’ as they say.
She’d been skinny and nerdy looking until after high school.
Then she’d suddenly turned into one of the most beautiful girls in town.
She’d grown curvier, learned how to fix her long, shiny black hair, figured out makeup, started wearing contacts, and gotten her braces off.
It had been like she’d become a bombshell overnight.
But Tim was the only guy who hadn’t noticed.
Tim had always dated the same type of girl: blonde, stacked, sexy, and gorgeous. He didn’t require intelligence or ambition, but he did want them to be up for a couple of nights of fun. Then he moved on. Every. Single. Time.
Natalie had dark hair, and she was petite, smart, had plans for her future, and was a relationship girl. She was almost the exact opposite of the girls Tim dated. The only similarities were that she was sexy and gorgeous. Other than that, she wasn’t who Tim was looking for.
Sadie and I had concluded a while ago we must’ve been wrong about the two of them. But every now and then I caught something on one of their faces that made me second guess that opinion. But not tonight. At least, not so far.
I looked around at the faces of the people I loved and felt blessed. But my smile slipped a little when I realized it was over an hour past the time Thatcher had promised to be here.
I texted him, wondering if he was going to tell me he had forgotten.
That would be nothing new, of course. That’s what he’d been doing for months now.
He’d forgotten dinner plans, my parents’ anniversary party, date nights I’d planned for us.
In light of what I’d learned about Madison, I was highly suspicious that he was with her at least some of those times, no matter what he’d said about being a busy CEO.
I’d become accustomed to sitting at a table by myself waiting for him to come home.
Or showing up to a party and pasting on a smile while I made up an excuse for why he wasn’t there.
And I shouldn’t have to do that.
Only my parents knew some of what was happening due to him skipping their anniversary party. He’d sent them tickets to a resort in Costa Rica as an apology. They were grateful for the tickets, but they would have rather had him at the party.
Blair knew what was going on, of course. She was my best friend, and I told her everything. And there was the fact that I had stayed with her the past couple of nights.
I checked my phone again, but there were no texts or emails explaining his absence. I rolled my eyes, put my phone away, and got busy. I didn’t have time to worry about whether he was coming.
The door opened, and I looked up to see who it was. “Thatcher!” I was so surprised he’d come to help like he’d promised. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He gave me a quick kiss. “Of course I’m here. I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?”
I started to roll my eyes at that but caught Sadie’s eye over his shoulder and saw that she was taking in everything that was going on. I tried not to be embarrassed. She was about the least judgmental person I knew.
“Where do you need me?” he asked, taking off his suit coat and loosening his tie.
“Could you help hang up the mansions?”
He lifted his eyebrows, and I couldn’t help but stare at how handsome he was. Those crystal blue eyes got me every time. Even when I was angry and hurt. He smirked at me, and I could tell he knew what I was thinking. He got us back on topic, though.
“How am I going to hang up mansions?”
“They’re not actual mansions, of course.
They’re buildings I painted on fabric. You need to hang them up all along the back wall to make it look like the Garden District.
They’ll go behind the trees, wrought iron gates, and the gas streetlamps everyone’s working to get set up now.
” I pointed to the work that had already been done.
He looked impressed. “Wow. Carrie, that’s going to look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to hide how much his good opinion meant to me.
He worked with the other guys, talking and laughing with them just like he used to. The sight of that made me feel hopeful. Maybe everything was going to be okay between us. Maybe things weren’t as bad as what I’d been thinking.
Then I saw him look at his phone. He read a text, got a slight smile on his face, and walked over to me. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a work thing I have to handle. I hate to bail. I’ll see you at home later, okay?”
I just stared at him. “Are you serious right now?”
He looked annoyed with me. “Yes, I’m serious. You know my career is very important.”
“And this isn’t? You promised to be here.” I looked around, not wanting to draw too much attention. Everyone was looking, even if they were pretending not to.
“And I was here, Carrie. What else do you want from me?”
“You’re being an asshole,” I hissed. “You’ve been here about thirty minutes. Did you come just so you could say you showed up? Because it sure as hell doesn’t count if you arrive late and leave early.”
“I don’t have time for this right now. I have to get back to work.”
“Is it really work? Or is it Madison?”
I thought I saw guilt flash over his face briefly, but then he just looked irritated. “No, Carrie. It’s work. I’m the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, remember?”
“Of course I remember,” I said quietly. “You remind me constantly.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’ll make it up to you later.” He pulled me to him, planted a kiss on the top of my head, and left. He didn’t bother saying goodbye to anyone else.
I could feel tears coming on, so I hurried to the restroom. I stood in front of the mirrors for a moment, letting the tears loose and trying not to make much sound. Then I heard someone coming and lurched into a stall just before they opened the door.
“Carrie?”
It was Blair, thank goodness. “Yeah.” I came out of the stall, wiping at my eyes. “He left again. He said he got a text from work, but…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the words.
