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

by Laura Pavlov

  She started to stir, and her eyes opened. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes. “Hey. What time is it? I don’t even remember falling asleep last night.”

  “You needed the sleep. It’s nine a.m. We need to get going if we’re going to make it to the ceremony.”

  She covered her face with her hands. “Are you still on that? I thought we could just forget about it. I don’t have a dress here. My parents aren’t here.”

  “Your mom and your brothers are on their way now. I sent the helicopter for them. And Brad went to pick up Ivy and they are on their way back. She’s going to bring your dress and help you with your makeup. She said Coco has some sort of magic tips for covering blemishes that will work on bruises?” I chuckled.

  “I can’t believe you did all of that for me.”

  “Of course, I did. I’d do anything for you.”

  She sat up and pushed to her feet when the doorman called to let me know Ivy had arrived. I kissed the top of her head and made my way to the door.

  “It’s graduation, girl.” Ivy held a bottle of champagne in one hand and a dress in the other. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder which I assumed was filled with supplies.

  “Hey, thanks for doing this,” Maura said, hugging her tight.

  “This was all Crew, but I’m so freaking happy we’ll get to walk together. Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time. Boss man, pour us each a glass and bring it to the bathroom.”

  Such a bossy little willow.

  “You got it, Sarge,” I said. The girl was always planning and telling everyone what to do. The name seemed very fitting.

  They disappeared down the hallway. I poured them each a glass of champagne and read a text from my brother letting me know they had all just arrived in Dallas and they’d meet us at the ceremony. I wanted everyone there to celebrate Maura.

  I stood in the doorway and watched as Ivy did her best friend’s makeup and curled her hair. The friendship that the five of them shared was something rare. They always rallied, and they always showed up for one another. I was happy Maura had that.

  We sipped our champagne, and I could see my girl’s spirits lifting. Brad called to tell us he was downstairs, and I hurried them out the door.

  When we arrived on campus, Ivy said she had to go meet up with her family and she told Maura to meet her in line so they could walk together.

  “Are you sure you can’t see the bruising?” Maura asked me one more time before we made our way to meet her family.

  “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world. That’s what I see.” I squeezed her hand, and we walked toward the east corner of campus.

  There stood the most unexpected group of people holding flowers and balloons and banners. Maura’s mother, Wes, and Lyle were all standing in the front. They rushed toward her and hugged her. Maura’s jaw was on the ground as she hugged my parents and my brothers.

  “I can’t believe you all came here for this!” she said, and her cheeks pinked.

  Behind them stood Layla, Sam, Gwen, Jen, and last but not least… Beevis. Because I knew my girl would want him to be there. I’d spoken to Piper, and she didn’t want to take away from Maura’s day by attending the graduation. It wasn’t the place that she wanted to meet Wes and Lyle, nor did she want to make Maura’s mother uncomfortable. Today was about Maura, and I’d agreed to send her lots of pictures.

  “What in the world? I can’t believe you’re all here.” She shook her head in disbelief.

  Her eyes were watery, and I knew this would help. Of course it hurt that her father wasn’t there, but it was important that Maura knew how many people she had in her life that would be there to celebrate her.

  “You guys go take your seats. Hold on to the flowers and balloons until after. I’ll walk her over and meet you there in a little bit,” I said.

  “Kick some ass, mad dog!” Knox called out and Maura fell against me, laughing.

  “I can’t believe you did this. And your mom and my mom are talking. Never thought I’d see the day,” she said, smiling up at me.

  “It’s all because of you. Everyone who meets you loves you, Benson.” I stopped where all the students were gathering and looked down at her.

  “Charming as hell, Carlisle.”

  “I try.”

  “You succeed.”

  “Go find Ivy, and get that diploma,” I said. She pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed me before running off.

  I found our group, and Maura’s mother had managed to get seats beside Ivy’s large family. The energy was high with the two groups, and everyone was getting along well. I didn’t know how we got here but I was thankful that we did.

  When Ivy and Maura walked across the stage, our group went crazy. My brothers were chatting with Wes and Lyle, and my mother and Amelia Benson appeared to be fast friends. We made our way over to the party after, and the celebration continued. I sat at a table with Blade, Dax, Knox, Lyle, and Wes, and we laughed our asses off at Ivy’s aunt, who kept dragging Knox out on the dance floor.

  “Looky here. We’ve got the Carlisles and the Bensons sitting at one table,” Maura said as she dropped down to sit on my lap. She’d had a few glasses of champagne and been making her rounds to talk to everyone.

  Her father had rented a banquet room that felt more like a wedding venue than a graduation party, but I wouldn’t fault him for wanting to celebrate my girl. She deserved all the bells and whistles, and I’d spend the rest of my life showing her that.

  “I mean, if there weren’t any Carlisles here, I think me or Wes would be stuck dirty dancing with Ivy’s elderly aunt right now. So, I’m good with it,” Lyle said, and the table erupted in laughter.

