“I… didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”
Something flickered in her eyes and Colton found himself not believing her. It was too much of a coincidence that the day he ran into her sister was the day Cara returned.
Colton felt tag teamed and he didn’t like it.
“I need to take Zoe home,” he said flatly.
“Okay, I know,” Cara said softly. “I just wanted to stop by to see how things were—and to see if you’d give me a few minutes. I’d… like to talk about what happened, why I….” Her voice trailed off. With a moment of silence, Pepper jumped up, her front paws pressed Colton’s chest as she licked his chin. “Down, Pepper,” Cara scolded gently. The dog dropped down and spun between them, whipping Colton’s legs with her tail. She finally sat with a disgruntled yowl and sniffed his pant legs. “Can we talk, Colton?”
“Why don’t you just tell me what you want to tell me now?” Cara seemed flustered by that, she blinked a few times and looked around.
“I thought maybe we could get dinner or something—lunch if you prefer. This is longer than a five minute conversation, Colton. You deserve to hear everything,” she reached out and wrapped her cool fingers around his elbow. Her fingers were always cold. “I’m sorry to just barge into your life, Colt, I am…. I just want to have a chance to really explain to you; to talk to you.”
“You’ve had eleven months, Cara,” Colton pulled his arm free from her grasp and stepped back. “I need to take Zoe home. We can talk later—unless you’re planning on running off again.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Colton,” she responded calmly.
Colton stared into her eyes for a second longer and then turned and left, ignoring Pepper as she yipped and followed with a happy wag of her tail. Colton closed the back door so it wouldn’t catch Pepper’s snout and then headed toward his truck. He wasn’t sure of what he was going to tell Zoe. He did want to hear Cara’s explanation for why she thought it necessary to humiliate him as she had, but he didn’t want to sacrifice what he had growing with Zoe. He honestly didn’t think his heart held Cara at the same regard that she was at once, but the moment he saw her, he felt uncertain of even that. Even though he had been wrapped up in the feeling of Zoe around him, for an instant his body responded to the site of Cara.
He hated that natural response—it made him feel weak.
Pulling open the driver’s door, he slid into the truck.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I…”
He was alone.
Zoe’s seat was empty and her bag was gone. Colton cursed and hit the steering wheel. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed her number. As the phone connected, Colton prayed silently that she’d pick up and talk to him. He felt so disconnected—he needed to hear her voice just for a moment. He needed something to root him to the ground.
“Hi, you’ve reached Zoe…” the message started automatically.
Colton hung up and dialed again, it didn’t even ring once, her voice mail kicked on and he remembered that her phone was probably still waterlogged from its swim in the fountain. Frustrated he banged his head against the steering wheel until he was certain that he’d have a bruise. Sinking back against the seat he stared out the windshield at nothing in particular.
He’d messed things up royally with Zoe—he’d pushed too far in his work room and then Cara had come. It didn’t escape him what had happened, Becky was a busybody. She must have called Cara the moment after she caught him kissing Zoe at the Jensen estate.
Cara must have been in town for a while—if she took Pepper to Paris, the dog would have to face a 10-day mandatory quarantine before she was released. Cara would never approach him without that damn dog; she knew that Pepper was his Achilles’ heel. She’d planned all of this. Perhaps not finding him so intimately embraced with Zoe on a worktable that he and Cara had gone several rounds themselves. He should feel smugly satisfied by that, but he didn’t, he felt like a shmuck.
He sat in his truck for about an hour thinking about everything that had happened inside.
He tired to dissect every movement Zoe made as well as the meaning hidden behind Cara’s gentle blue gaze. And he tried his hardest to pull the words Zoe had whispered from his memory, but he hadn’t heard her clearly and was only speculating and perhaps hoping that she had told him she loved him.
Colton rubbed the bridge of his nose and then accessed Minnie’s number and connected the call. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to tell his sister. Words didn’t seem adequate to explain what had happened in the shop. How could he tell his little sister that he’d been inappropriate with Zoe and hadn’t even had the thought to ignore Cara completely and drive Zoe home the minute he had Zoe in his truck?
He was an idiot.
“Hi,” Minnie’s quiet voice whispered.
“Hey, Minnie,” he sighed. “What are you doing?”
“Um… nothing,” she said cryptically. “Hang on.” Through the muffling of the phone, Colton heard her whispering to someone. After a minute, Minnie came back at him full force. “Colton!”
“Are you with Zoe already?” Colton asked his heart racing. “Is she okay?”
“Fine,” Minnie answered a little too quickly. “She’s fine.”
“I don’t believe you,” Colton groaned. He slouched lower in his seat and rubbed his eyes.
“Can I talk to her?”
“No,” Minnie answered with a heavy sigh. “She just stopped crying, if you must know.” Colton slouched down lower and pressed his lips together.
“Colton, you need to either fix things with Cara or end things once and for all,” Minnie said insistently. “You cannot drag Zoe though this emotional rollercoaster anymore—
she’s too vulnerable for that! Really she is. I know that neither of you did this to fall for one another, but I think it’s safe to say that you both have. Right?” Colton nodded.
“Right?” Minnie asked again, firmer this time.
“Yes,” Colton forced out. “Yes, you’re right.”
