Before she had a chance to track his movement and block him, he swooped in and scooped her up for a hug, pressing her body the length of his and lifting her up off the ground as he did so.
This was not how boy-girl friends hugged each other. Carly knew this because she hugged Zach, Sam, Gavin, and Brad frequently and those hugs never made her want to plaster herself to them, preferably while naked, oh, no, but this one did and it was all James’s fault.
When he released her in a slow slide down his body, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hovered for just a moment with her mouth a mere inch from his while she debated planting a kiss on him that would teach the silly boy not to play with matches. Some flicker of self-preservation kicked in, however, and she relaxed her arms and slid to the floor and stepped away from him.
She could see the disappointment she was feeling reflected in his gaze but she knew this was for the best for both of them. She was a commitment phobic train wreck and he was a really nice guy. He deserved a nice girl, someone like Jillian, to complete his life and make everything sunshine and roses. Carly was not that girl. She was more torrential rain and nettles.
James pressed his lips to her forehead. It was brief and sweet, filled with longing and regret. Then he stepped through the door and left, leaving Carly to watch him walk away. It was cold comfort knowing she had done the right thing.
Chapter 13
“That is disgusting!” Gina said. “How can you let that bird sit on your shoulder?”
Carly was sacked out in the family room with the big-screen TV on, enjoying a bowl of yogurt and raspberries. She, Ike, and Saul had spent a lot of time together over the past few days and had begun to develop their own rhythm.
One of their favorite things to do was watch nature shows together. Ike perched on her shoulder while she fed him fruit from her yogurt bowl while Saul lounged beside her working on his own small bowl of frozen doggy ice cream. The grocery store actually carried this. Who knew?
Together they laughed, sighed, woofed, or sometimes shrieked in terror. Ike seemed particularly afraid of sharks, while Saul was riveted by the big cats.
Carly had begun to appreciate how quick Ike’s mind was and how much Saul thrived on attention. She really hoped she could find a family that would give them all of that.
The only downside to her bonding time with her pets was that at some point Gina would arrive, raring to pick a fight. Since Carly was trying to model good behavior to Ike, she’d been biting her tongue, but it was getting more and more difficult not to chomp it in half.
“He’s probably going to poop down your back and I’ll bet the couch is covered in dog hair. So gross!”
“Shut your cake hole!” Ike squawked.
As much as she wanted to laugh, Carly didn’t. Instead, she turned her head toward Ike and in her calmest voice she said, “Be nice, Ike, don’t be fresh.”
“Like he even knows what he’s saying,” Gina scoffed. She stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. “Stupid bird!”
“Gina, watch your mouth,” Carly said. “I’m trying to get him family ready, so no insults or bad language please.”
“As if that’s even going to work,” Gina said. She came into the room and frowned at the bird. “Look at his head, he has a brain pan the size of an almond. He’s just a chicken with pretty feathers.”
“He’s smarter than you,” Carly muttered. She could feel her temper getting the better of her but she couldn’t help it.
“What did you say?” Gina demanded.
“Nothing,” Carly said. She spooned some yogurt into her mouth and fed Ike a raspberry, hoping to keep them both from saying something naughty. Saul was busy licking the last drops of ice cream from his bowl and seemed oblivious to the tension in the room.
Gina glared at her, obviously not believing her. Carly waited but her little sister said nothing more so Carly turned back to the show. It was all about flamingos and she noticed that Ike perked up when he heard them talking. She particularly liked how they trotted around in a big group while selecting their mates. It seemed a festive way to do it.
Saul collapsed against her side while Ike nuzzled into the hair at her shoulder. He’d taken to doing that and she wondered if it was a comfort thing for him. Then she wondered if he’d ever had a mate. Despite the detailed directions Mrs. Genaro had left for her, she hadn’t given Carly much of the animals’ backstory. She didn’t even know how old they were.
“Why don’t you put up a flyer at the local college campus? I’m sure some frat house would love to make Ike their mascot,” Gina said. “He’s certainly loud enough. You know his squawking woke me up this morning—super annoying since I had to work late last night.”
Carly turned to look at her baby sister. She refused to acknowledge her suggestion of giving Ike away to a bunch of frat boys. She’d rather set him free than see him neglected but she wasn’t going to argue the point.
“Why are you in here? Don’t you have lattes to screw up at The Grind?”
Gina gasped. “I’ll have you know I make very good lattes.”
“Then go make some,” Carly said. She was running out of patience and she knew Gina had to leave before she popped her cork.
Gina slid into the chair beside Carly’s, obviously not sensing the peril in which she was putting herself.
“So, I haven’t seen that guy James come around. Why not?”
“How is that any of your business?” Carly asked.
“Um, because I walked in on you two after you spent a night doing the—” Gina began but Carly interrupted.
“Yeah, not seeing how that makes it your concern.”
“I just want to know if I might have another run-in of the hottie kind,” she said.
Carly glanced at her. “You thought he was hot?”
“Totally, I mean he’s buff and cute, not my type exactly, but still not hard on the eyes at all, so why aren’t you seeing him, like, every night?”