  I looked up to see Knox getting his ass smacked by the cougar and he mouthed the words, help me and we could barely contain ourselves.

  “Happy we could assist,” Blade said with a smirk.

  “Well, this is not how I saw my graduation going,” Maura said as she leaned down to whisper in my ear so only I could hear.

  I ran my knuckles along her jawline. “Is it okay?”

  “Better than okay.”

  “Happy graduation, baby.”

  She kissed me hard until her brothers and my brothers all shouted for us to get a room. Maura’s head fell back in laughter, and though the bruises were still prevalent on her face, I could tell that the healing had begun.

  When we got home that night, we both fell onto the couch in exhaustion. My phone dinged with a message and I pulled Maura on my lap as I read the text.

  “Hey, that article in Dallas Life is coming out Monday. They moved it up. I made a few changes and Diane sent me the new revisions. Do you want to read the revised ending?”

  She sat forward. “Of course, I do.”

  I handed her my phone. She’d already read the original version. I scrolled down to where the article had been changed. She read it in silence.

  Meet Dallas’ Youngest CEO, Crew Carlisle

  This portion of the article has been revised since my initial meeting with Crew Carlisle as he wanted to clear the air and set the record straight since the media frenzy around his relationship with his intern, Maura Benson.

  DB ~ So, Mr. Carlisle, inquiring minds want to know… are you single or taken?

  CC ~ I am very much taken.

  DB ~ It’s come to light that you’ve been secretly dating your intern, Maura Benson.

  CC ~ Yes. We’ve been together for several months now. We’re very much in love and happy together.

  BD ~ So why keep it a secret?

  CC ~ Because there are people that will try to spin it into something negative. Which is exactly how it became public record when it was leaked to the press. Maura’s family and my family have been at odds for many years. For reasons no one even knows anymore. So, we faced some obstacles there, and then you add
in the fact that she works at the company that I’m running, and you have a PR nightmare. We figured we would keep it private until after the internship ended.

  BD ~ So this is a consensual relationship. Not a stepping stone for her career.

  CC ~ It’s difficult for me to even hear that question without becoming angry. I’m not claiming that inappropriate relationships don’t happen in the workplace, I’m sure they do. But this is not that situation. Maura and I grew up in the same town, and though we weren’t friends due to family loyalties, we knew one another. She is interning at the company because her school chose her for the internship due to the fact that she has the highest grades in her graduating class. She is an unpaid intern. She has been offered a job at the company after graduation, not because she is dating me, but because she’s unbelievably talented. Hell, it would be easier to have her work for the competitors so that we could date openly without judgment, but the truth is, Carlisle Ad Agency doesn’t want her with our competitors. She’s that talented. So, it’s offensive that anyone would think she was being offered the position for anything less than her ability to do her job well.

  DB ~ So how did the relationship start?

  CC ~ We spent a lot of time together at the office, and for the first time, I stopped judging her by her last name. I wasn’t happy when I realized she was the student selected for the internship. That was just me being ignorant. But I fell in love with her long before I admitted it to her.

  DB ~ You were holding back because she was working for you?

  CC~ Yes, and the fact that our families don’t get along. But some things are worth fighting for.

  DB ~ I agree. And when you know, you know. How hard are you willing to fight?

  CC ~ As hard as I need to. My girl is worth the fight. If it means stepping down from my title, I’d do it. I hope I don’t have to because I’ve worked really hard to be here, but I’d walk away from anything for her.

  DB ~ I think every woman in the city will be swooning.

  CC ~ There’s only one that I need to swoon.

  DB ~ Last question. I know everyone is going to want to know this one.

  CC ~ Shoot.

  DB ~ What is it that you love about her? What’s the secret ingredient, so to speak…

  CC ~ Her heart. She’s good to the core. She’s witty and a smart-ass as well. She challenges me. She makes me want to be a better man. And obviously she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I love everything about her.

  DB ~ Major swoon, ladies. But Crew Carlisle is officially off the market. And shouldn’t he be allowed to be happy too? Shouldn’t each case be treated individually? This man clearly loves this woman, and instead of judging them about how it happened, perhaps we should all hope for a love that is worth risking everything for, am I right?

  She looked up at me with her big, trusting honey brown gaze. It was wet with emotion.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Charmed.”

  I buried my face in her neck and she dropped the phone on the couch.

  “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you more.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Maura

  I let out a long breath before I stepped inside the café where my father had asked me to meet him. It had been a month since the last time I’d seen him. It would go down as the worst night of my life to date and hopefully, I’d never experience anything like it again.

  We’d spoken on the phone a few times, and he’d expressed his remorse. I felt it in every bone in my body. But seeing him face-to-face would tell me a lot. My mother had offered to come mediate, but I’d declined. Crew had ridden with me in the car with Brad and he was most likely conducting his meetings in the back seat nearby. That was my boyfriend.

  The man was protective and supportive and fierce when it came to me.

  And I loved everything about him.

  But he also understood that I needed to do this on my own.

