Charmed: A Small Town Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Willow Springs Series Book 3)

by Laura Pavlov

  “Well, seeing as your dad is a lame piece of shit, maybe it’s good to find out you have other family members,” I said, and I chuckled just a little to try to lighten the moment.

  She pulled back and the corners of her lips turned up just the slightest bit, and she swiped at the tears running down her face. “I need to apologize to her.”

  I nodded. “There’s no rush. It’s a lot to process. Are you going to talk to your parents?”

  “My mom is going to be devastated. How do I tell her this? She’s actually out of town with my aunt this weekend. I should go home and speak to my father alone. It’s Friday, maybe I’ll drive to Willow Springs tonight after work. That way my father will have to look me in the eyes. He won’t be able to lie. And then I’ll make things right with my mom and with Piper.”

  “I’m taking the helicopter home tonight. Why don’t you catch a ride with me?” Why the fuck was I offering to help her? And today of all days.

  “You are?” she croaked again and shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You aren’t asking. I offered. I’m going anyway.”

  “Is today your sister’s birthday?” she asked, and she cocked her head to the side. I didn’t see Satan’s spawn when I looked at her anymore. I saw empathy. Sadness. Genuine compassion.

  I nodded. “It is. Belle would have been twenty years old today. Same as Knox.”

  I never talked about my sister with people. Hell, I hardly spoke to my family about her. But Maura had just shared something pretty devastating with me, and she’d asked, so I wasn’t going to lie.

  “I didn’t know your sister, but I wish I did.” She smiled.

  “Why’s that?” A slight chuckle escaped. We were enemies by birthright, after all.

  “Because we would have been close in age, and I’m sure she was nice like your mother. Actually, everyone in your family has always been nice to me aside from you.” She shrugged.

  “It’s a gift.”

  “What is?” She bit down on her bottom lip, and I fought the urge to lean forward and taste her sweet mouth.

  What the fuck was that about?

  “Being the family asshole. Everyone needs one.”

  “Well, it turns out you’re not so bad. And I bet I would have been friends with your sister.”

  “A Carlisle and a Benson? Doubtful.”

  “Look at us. We’re sort of friends now.” Her cheeks pinked, and she raised one brow at me daring me to disagree with her.

  “Fine. You’re not so bad yourself. Take the damn ride. It’ll help me not think about the day. We can leave in an hour. We’ll cut the day short.”

  “Half day? That’s so unlike you,” she said with a smile, and I knew she was coming around.

  “Are you trying to convince me to work a full day? Take it or leave it.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, Crew Carlisle. I can either drive the hour and a half home after a full day of work or work half a day and fly in a fancy helicopter? You win.”

  I puffed my chest up like I’d just won a battle I didn’t think I could win. Or maybe it was because Maura Benson and I were traveling home today. Or maybe it was because this was usually one of the worst days of the year for me, but even with all the sadness, I felt…okay. Maybe even fine. Something about this girl settled me. I didn’t know what it was, but it was definitely unexpected.

  We ate spaghetti and meatballs, which was what we always had on Knox and Belle’s birthday. It was their favorite. We sat around the table telling stories about her and sharing some of our favorite memories. The girl had been the princess with four older brothers who hovered around her at all times. I rarely talked about Belle when we were all together, but for some reason tonight, I was okay with it.

  “I think my favorite memory was when I took her out riding one day, about a month before she passed. Mom didn’t think she was up for it, but Belle had begged me, so I bundled her up and snuck her out of the house,” I said, as I dabbed my mouth with my napkin.

  “You never told me that,” my mother said with surprise.

  “That’s because he rarely talks about Belle. He holds it all in,” Blade said, and I rolled my eyes.

  Fucking nark.

  “We’re not all oversharers.” I laughed.

  “You seem awfully chipper today. Something going on, brother?” Dax asked, eyeing me the way he always did when he knew something. “When I landed at the hangar tonight, Marie told me that you flew in an hour before me.”

