by Ellie Hall
Yeah. He needed to know what was bothering her, but the cook called her name from the window to run another order to a table.
“Uh, I’m all set, I guess.” His mind was a jumble and the right words to ask what was going on didn’t form quickly enough.
Carter didn’t feel like drinking the smoothie with all its colorful, happy flair, but he did. When he got up to pay, Claudia neared the door. She wasn’t wearing her apron.
He threw a large bill on the counter and rushed after her as she exited the restaurant.
She moved fast and was already on the dock when he caught up. He reached for her arm. “You seem different today. What’s going on? Did we move too fast?”
“No, I just have to leave work early today.”
“Listen, if I overstepped last night—”
“Not everything is about you, Carter.” She shrugged her arm free.
He leaned back. “Oh. I just thought—”
She started walking again and he strode by her side.
“Claudia, I don’t understand. If it’s not about us, what happened? Is your aunt okay?”
At that, she stiffened and her lips parted. “I just have an appointment. Everything is fine.”
“Let me come with you.”
She bustled away, but he followed her all the way to her aunt’s car which she’d parked across town even though it was just as fast to walk to the mansion. She leaned against the door before opening it. Her eyes were wide as though she were ready to take flight.
“Please, Claudia. Tell me what’s upsetting you.” The pleading in his voice sounded foreign to his ears, but he couldn’t bear to see her distressed. “Let me help you fix it.”
“It’s a family thing. You wouldn’t understand.” She clicked to unlock the car.
He rushed over and got in the passenger seat before she could lock him out even more. “Try me.” She had no idea what he’d been through with his family.
“You don’t know anything about real life. You’re rich and famous and have everything you could want.”
He shook his head. That wasn’t true. Not at all.
She’d started the car and her hands shook. She gripped the wheel tightly. “I’ll drop you off at the inn.”
“No, I’m going with you. Clearly, you’re upset. Maybe even spooked. I don’t know, but wherever you’re going, I want to go with you.”
She sighed and it was a full five minutes before she spoke. They were on the long double-lane road out of town that led to the nearest city.
“My aunt’s brother is trouble. He’s caused more problems than he’s worth. I left San Francisco to take care of her, but also learned that her money was gone and her bills unpaid.” Claudia went on to describe her aunt’s health and wealth and how both were failing. “Foolishly, her brother was the last person I suspected because I thought he was well out of our lives. But he turned up and wants more money. He wants a password to one of her accounts,” Claudia said.
“Did you call the police?”
“Yes, but I was told it might take weeks before they are able to take on the case because it’s a low priority.”
“So you decided to take matters into your own hands?” he asked carefully.
She set her jaw and nodded.
Carter wiped his brow, grateful he’d insisted on going with her. “So your aunt’s brother just wants money?”
“Yeah. I assumed my aunt only had one account, because, well, I only have one bank account. But she was smart and diversified all of her assets. Louis was quicker than me to realize this and after draining account number one, he’s now moved onto number two.”
“How many are there?”
“After going through her files again last night, I think just three, plus various other holdings and real estate, but still. He blew through a lot of money.” Claudia wiped her eyes. “And Aunt Margot doesn’t even realize it.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“He asked me to give him the passwords.”
“Is he dangerous? Couldn’t you have simply texted him some fake info.” He eyed her, trying to make a joke about how she’d given him a fake name and number.
“I figured if I could talk to him then maybe I could get him to leave us alone.”
From the sound of the guy, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Do you know the password to the account?”
“When I asked Aunt Margot, she just started talking about the dogs, nonsense mostly. She’s not herself. Comes and goes. The nurse said it’s common at her age.”
The sun was high in the sky and the air was warmer inland as Claudia pulled into a parking lot in front of a coffee shop.
“Good thinking to go somewhere public, but I’m glad I came with you.”
Claudia just stared ahead as though trying to convince herself she could go through with it. Carter gave her hand an encouraging squeeze even though he wasn’t convinced it was the best course of action.
They entered the quiet coffee shop and Carter couldn’t help but compare it to the lively Coconut Cove Café with its oldies music—he figured Betty was behind that because sometimes when she wasn’t there Billie put on tiki or reggae music. He was glad for the break from Wilde’s tunes.
Claudia surveyed the room then went to a table in the back.
They sat next to each other and she was shaking. He reached under the table and gripped her hand.
After a few minutes, a heavyset man wearing a suit approached and stood over the table. He eyed Carter then spoke in rapid French.
“Can we just talk?” Claudia said.
“I was talking. Don’t you have a hug for your father?” He opened his arms.
“No, I don’t,” she said flatly.
“That hurts, Claudia,” Louis said. “So, who do we have here?” The older man gave Carter a sidelong glance.
“This is my friend.”
He ignored how it hurt that she didn’t mention Louis, her aunt’s brother, was actually her father and how she didn’t introduce Carter as her boyfriend.
