An hour ago, I’d wanted to make it work between us. But so much had changed. The attraction was still there. They were both gorgeous—so was Lincoln—but they weren’t who I thought they were, and this was big. So much could go wrong.
sixteen
Carina
Ileftthemsittingonthe sofa and wandered out to the pool. A shade structure covered one end, so I walked over and sat down, slipping my feet into the water. It was cool and crystal clear, a complete contrast to the heat of the day.
The concentric circles rippling out over the surface reminded me of just how far and wide this news would spread. All the way to the Gold Coast. I needed to speak with my parents. No doubt that news would be another item in the long list of disappointments I’d dealt my parents. More importantly, I needed to tell Cara before she heard through someone else.
It was early morning back home. Cara probably wouldn’t have even been online yet. At least I hoped she hadn’t. The last thing I wanted her to see were photos of her mother and new stepfather—good Lord, that sounded bad—making the rounds before I’d told her.
I dialed her number, and she picked up on the second ring.
“Hi, Mum. How are things in Seattle?” Cara asked.
I was grateful and mortified at the same time. She had no idea of any of it. “I’m in San Diego now. Well, just outside of it, anyway. I’m staying with Jacques and his roommates.” I hated how the lie rolled off my tongue without hesitation, but their relationship wasn’t my secret to share. “So, um, something happened last night that I need to talk to you about. But I don’t know how to say it, so I’m just going to put it out there, okay?”
“Mum, you’re scaring me. What’s happened? Do you want me to fly in early?”
Tears sprang to my eyes. I loved my daughter. She had a heart of gold. She would literally drop everything to be there for someone she loved.
“No, it’s okay. I’m okay.” I exhaled heavily and fanned my face, blinking back my tears. “I got married last night. In Vegas. By an Elvis impersonator.”
“Oh. Um….”
“To Jacques.”
Silence met my ears.
Dead. Silence.
I huffed out a laugh. It was either that or cry again. “We were drunk, Cara, and we did it on the spur of the moment,” I babbled, my words speeding up with every one that I got out. “Now the shit is hitting the fan, and I don’t know what to do. I’m so sorry. You must be so ashamed of me.”
“Were you happy, Mum?”
Her question stopped my spiraling thoughts in their tracks. I didn’t even have to think on it to be able to give her an answer. “I was.” I really was. “But I was plastered.”
“You know I don’t really drink, but the one time I have been drunk, it stripped away all the constraints I put on myself. I didn’t have to be the quiet-as-a-mouse daughter of a CEO that night.”
My heart broke for her. Without realizing it, I’d forced her into the same position as me. Thankfully she got out before the restrictions suffocated her creative spirit. She was writing her first spicy romance novel, and she’d found her men. She was working to reunite all three of them—packing, her and Monroe applying for visas, and preparing to move to the States in a few months.
Where had all that time gone? It felt like yesterday that she’d been a baby. Then the next minute, she’d grown into a young woman who had all the answers. She was far more mature than her years—certainly more mature than I had been at her age, even with a daughter who was about to start school.
It was as if she’d grown up in the blink of an eye. I’d missed those years. I’d been so focused on everything else that I’d missed the moment she changed from a baby into a toddler, then into a little girl, a teenager, and now a woman. The last twenty-something years had been about work for me when they should have been about the most important thing in my life—my daughter.
Now she was grown up, talking me off a ledge, and I was trying not to let shame overwhelm me.
“It was as if all those limitations were stripped away, and I could be me,” she continued. “I can’t see you becoming a completely different person after a few drinks, Mum. Maybe it’s not a mistake.” She gave me a moment to process, then asked, “Does Jacques think it was a mistake?”
“His agent does, so he’s going to present me with a confidential proposal to stay here and get a divorce on the quiet a year from now. The team is telling him congratulations but really meaning that he better play it off as being legit.” I sighed, tears threatening to fall again. Living on this gorgeous property for a year would be incredible. I was already at home, and I hadn’t even seen the bedroom I’d be staying in. Lincoln had assured me that he was okay with me being here, but I couldn’t help but think that one of us was going to hurt Lincoln and, more than likely, it would be me. I didn’t want that.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Cara conveniently reminded me.
“It’s complicated. He says it wasn’t a mistake. But there are other people to consider here. He has two roommates, and Sophia and Pierre have flipped their lids. They won’t want anything to do with me.” My stomach turned again. Losing Sophia was going to gut me. Tears pooled in my eyes, and I sucked in a wobbly breath.
“What did you say in your vows—”
“I don’t remember,” I cried. I covered my mouth and gave up fighting the tears. It was all slowly coming back to me as I sweated out the liquor, but there were still parts of the night that were hazy.