  Marie worked at the front desk at the hangar where we kept our cars and parked the helicopters. She was also the town gossip, and I hadn’t thought of that when I invited Maura to fly home with me. I knew he was bursting at the seams to share his little secret.

  Like I said. They were all oversharers.

  “Nothing to tell.”

  “Oh, I beg to differ. Our young Marie said you flew in with a little lady beside you,” he chirped, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Marie is eighty-two years old. Nothing young about her, aside from the fact that she gossips like a teenage girl.”

  “You’re deflecting. Who’s the lucky lady?” Blade asked over a mouthful of food.

  “Manners, please.” My mother raised her brow at my brother, and he laughed. She’d been trying to get us to eat with our mouths closed our entire lives. “Maybe Crew isn’t ready to tell us. Don’t pry, he’ll tell when he’s ready.”

  I barked out a laugh. “There’s no secret here. I gave Maura Benson a ride home. She had a family emergency, and I was coming home anyway. I didn’t mention it because there’s nothing to tell.” I felt all eyes on me, and I forked some pasta and took a hearty bite.

  “Very interesting, C-dawg. First, you hire the enemy. Then you travel with the enemy. What’s next? Sleeping with the enemy? I’m totally here for that, by the way. Maura Benson is smoking hot. Maybe you can ask her to hook me up with Coco Radcliff,” Knox said.

  “Knox Daniel. Don’t speak about a lady that way.” My mother smacked him upside the head with a laugh because every time she attempted to be strict with us, she laughed, which made us do the same. “And she is not the enemy. Is her father my favorite person? No. But Maura has nothing to do with that.”

  “What? Calling her hot is not offensive, Mother. And we all know how much C-dawg hates the Bensons.” He smirked.

  “I do hate her father. But she’s not the enemy and there is absolutely nothing going on between us. She’s just an intern who happened to need a ride to Willow Springs. She’s nothing to me.” Even as the words left my mouth, I knew they were bullshit. I didn’t know what she was, but she wasn’t nothing, that’s for sure.

  Nothing didn’t show up in your dreams every night.

  Nothing didn’t consume your thoughts all day.

  “Who are you trying to convince, son?” my dad teased, and I rolled my eyes. They’d all lost their minds.

  “I thought your eyes were always green, like Mama’s,” Dax said with a smirk.

  “They are,” I hissed before leaning back in my seat. I’d wait for it. These fools loved to razz me.

  “I guess you’re so full of shit that they look brown tonight.” He barked out a laugh and Blade high-fived him.

  “Very original. And you know what they say about people who laugh at their own jokes?”

  “What’s that?” He took an oversized bite of garlic bread.

  “That they aren’t very funny, that’s why they’re the only ones laughing,” I said dryly, and the table erupted in laughter again.

  It felt good to laugh. This day was always heavy. Even fifteen years later, it weighed me down every year. We only spoke of Belle’s birthday and not the cruel joke the universe played on us by taking her away on the same day that she’d entered the world. Knox’s birthday was the same day that Belle left this world.

 
I remembered it like it was yesterday. It would forever go down as the worst day of my life. Hearing my mom’s cries. Knowing my father didn’t get to say goodbye to his baby girl. He’d entrusted me to be there. To take care of Mom.

  And once again, my hatred for Arthur Benson was stronger than ever.

  Chapter Nine

  Maura

  My father had an event last night, so when I texted him to tell him I’d come home and needed to speak to him, he asked if we could wait until morning and meet over breakfast. I’d tossed and turned all night, and I heard him come in shortly after midnight, but I’d pretended to be asleep. It had been an emotional day. I knew he’d have been drinking at his event, and I needed him to be clearheaded for this conversation. Oh my gosh. My poor mother. How would she handle this? Would they get a divorce? Would she forgive him?