Louis appraised Carter from under bushy eyebrows. The man was easily in his sixties, but was tall and in his own way, still formidable. Carter imagined him wearing a fedora and playing the role of a mobster in an old movie.
“You look familiar,” Louis said. “Do I know this guy?” he asked Claudia.
He knew when someone had identified him by the certainty in their eyes, but Louis was playing it cool.
Claudia inclined her head then shook it. “Listen, I want you to leave Margot alone. Whatever you’ve been doing, stop. She’s not in any state to—”
“It’s tough seeing her get so old, but where she’s going, she doesn’t need her money. She always took care of me so I figure, why stop?” He let out a dry laugh.
“Because you’re a leach,” Claudia ground out.
Carter wasn’t sure of the sordid details of the family’s past, but Claudia’s worry seemed to turn into anger. Whatever was going on was probably illegal and if the police weren’t going to get involved right away, he understood why she took matters into her own hands. But so would he. He slid his hand into his pocket and clicked the record button on his phone.
Father and daughter were going back and forth about Margot and him sneaking into the house when Louis suddenly stopped.
“Hey, I do know you. You’re that rock star. Wilde, Wilder? That song about that blazing star is pretty good.” He smirked.
He was referring to Falling Star, one of his hits, but Carter didn’t acknowledge it.
“I bet I could get a nice sum if I call and tell the paparazzi where you’re hiding out. Claudia, you could give an exclusive interview and make some fast cash.”
“I don’t cheat people like you do, Louis.”
“I prefer to think of it as leveraging my connections.” Louis’s smile was greasy, slimy.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“Here and there.”
“Is there jail?”
Louis’s voice was like sandpaper in Carter’s ears. Hopefully, his phone was picking up everything the guy was saying.
“If you were hoping to have a nice little family reunion, fille, surely you know me better than that.”
Claudia wiped her eyes quickly as though she wouldn’t spare a tear for the man who called himself her father and stole from his family. “No, I wanted to tell you to leave Margot alone.”
“Or what?” Louis asked with a threatening edge to his voice.
Carter had heard enough. He stood up. “Or me.”
“You? When I was your age, I took down guys like you for breakfast,” Louis snarled.
Carter leaned in, filled with a protective sense of rage. Cheap cologne bit his nose and he fought a sneeze. “You’re no longer my age.”
Louis was still a large man, but where he once may have been muscular, he was doughy. Carter was hardly intimidated.
“Do you want to take this outside, music man?” Louis asked.
“It would be my pleasure.” What had started as a warm concern for Claudia turned into boiling anger as he prepared to take the liar and thief down.
Chapter 11
Claudia
Carter stalked out of the coffee shop and Claudia caught up to him as he neared the door and gripped his arm, stopping him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t. I certainly don’t want to, but that guy is a creep. I’m not going to let you take any of this lying down. I’ll make sure he stays away from you.” He rushed away.
She followed, desperate not to let anything get out of hand. She knew Carter was tough, but she’d seen Louis take bigger men down. Then again, he’d plumped up quite a bit since she’d last seen him which was at least fifteen years previous.
Carter stood in the middle of the parking lot, looking around.
Louis was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’d he go?” Carter’s chest heaved as though he was ready to fight. His fists were drawn tight.
She placed her hand on his arm. “Figures. He took off. It’s not the first time. That’s more his style—to disappear.”
Carter took a few deep breaths through his nose and paced a small circle. “Why didn’t you tell me that Louis was your father?”
“Because he lost that role a long time ago.”
“What about your mother?”
Claudia went on to tell him that her mother and father were never really in love. When they had her, her mother wanted to give her up for adoption. To his credit, Louis disagreed and for long periods of time, he left her with Margot. “They were siblings, but almost twenty years apart. She ended up taking care of me and eventually adopted me.”
“I’m sorry, love.” Carter wrapped his arms around her.
She closed her eyes as he held her and the word love echoed in her ears. It was like how Aunt Margot called her darling. It didn’t mean anything. Because anyone who was ever supposed to love her, cheated, left, or both.
Louis was a jerk, but he was right. Aunt Margot would be leaving soon. If she let herself get too close, Carter would as well. After all, he had a tour in the fall and wherever else his rock and roll lifestyle took him. Undoubtedly, that would mean far from her.
She got in the car, still feeling shaky so she tuned the radio to a rock station, which happened to be playing one of Wilde’s songs.
He turned it off. “Wait. Let’s listen to this.” He pulled out his phone.
For the next few minutes, she relived the meeting with Louis as he essentially confessed to everything. The recording wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.
“Wow. That was good thinking,” Claudia said, grateful he’d had the presence of mind to record the conversation on his phone.
“I’ve been using this feature of my phone a lot lately.” Carter’s lips quirked. “I figured it was good for more than writing love songs.” He tapped to send a copy to her phone.
Feeling a sense of relief that she had some evidence to give to the police, she maneuvered out of the parking lot at the coffee shop and back to the long road to Blue Bay Beach.