  My father had apparently reached out to Crew as well. He called him at the office and asked if they could meet for coffee. To my surprise, Crew had agreed and they were meeting next week. He’d been seeing Judy regularly, and he’d come a long way. He knew that Belle wouldn’t want him holding on to past angers. Crew believed that the only way to heal and move forward was to work through it. And he knew repairing my relationship with my father was important to me, so he’d make the effort.

  I looked up to see my father sitting at a back table and he waved. He looked lighter. Less intense. A look of the madness in his gaze the last time I saw him flashed through my mind. I moved toward the table, and he pushed to his feet.

  “Hey, Dad,” I said, standing there awkwardly, unsure what to do.

  “Hey, darlin’. Thanks for meeting me here.” He leaned forward and hugged me. It wasn’t uncomfortable. I sank into him, disappointed at myself for how badly I wanted things to go back to normal. What did that even mean? We had to find our new normal. The one that included the memory of him hitting me. The awareness that he had a daughter who he’d yet to reach out to as far as I knew.

  Tears streamed down my face, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We just stood in the middle of the café hugging and he didn’t move away. I finally pulled back to look up at him and was stunned to see the emotion behind his hazel eyes.

  He held his hand out for me to take a seat. “I ordered your favorite sweet tea.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I sat in the chair, and he did the same.

  He stared at me for a moment before speaking. “I messed up.”

  My father had never been big on apologies or admitting he was wrong. We actually teased him about it over the years because even the little things were hard for him to own up to. If he left his dirty socks in the kitchen, he would just blame Alice for not picking them up. If he was late to pick my mother up for dinner, he would blame someone from work.

  The man was never wrong.

  So as easy as those three little words were for most people to say, it was a huge stride for my father. My hand moved to my cheek at his words, and though the external bruises had faded, there were a whole lot of bruises buried beneath.

  He’d slapped me.

  He’d called me a whore.

  He’d turned his back on Piper after I’d informed him about her.

  He’d cheated and lied to my mother.

  He’d treated the Carlisle family horribly.

  He’d leaked a story to destroy the man I loved most in the world.

  “What does that mean?” I asked. I wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily this time. We had a lot of work to do, and I was willing to do it if he was willing to meet me halfway.

  “It means that I’ve made a lot of mistakes. First and foremost, I want to apologize for slapping you. I don’t remember the outburst, and that’s not an excuse. It’s the God’s honest truth. I was clearly out of my mind. Your mother told me what happened, and I want you to know that I have not had a sip of alcohol in twenty-nine days, nor do I plan to return to my destructive lifestyle.”

  I nodded. My mother and father were currently living apart and seeing a therapist three times a week. I didn’t know if they would ever get back together, but they were trying to move forward the best they could. I blamed myself for all that had happened the first few weeks, but I’d come to learn that their problems ran much deeper than what happened between my father and me. Addy had been my sounding board, as she’d been through a lot of hurt with her mother. She’d reminded me more times than I could count that everyone had their struggles. But if you cared enough to keep trying, things could always get better.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re taking steps to be healthier.” I sipped my tea and we paused when the server came over and took our order before she stepped away.

  “I’ve really made a mess of thi
ngs, darlin’. I’ve reached out to Piper’s mother and asked if it would be okay for me to meet with her. I want to have her permission before I reach out to Piper. I’m ashamed of the way that I handled things. From the moment you told me I had a daughter that I didn’t know about—I spiraled. I was afraid your mama would leave me. I haven’t been a perfect husband,” he said, and I choked on my water and tried to cover it with a cough.

  Um. That’s a massive understatement.

  He shrugged. “I’ve been a shitty husband, but I’ve always loved my wife. I didn’t appreciate her the way I should have, and these past few weeks apart have been miserable for me. I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me, but I’m going to do whatever I can to make things right.”

  “You could have talked to me about the fact that you were surprised and scared. But instead, you acted cold and showed no remorse for missing out on twenty years of her life. And you asked me to keep that secret for you. Do you know what that did to me?”

  “I started drinking heavily after you told me. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Call it fear or call it cowardly.” He reached for his glass of water.

  “I would call it both,” I admitted.

  “Fair enough. I started mixing booze with prescription drugs just to push the mess away. I’d never done that before, and it clearly only made things worse. Losing your mama, not responding to Piper’s letter, those are horrible in themselves. But the fact that I physically hurt you and called you vile names, it’s inexcusable.”

  I nodded, pushing the enormous lump in my throat down the best I could. A tear broke free again and I swiped at it with the back of my hand.

  “Every man has a rock bottom, Maura. And I’ve hit mine. I’m going to do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness. I want to be in your life in whatever capacity you’ll have me.” He looked up as the server set our plates down in front of us.

  I wanted to believe him. It was most definitely the first time I’d ever seen my father humbled. Maybe losing everyone around him was the wake-up call he needed. He’d taken a leave from the company and allowed my brothers to run it for now. All of these moves were unprecedented, and my mother, Wes, Lyle, and I were all surprised by it.