Chapter 7 #2
“Inviting yourself to dinner already, are you?” She chuckled, a set of gorgeous dimples sinking into her cheeks.
“Well, the university is about twenty-five minutes from my place. So, if you’re willing to drive out from time to time, I’ll put something edible on the table for you.
Like a jar of jalapenos,” she added with a wink.
This day just kept on getting better. “And I’ll bring you a bottle of blue cheese.”
She held his gaze with a wide grin. “Deal.”
He chuckled. “So, I’m guessing that—since you request to work with children here in the summer as well—working with kids is your passion.”
She gulped. “You’re right. But that leads me to another question for you. Why are you doing this movie? I mean, if acting isn’t something you want to pursue, and getting your degree is, why put things on hold?”
He held her gaze for a breath, feeling the urge to share more than he might.
“You might say that trying to live up to my father’s expectations hasn’t been easy.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great dad. I know the guy cares, he just has a hard time showing it.
To me, anyway.” Gage thought back on the way Dad had changed a bit after his twin brother, Uncle Bruce, died.
He’d softened a little, but it didn’t last.
“Do you have siblings?
“Yep. Beau Craven. Plays for the Forty-Niners. He’s older than me by a year.”
“That sounds familiar,” Carly said with a nod. “So is your dad closer to your brother?”
“Always has been,” Gage said. “But then one day my dad calls—which is rare in itself—and says a producer had reached out to him about a movie role he thought I’d be perfect for. You should’ve heard how excited he was when he asked if I’d consider auditioning.”
The memory alone caused a thrill to pulse through him anew.
“It felt…incredible to have him so invested in me. I guess you could say that that conversation was the best I’d had with the guy in years.
It was like he was seeing me through new eyes.
I wasn’t his disappointment of a son who turned his nose up at the big screen for a life as an architect; I was a son he was proud of. Ready to show off to the world.”
He shrugged. “Auditioning for that role, getting the lead part—it’s the first time I think I’ve ever really gained the man’s approval. For me, doing the one movie role, it’s worth it. Besides, I’m only missing out on summer semester. It’s not like it’ll set me back or anything.”
“So you feel closer to your father now?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s night and day.”
“That would be nice. I think that’s sort of why I competed in surf for so many years. The only thing I even know about my dad is that he liked to surf. And he was good at it too, from what my mom says.”
“So you’ve never even known your dad?” Gage took a pull from his straw.
Carly lifted the straw before dunking it back into the icy drink. “Never. But I like knowing that I got my talent for surfing, probably my love for it too, from him.”
Gage felt like a dummy for complaining now. At least he had a father. He admired how resilient Carly seemed to be. He was looking forward to getting to know her better, especially now that he knew how close they’d be living once all this was through.
“This might seem kind of bold,” Carly said, dropping her gaze to her glass. She ran her thumb up the side, cutting a line through the condensation, and looked at him through her lashes.
Gage’s heart thumped out of rhythm. “Go ahead.”
“You mentioned finally earning your dad’s approval.
I think it’s great to take the part if you’re doing it to get closer to your father.
You’ll have that experience in common, right?
But I’d let that be your motive. Because if it’s his approval you’re after, you have to ask yourself where that ends.
Once he sees that you’re serious about not doing another film, you could lose that approval, and then you might resent him for doing one in the first place. ”
Gage took a moment to weigh her words, liking that she’d bothered speaking up about it at all. Especially since she knew it might rub him wrong. He appreciated that. Was tired of having ladies just tell him what he wanted to hear.
“I’m only saying it because I’ve experienced a similar thing,” Carly said.
He lifted his chin. “With your mom?”
Carly nodded. “My sister, Jill, and my mom are opposites, so when I came along and took an interest in the things my mom loves, she got excited. And it felt so good to have her approval that I let it dictate what I did for a while.” She laughed and shook her head.
“I almost opened up this shop with her. It was like, a hippie’s dream.
Tie-dye, hemp, and tarot cards. Crystals and incense.
I’d saved up most of my winnings from surf competitions, and we were going to go in half-and-half. ”
Gage nodded. He recalled hearing that Carly was an award-winning surfer.
“The trouble was,” she continued, “I needed that money for college, especially since I’d quit competing. I basically had to choose between my dream of becoming a schoolteacher and this desire to make my mom’s dream come true.”
He considered the dilemma. “That would have been difficult.”
“Very. I owed her everything. She raised me and Jill on her own.” Carly glanced over at the view, the story seeming to play out in the depths of those ocean blue eyes. “I was physically ill over it for a solid month.”
“So how did you finally decide?”
It took a moment for her to set her gaze back on him.
When she did, Gage detected a new dilemma.
“I thought about motherhood. About if…” She chewed at her lip a moment, shrugged, and snatched the pendant from the leather string she wore, rubbing her thumb over it.
“If I had a daughter in that situation, I’d never want her to make that sort of sacrifice.
Not if it wasn’t her dream too.” Moisture welled up in her eyes.
Not enough to send tears streaming down those pretty cheeks of hers, but enough to reveal hints of how deeply the subject affected her.
Again came the urge to know more about her, a restless stirring deep in his gut. Gage nodded, realizing it was his turn to speak. “That’s a good way to look at it,” he offered.
Carly grinned. “Eventually, my mom qualified for the loan she wanted and opened up the shop on her own, so that’s good. But what I’m saying is that gaining approval can come at a cost. Had I made a different choice, I probably would have ended up resenting her.”
He was starting to see her point. “That’s good to keep in mind.
Thanks for telling me about your situation.
It helps.” Gage couldn’t see himself wanting to shoot another film, but he hadn’t been dying to do even one.
Perhaps he’d need to apply Carly’s wisdom where his father was concerned eventually.
Either way, he liked that she’d shared that part of herself.
It added even more depth to the woman who was steadily seeping further into his heart.
At least he could say one thing for himself—he planned to pursue Carly against his father’s will.
Didn’t that prove that he wasn’t a slave to owning the man’s approval?
Gage forced himself to get out of his head and focus on the adorable woman across from him. “I’m glad you agreed to be my instructor this summer, Carly. I think we’re going to have a nice time together.”
Her cheeks flushed. She rubbed her lips together while seeming to fight off those dimples. “I think so too. And thanks for letting me lecture you about your dad.”
“Was that a lecture?” he asked in surprise. “If so, I’d say you made a bit of history today: the one and only lecture—outside of architecture—that I actually enjoyed.”
Carly lifted her drink ceremoniously and gave him a playful wink. Dang, she was cute. “Cheers?”
There went that fire in his belly once more. Gage lifted his glass and clanked it against hers. “Cheers.” His time at the Royal Palm was off to a very promising start. Now to see if he could figure out what secrets stood behind that mysterious smile of hers.