Claudia went directly to the mansion, eager to check on her aunt to make sure she was okay. She’d already changed all the passcodes for the house’s security system and canceled Aunt Margot’s mobile service, but mostly she worried about her aunt being alone and afraid—much how she was feeling, despite Carter’s help.
Aunt Margot was asleep. As she started to slip quietly out of the room so she didn’t wake her, she paused, noticing for the first time in weeks that Margot looked even older and frailer like one day she might not wake up. Claudia knew it was coming and wiped away her tears.
Downstairs, Carter was seated on the piano bench and gazing out the window. He turned and smiled when she neared. She’d miss him too.
He got to his feet and rubbed her upper arms. “You’ve had quite a day. You know what always makes me feel better?” He guided her to the seat and sat down beside her.
As her fingers landed gently on the piano keys, the tension dissolved. The worries and chatter in her mind went quiet.
She started to play—not a piece with sheet music or anything anyone had ever heard, but what came from deep within. It was intense at times as she channeled her emotions into the moody song, but when the piano went silent, she could breathe again.
“When I was little and upset, my mother would bring me to the piano and say ‘let it out, let it all out.’” Carter played a melody that was livelier than her dirge. “Claudia, I don’t think you’ve let it all out. I understand that you’re channeling more than sound. You’re trying to make sense of the past when you play the piano.”
She gazed at her hands. “I’ve never met anyone who understood that.”
He brought two of his fingers to her chin to lift it so she’d meet his eyes.
She wanted to look away from the intensity in those gray pools that said as much about the truth as did his perfect lips. But she knew better than to trust any of it.
“You’ve never mentioned much about your parents,” she said, changing the subject.
His chest lifted and fell with a deep breath. “Mum and Dad were amazing. I couldn’t have asked for better parents. They were supportive, kind, compassionate. My mother loved Elvis. My dad was more of a Beatles guy. They were everything.” Carter’s gray eyes misted over. His hands landed on the piano keys and he played a song that matched hers in intensity.
When he was done, he said, “See? I understand.”
“What happened to them?” she braved asking.
“They died in a car accident—a drunk driver. It was the day after my eleventh birthday. They’d gotten me a guitar. I smashed the thing then it took me three months to put it back together. It’s never left my side until...now.”
Since being in Blue Bay Beach, Carter had gotten tan and he was so close Claudia could count his freckles. His eyes dipped then his lips landed softly on hers.
A flare of longing rushed through her, but she jolted back.
He circled his arms around her waist as though sensing her retreat. “The last weeks with you are like nothing I’ve ever experienced. When we’re not together, I crave you, Claudia.”
“I’m not a drug.”
“I was never on drugs or alcohol. I think you understand why. It was all for show. The big show, the charade.”
“But how do I know what’s real with you?” she asked.
He flinched. “I thought,” he stammered. “I thought I was showing you that.”
“Maybe I need to hear it.” She struggled internally. She didn’t want to push him away, but she had to before things went too far.
He nodded. “Yeah. Maybe you do. Maybe you also need to hear the truth.” His accented voice turned sharp. “Maybe it’s time you get real wit
h yourself, Claudia. You try to keep all the pain from your past tidy and organized. Let it flow through you, out your fingertips and into the keys. Then let it go.”
“Oh, and you’re the expert?”
“I’m not an expert and I’m not perfect, but I’ve given up on Wilde, the whole British bad boy persona. I’m just being myself. I’m sorry if that’s not enough.”
She shook her head and got up from the piano bench. “This is too much. I have to go back to San Francisco at some point and you have the tour in the fall. This is just a summer fling or whatever—”
Tension formed between Carter’s eyebrows and went all the way to his shoulders. He opened his mouth as though to defend himself.
Claudia cut across him. “It’s been fun, I’ll admit that. But I let everything happen with Louis because I haven’t been with my aunt enough. I let it all happen because I was distracted by you.”
Carter crossed the room to where she stood. “You can’t blame yourself. You have been taking care of your aunt. Louis would’ve caused that trouble no matter what. Can’t you give us a chance, Claudia?”
The flares of longing and loathing fought inside Claudia. She wanted to be with Carter but hated herself for letting anything come between what little family she had. It would be hard, but she had to do what was right and cut things off with him before their relationship took her away from what was most important—protecting her aunt and her own heart. “You’re not used to hearing no, Carter, but I’m telling you no.”
“No, what?” he asked, suddenly pale.
“No, to us.”
“It’s okay to say yes, Claudia. Why not say yes? You can take care of your aunt and we can see where things go between us.”
She turned from him. “No, we can’t.” At that, she went upstairs because she knew, like everyone else, he’d leave.
When Claudia got to her room, she heard the front door open and close then she dissolved into tears.
Her bedroom window was open and as she watched Carter walk away, she felt the animosity and uncertainty swirling between them like the breeze coming off the sea.
She turned on her computer and started typing an email to Professor Printz to inform him she wouldn’t be able to complete her assignment. She was concluding the letter when her aunt called her from the other room. She rushed out, leaving it for later.