“You think it was from her.” Blair’s face was a cross between sympathy and anger. “God, I’d like to shake him! He’s ruining what y’all have, and it’s killing me to see it happening.” She pulled me in for a hug and just held me for a while. “I’m so sorry, honey.”
“As soon as this ball is behind me, I’m going to tell him I’m not comfortable with him being around her anymore.
Then I’m going to ask for marriage counseling.
We’ll see what he says.” I shrugged, miserable.
I didn’t have any other choice, though. The situation had become more than I was willing to live with.
“I’m proud of you for doing it. It can’t be easy.” Blair threw an arm around me, and we walked out of the bathroom together. Sadie and Melinda looked at us suspiciously, but they let it go when Blair gave them a slight shake of her head.
I just needed to lose myself in work and try to put everything with Thatcher to the side until I had time to deal with it.
The rest of the night went by quickly. Everyone worked hard, and I was beyond grateful for the help. It looked so good when we were done. I couldn’t even believe this was the same country club I’d been coming to for events my whole life.
“You did a great job, my darling,” Mom said, kissing my cheek. “This is the best theme and best décor we’ve ever had for the Orchid Ball. You really performed beyond my wildest expectations. I had no idea you were so creative.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I gave her a hug and turned to my friends as she and Dad left.
Tim, who had flirted with Gemma Reardon half the night, turned to Natalie. “Hey, Nat, I’m going to take Gemma home. Can you get a ride with one of these losers?” He pointed to the rest of us with a grin.
“I don’t need a ride…” Natalie started telling him before Sadie interrupted her.
Sadie pulled Tim towards her and whispered. “Gemma Reardon’s been married three times already. Did you know that?”
“Don’t judge, sis,” he said, shaking his head in mock disdain.
Sadie rolled her eyes. “She’s not even thirty!” she hissed.
Tim frowned. “That is kind of a lot…”
Heath Reyes walked up looking incredibly handsome, and everyone stopped talking. He was a surgeon at the hospital between Indigo Falls and Halliwell, and he was fairly new to our town.
“Hey, Heath,” Gemma said, twirling her hair, sticking her chest out, and walking over to him. “How’s it going?”
He looked at her with a pleasant smile as if trying to figure out if he knew her or not.
“Just fine,” he said. He turned to Natalie, and his smile widened.
It showed off his dimples, and all the women stared.
Including me. He was so handsome, with dark hair, light gray eyes, and a skin tone that looked permanently sun kissed.
“Hey, Nat.” He pulled her to him and kissed her while we all stared. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” she smiled up at him. “Bye, everyone. We’ll be at the ball tomorrow, Carrie. You did such a good job.”
“Thanks for your help,” I said, while we all tried to ignore the fact that Tim was staring at Heath and Natalie in complete shock.
Natalie stopped in front of Tim. “I wanted you to meet my best friend,” she said to Heath. “This is Tim Summers.”
“So, I finally get to meet the famous best friend.” Heath smiled and stuck out his hand, but Tim stared at it like it was a snake. He was looking back and forth between Heath and Natalie.
Sadie jabbed her elbow in his ribs, hard.
“Ouch! What the fuck, Sadie?” he asked, rubbing his side. But he reached out his hand and shook Heath’s. “Nice to meet you,” he mumbled.
Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know why he’s being weird,” she said in a low voice to Heath, but we all heard it. They walked to Heath’s car, a luxury SUV of some kind, and left.
“What the hell?” Tim asked loudly as he watched them pull out of the parking lot. He looked at us accusingly. “Did any of you know she was dating a surgeon?”
“No, but good for her,” Sadie said. “Why shouldn’t she date a surgeon?”
Tim didn’t say anything, but the dark look on his face remained.
I glanced at Sadie. Maybe we hadn’t been wrong about Tim and Natalie after all.
“Ready to go, Tim?” Gemma asked.
Tim barely glanced at her. He was still staring after Natalie and Heath as if they might come back. “Um… I don’t think I’m up for hanging out after all,” he said.
She pouted. “Oh. Okay. Well, maybe another time.” She gave him a lingering hug, but he was clearly not into it. Finally, she walked off.
Harrison clapped Tim on the shoulder. “Time to go, man.”
He looked dazed and unhappy. “Whatever,” he muttered, heading to his truck.
We all watched him go with interest.
“I don’t know about y’all,” Drake said, “but I’m looking forward to seeing Nat, the doctor, and Tim tomorrow at the ball. I think we have the makings of a love triangle.”
Everyone agreed, and I could tell they were going to stay there talking for a while.
I said goodbye, thanked everyone again, and got in my car to head home.
I hadn’t wanted to overstay my welcome at Blair’s house, even though she’d offered.
Besides, it would feel good to sleep in my own bed tonight.
Was I interested in what was going on with Tim? Hell, yes.
But I had my own relationship issues to worry about, and that was all I could handle right now. And I was too tired to think about it, anyway. When I got home, Thatcher wasn’t there. I wasn’t surprised. I went upstairs, took a quick shower, and pretty much collapsed in bed.