“We decided to just be friends.”
“Wow, you’re that bad in bed, huh?” Gina snorted and then stole a raspberry out of Carly’s yogurt.
“What? No!” Carly cried. “How did you come up with that? What makes you think it was his decision and not mine?”
“Oh, so he’s that bad in bed,” Gina said. She raised her hand and wiggled her pinky. “Was he an unfortunate disappointment?”
Carly closed her eyes, praying for patience.
“No, he was more than adequate,” she said. She noticed her voice dropped an octave when she spoke about James’s privates and she cleared her throat.
“Oh, so it was good.” Gina wiggled her eyebrows. “Tell me more.”
“No.”
“Was there some unexpected kink involved that you’re uncomfortable with? Did he want to wear your undies?” Gina asked. “We could talk about it if that would help.”
“No, there was no unexpected kink.” Carly put her bowl on the table so she could press her fingers against her temples to keep her head from exploding or maybe to use her brain waves to make Gina’s head explode. It was a tough call.
“Then why aren’t you going to see him again?” Gina demanded. She took Carly’s bowl off the table and began to finish her yogurt.
“What part of ‘none of your business’ do you not understand?”
“But I’m your sister. There’s like a code that we’re supposed to share everything.”
“When have you and I ever shared anything never mind everything?”
“Isn’t it about time we started?”
Carly glanced away. She wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of sharing anything with Gina. She’d probably tell Terry and then, yeah, no. That was not happening.
Ike walked around the back of Carly’s head to be on the shoulder nearest to Gina and the raspberries. He started to stretc
h his neck as far as it would go in an effort to get to the bowl without leaving Carly.
“Give him a raspberry.”
“No, what if he bites me?”
“He won’t bite you, just hold it steady and he’ll take it with his foot.”
Gina gave her a dubious look but held out a raspberry to Ike. Sure enough he took it gently from her fingers with his foot and then held it up to his mouth to nibble on. He dripped raspberry juice onto Carly’s shoulder but it was an old sweatshirt and she figured both sides would match now.
“He’s sort of cute,” Gina said. “When he’s not yelling at me.”
“He wouldn’t yell at you so much if you weren’t so mean to him,” Carly said.
“I’m not mean,” Gina protested. “See? You always think the worst of me. Always.”
“Maybe it’s because I always get the worst of you,” Carly said. “You are always taking my things, breaking my things, you have no sense of responsibility—”
“Ha!” Gina cried out through a mouthful of yogurt.
Carly leaned back and looked at her. If her sister was spoiling for a fight, Carly would give her one.
“What was that for?”
“I have no sense of responsibility?” Gina asked. “Who do you think stayed here to monitor Mom and Dad while the rest of you flew the coop?”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Carly said. “You didn’t stay here to take care of them, you stayed because you didn’t want to grow up and leave home.”
“Yes, I did,” Gina argued. “But who would take care of them if I didn’t?”
“I’m pretty sure they could take care of themselves,” Carly said. Honestly, was her sister really this deluded? “Which is why they bolted for Florida as soon as I showed up. They are so happy to be free of—”
It occurred to her too late that what she was about to say would probably crush Gina’s feelings. She tried to redirect but the damage was done.
“—the winter,” she said.
“That’s not what you were going to say.”
Gina shook her head. Her long red curls flew in all directions and she reminded Carly so much of what she used to look like when she was a kid that Carly had a hard time not talking to her like she was five.
“Yes, it was.”
Gina dropped the now-empty bowl onto the table with a thud.
“You were about to say they were happy to escape me,” Gina said. “Is that what you think of me, really?”
Carly sighed. She was in no mood for her sister’s dramatics tonight.
“No, I don’t,” she lied. “I just think that maybe you’ve lived at home a bit long and might want to consider moving out.”
“But you just moved back in,” Gina said. “What’s the difference whether it’s you or me living here?”
“The difference is that I’ve been on my own for over ten years,” Carly said. “This is a temporary setback for me, I’ve already had two phone interviews for jobs in New York, but for you this has become a way of life.”
“But I’m helpful,” Gina argued.
“In what way? Do you cook, clean, pay rent, mow the lawn, shovel the snow, or do you let Mom and Dad do all of that for you?”
Gina glanced away and Carly knew the answer.
“Well, Terry says I shouldn’t move out until I find a husband,” Gina said.
“That’s because Terry is a crazy enabler who got married right out of high school, and she thinks everyone should do that. She has no idea about all of the fun she missed out on in her youth.”
“She thinks you’ve had enough fun for all of us,” Gina said.
“She said that?”
“Several times over the years.”
“Well that’s rude,” Carly said. She reached up and stroked Ike’s head. He nuzzled her hand in a way that was comforting and she wondered if he knew her feelings had been hurt.
“You have to look at it from her perspective,” Gina said. “You left home over ten years ago, you rarely come back, when you do you spend all of your time with your friends, and you’ve never brought a boyfriend around, not once.”
“Not every woman wants a boyfriend or a husband,” Carly said. “Did it never occur to her that I was happy in my life?”