  I sat at the kitchen table, anxious to get this conversation over with. I’d texted Piper and apologized for the way I’d ended our conversation. I told her I was home and would be in touch soon. She deserved a lot better than she’d gotten from my father, and I hadn’t exactly handled things well.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” Alice came around the table and hugged me, planting a kiss on top of my head. She’d worked for our family since I was in kindergarten. She did everything around here. She cooked. She cleaned. She managed my parents’ social calendar. The woman was a saint. “I didn’t know you were home. I didn’t see your car out front.”

  “Hi.” I stood up to give her a hug. I needed an Alice hug right now. This woman had been a part of the family for as long as I could remember. She’d attended all my dance recitals, horse shows, and school functions. “I got a ride. Just came home for a day. Hoping Dad gets up soon.”

  She kissed my forehead and I dropped back down in my seat. “Are you hungry? Can I get you some tea and toast?”

  “That sounds great. Thank you.”

  “Of course. I’ve missed you. I’m getting excited for graduation. How’s the internship going?” she asked as she put the kettle on. I trusted Alice with all my secrets, and she knew about where I was interning as well. The only one who didn’t know the real place was my father. He believed me when I told him a different company, because he had no reason not to. I’d never lied to him before. But since he had so many secrets of his own, I wasn’t feeling so guilty about that anymore. But I wasn’t ready to share this one with her. I needed to speak to my mom first.

  “It’s good. Can I ask you something?” I whispered as she came to set the toast and tea in front of me and dropped into the chair beside me.

  “Sure. What’s going on?”

  “Well, you’ve lived here your whole life. Do you know what happened to Belle Carlisle?” I asked.

  Her eyes watered and I saw the empathy. Alice was such a kind soul. “She was such a beautiful child. So terrible to see her suffer the way she did. The way they all did.” She places a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. “They are an amazing family. They really leaned on one another through it.”

  “What happened?”

  “She had leukemia. She fought it for two years and her little body was just too weak. I remember hearing about her older brother, he’s the one I think you work for, Crew.” Her voice was just above a whisper. “It was very controversial at the time, but I believe he was a match and donated his bone marrow to her. I think everyone hoped that it would work.” She shook her head and reached up with her thumb to swipe at the tear running down my cheek.

  “That’s so heartbreaking.”

  “It is probably the worst thing to ever happen in this town. Everyone mourned for them. For a life lost far too young.”

  I tried to think back. “I don’t remember my parents talking about it. Did everyone go to the funeral?”

  She pushed to her feet, clearly uncomfortable. “Everyone in town was there, including your mama, but no, your father did not attend. You know they have that longtime rift.”

  I gasped. The Carlisles lost a child. My father didn’t even know why he didn’t like them. And that he could continue to be cruel after what they went through? I was in a state of shock as the reality of it all set in.

  “I don’t remember hearing of it afterward.”

  “You were young. No one brought their children to the service aside from the Carlisles, as they were their siblings. I remember seeing those four boys sitting on the front pew trying to hold in all that emotion. But I think a childhood death is terrifying to everyone. So, you were shielded from it, as were most of the young kids in town. But that family is all strength and warmth. They didn’t fall apart. All the kids went back to school and carried on. We were all worried about those boys. It was such a terrible loss. They sure adored that little girl.”

  I swiped at another tear running down my cheek and reached for my tea. My father’s voice carried down the stairs as he made his way into the kitchen.

  “Where are you, darlin’?” he sang out. He was in a chipper mood. There were times that my father was so kind and thoughtful. And other times he could be small-minded and cold. I’d gotten used to reading his moods. I was grateful that he was being pleasant right now. Though I doubted it would last long.

  “Can I get you some breakfast?” Alice asked as he walked in.

  “Nope, I’m all right. I’ll take a coffee and then talk to my beautiful daughter. Not a bad way to start the morning.”

  Alice set his coffee down and excused herself so we could talk.

  “So, what’s up, sunshine? Your mama’s going to be upset that she missed your visit.”