“No, because Terry doesn’t think a woman is complete until she is married and has children. For a while there, she was convinced you were a lesbian.”
“So, what if I was . . . am . . . are?” Carly snapped. She was feeling her temper heat.
“I think she would have been happy just to know that you had someone,” Gina said.
“Well, that makes me sound pathetic.”
Gina nodded. “She doesn’t think it’s natural for a woman to live alone.”
“What century is she living in?”
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Gina said. “Terry cares for all of us very much in her own peculiar way.”
Carly laughed. It was one of the few times she could ever remember laughing at something Gina had said. They had been at odds since . . . well, since Terry had decided Gina was the most perfect being who ever lived, completely forgetting about Carly, who had been the apple of her eye right up until the moment Gina was born.
Carly had never forgotten what it felt like to go from being the sister that Terry doted upon, lavished all of her time and attention on, to the sister that was constantly chastised for being too loud, too annoying, too busy, and too rough with the baby.
Terry had never let Carly hold baby Gina for fear that she might drop her. In fact, Carly had never been allowed to go anywhere near Gina, and when she did, it was a barrage of criticism that just pissed her off and made her five-year-old self even louder, rougher, and more annoying.
For the first time in her life, Carly wondered what her relationship with Gina might be like if Terry hadn’t constantly kept them apart and at odds.
“Look, I’m sorry about the other night,” Carly said. “It had to have been a bit of a shock to find a man in my room on my first night home. I was working through some stuff.”
Gina leaned back in her chair and laughed. “I’ll say.” Then she sobered and asked, “Is it really so awful coming home?”
“No,” Carly fibbed. “I’m just used to being on my own so it’s bit of a soul crusher is all.”
Gina nodded. She pulled a hank of hair forward over her shoulder and examined the tips. They were perfect; not a split end in sight.
“I’m sorry, too,” Gina said. “I haven’t been very welcoming to you or the pets.”
“Their names are Ike and Saul.”
“Noted. Look, I’m sorry. It’s just . . . I’m . . . There’s this guy . . .” Her voice trailed off. Carly waited but no more information was forthcoming.
“What about this guy?” Carly asked. She noticed that Gina’s face turned a bright shade of pink, which clashed spectacularly with her fiery hair.
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter,” Gina said. She dropped her hair and leaned back. Sharing was new for both of them and it wasn’t coming naturally.
Carly studied her sister. It occurred to her that she really didn’t know Gina at all. She had spent so many years being irritated by her that she had stopped seeing her as anything more than an annoying piece of gravel wedged in her shoe tread.
The realization did not make her feel very good about herself. This was her baby sister. They should be close, or at least tolerate each other.
“Listen, I was going to go to the Bikini Lounge out on the pier and meet up with my friends,” she said. “Do you want to join us?”
Gina looked at her in astonishment. “Are you inviting me to spend time with your elite group of precious friends?”
“See? It’s an attitude like that that gets your invitation rescinded,” Carly said.
“Sorry, I think I’m j
ust still scarred from all of the years that you threatened to cut off my hair while I slept if I didn’t stop following you and your friends around,” Gina said. Her tone was rueful and Carly had to admit, she had kept the boundary lines wide and firmly drawn when they were kids.
“Sorry about that,” Carly said. “But I was fifteen and you were ten and I had big stuff happening.”
“So did I,” Gina said. Her voice was soft and when her sad brown gaze met Carly’s, Carly felt a punch in the gut as she realized she had failed her little sister spectacularly.
“I’m sorry,” Carly said. It was one of the few times in her life that she had apologized to her sister and meant it.
“It’s okay,” Gina said. She shrugged and stood up, stretching as she did so. “Thanks for the invite but I’m working the late shift tonight. So . . . see ya.”
With that, Gina left the room and Carly watched her go. She wanted to call her back and say—what? They had never been close and after twenty-seven years, Carly didn’t know how to change that.
She picked up her bowl and let Ike ride on her shoulder as she deposited it in the kitchen sink. With a soft whistle to Saul, who leapt off the couch to follow her, she made her way upstairs to tuck them both in for the night while she got ready to meet her friends. She wondered briefly if she’d see James, then she reminded herself that she didn’t care.
So far, she hadn’t run into him in town, which she told herself was a good thing. She’d seen him out and about, sure, she just hadn’t been in close proximity to talk, or touch, or . . . she shook her head. Nope, she was not going there.
James sightings, as she called them, happened frequently, as he seemed to be everywhere. Two days ago, he was on the town green, working out with his seniors. Carly had forced herself to look away from him in his basketball shorts and formfitting tank top. She did, however, notice that several women in town took to walking the green with their eyes firmly fastened on James as they did so. Power walking her foot; more like power ogling.
She saw him again walking Hot Wheels along the boardwalk that ran along the beach as he tried to rehab the dog’s leg. It seemed that he and Hot Wheels did this every morning, right after James got a large coffee at The Grind, not that she was beginning to track his schedule or anything. It was a small town, she couldn’t help it if she noticed the comings and goings of its residents.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree Page 12