  “I need to talk to you, Dad. And it isn’t a pleasant conversation.”

  He narrowed his gaze and then smiled. “Did you charge up the credit card? Do a little retail therapy? I get it. You’re working hard. You know I’m okay with you spending on the things you need and want. I trust you, darlin’.”

  Like I said, the man could be extremely generous.

  With his money.

  If I told him where I was currently working and who’d flown me home in his helicopter, I would be talking to a different man. All hell would break loose. My father could turn on a dime. And when he did, he could be one of the most intimidating people I’d ever known.

  “It’s not about retail therapy. I’ve been so busy at work I haven’t shopped in months.” I took a sip of tea and gathered my courage.

  “You know you don’t need to work, darlin’. I’m guessing you’ll marry yourself a man in the next couple of years and work will be a thing of the past. And until then, I’m happy to spoil my girl.” He chuckled and it was a loud, boisterous sound coming from his belly.

  I didn’t laugh.

  “I’m twenty-two years old. I’m not looking for a husband. I’m excited to start my career. But there is something important I need to discuss with you.”

  “Ahhh… this is about your education, isn’t it? Grad school wouldn’t be so bad. John Roscoe told me his daughter just got into Harvard to get her Ph.D. I wouldn’t mind telling him my girl got into grad school. Yes. Make it happen,” Dad said, as he slapped his hand down on the table twice. I studied him. Had he always been this disconnected? Had I just refused to see it? “Let me guess. You want me to fight your mama for you. She’d like you to be done with school and come back home, but I’ll go to bat for you. Hell, you’ve given me more bragging rights when it comes to your grades than your brothers ever did.”

  “This is not about grad school.” I let out a long breath and looked up to meet his hazel gaze. “This is about a girl that I met. Her name is Piper, and she lives in Dallas.” I stared at my father, waiting to see if he knew about her. Even though they’d never spoken, that didn’t mean Dad hadn’t gone back to check and see if Piper’s mother went through with the pregnancy. My father was a shrewd businessman. Wouldn’t he have followed up to see what she did? I waited to see any sign of remorse or guilt.
/>   But it never came. He sipped his coffee and shrugged. “Who is Piper from Dallas?”

  I knew in that moment that he didn’t have a clue that she existed. My father had an incredible poker face, but after years of reading him, I was familiar with all his tells. The way his jaw clenched when he was nervous or the way he avoided eye contact. And right now, he was not showing a single sign that he was concerned.

  “Dad. She lives in Dallas, and she attends art school. She’s two years younger than me. I believe you know her mother, Sarah Streusel.” Piper had told me her mother’s maiden name and it was now permanently etched in my brain forever.

  My sister’s mother.

  All the blood left his face. He went completely white as a sheet. His smile faded. His eyes darkened. His shoulders squared.

  I knew in that moment that it was all true.

  Without him even saying a word.

  “Sarah has a daughter that’s two years younger than you?” He pushed to his feet and paced the room.

  “Yes.”

  He returned to his seat and faced me. “Have you told your mother about this girl?”

  What the mothereffing hell? He had a daughter that he’d never met. Shouldn’t his first concern be to ask if she was okay? Inquire about her well-being?

  “No. I don’t think that should fall on me.”

  “Does the girl want money?” he asked, studying me like I held all the answers to his deepest, darkest secret. Of course he would think she wanted money.

  “Her name is Piper, Dad. She doesn’t want anything from you. She took a 23andMe test and found out she had a sister, which in turn made her question her mother about it.”

  “What the hell is a 23andMe test?”

  “It’s that genetic test that Coco got us for Christmas, remember? Well, Piper and I were a match.”

  “I told you that girl was trouble. Always stirring the pot.”

  “Coco? What are you talking about? You have a child who is a direct result of an affair that you had. Do not try to blame Coco for buying me a test. It’s DNA. It’s science. Not that it matters, her mother finally told her the truth.”