“You’re not emotionally available, Colt,” Minnie said. “You’re physically there, but that’s not what either of you need. Look, I’m just asking that you figure out things with that stupid whore before you come knocking on Zoe’s door. No rhyme intended.” Colton smiled despite his desire to frown and perhaps cry. “Yeah, you’re right. I just… I didn’t want to end my day with Zoe this way.”
“I’m sure you both planned it to end with fireworks,” Minnie grumbled, “this is a blessing in disguise—it’s way too early for you two to hop into bed together. Zoe’s…” Minnie’s voice disappeared for a moment before she sighed, “Zoe’s fresh, if you know what I mean.”
“I know,” Colton said quickly. “Okay, I’m going to deal with Cara and I’m going to get what I want.”
“Which is?” Minnie asked.
Colton slouched down even more and stared at the drooping ceiling liner above his head.
“I thought I knew the answer to that question ten minutes ago, Minnie.”
“Yeah—you’re not the only one,” she said. “I gotta go, my best friend needs me.
Colton?”
“Yeah?”
“Please, please, please be sure this time,” Minnie said. “Even if you need to get back together with Cara to really see what a horrible, rotten, shit face she is, I want you to be certain of what you want. And if you really do want Cara, then I think you and Zoe could still be great friends—after a while. Not right away. She’ll have to have time to get over you first.”
Colton sighed and closed his eyes.
“Well… you know I love you, Colt,” Minnie said. “Just… figure out what you want, okay?”
“Yeah, look sis, can you tell Zoe that—”
“No,” Minnie interrupted firmly. “I’m not eight years old anymore, bro, I don’t play telephone. Gotta run.”
She hung up on him before he could convince her to te
ll Zoe that he was sorry. He hung up the phone and tossed it to the empty seat beside him. His stomach grumbled with hunger pangs long forgotten. He needed to go lock the back door, but he didn’t want to have to face Cara if she was still lingering in the shop. So he called Jamie and asked her to lock up for him and then hung up before she could question him about Cara. He drove blindly to O’Shea’s, his mind torn between Zoe and Cara. After six beers, the war in his conscious was at a stand still and he could focus on the stats of the day’s ball games.
By the time he left the bar, Mac O’Shea had his truck keys and put him in the back of a happy cab. As the cab bounced along the streets of Manhattan, mileage ticking away on the monitor mounted to the dash, Colton realized that he was certain of one more thing.
He was one huge, unhappy lump of indecision, confusion, and heartache.
The next afternoon Colton entered the shop through the front door. Jamie was shocked to see him come in since he normally entered through the back, but for some reason, in his hung-over state, he hadn’t wanted to look at his worktable. He kept his sunglasses on, not that it helped with the pulsing pain in his head, or hid the fact that he was still hungover from the shots he’d had at his place before bed. He walked up to the counter and looked in the display cases to see what flower arrangements they had. None would be adequate enough to send to Zoe. He stepped away from the counter and looked through the buckets of fresh flowers.
“Colton, you look like you’re about to pass out,” Jamie said gently. “I didn’t think you were coming in today.”
“I need to send flowers to someone; can you put some together for me?”
“Of course,” Jamie nodded. “What ever you need—we’re a little slow today. But Allison is already out making deliveries.”
“Um… okay, where’s Ryan?”
“Sick with strep throat,” Jamie answered. “You could send Preston.” Colton snorted and shook his head no. Both actions caused his head to pulse.
“Can you put lilies and tulips together?” he asked. “Do they look good?”
“Um… sure,” Jamie stammered. “Are you seeking specific meaning in the flowers?”
“No… I just want it to be beautiful—she likes lilies.” He said.
“For Minnie’s friend,” Jamie nodded and began gathering flowers. “Do you want a bouquet or an arrangement? Should I call Allison back for the delivery or are you going to handle it?” Colton knew Zoe probably didn’t want to see him at that point, but he hadn’t stopped thinking about her all morning. He needed to see her.
“I’ll take it,” he said. “Make it a bouquet. Do we have wrapping paper?”
“Sure, it’s behind the counter here—do you need something wrapped?”
“Yeah, but I can do it,” he walked behind the counter and took the new cell phone he’d bought Zoe from the AT&T bag. Jamie saw it and gasped.
“An iPhone?” She asked. “Wow, Colton.”
“Is it too much?” He asked. He knew Zoe’s old phone wasn’t anything as extravagant, but he’d wanted to get her the best. A phone that would hopefully stand up to her slightly clumsy nature. Maybe it was a sad way to apologize, but he’d bought it none the less.
“It’s really nice,” Jamie answered. “Here, scissors and tape.” As she started working on the bouquet, Colton did his best to wrap the cell phone, but he struggled with the tape and ripped the wrapping paper. As he was working the bells chimed as the door swung open. He wasn’t at all surprised to see Cara breeze through the door. She was wearing a little white cotton dress and yellow high heels. Her hair was pulled back in a low pony tail and she smelled of that intoxicating apple perfume. She adjusted her purse on her shoulder and hesitantly approached the counter. She looked amazing, as always, just as perfectly put together as her sister and the rest of her family.
“Hi Jamie,” Cara said.
“Hey, Cara,” Jamie smiled. “I’m just helping Colton with something and then we can go get lunch. Um… is that okay, Colton?”
“Of course,” he answered automatically.
Cara smiled and leaned against the counter; she watched him struggle with a piece of tape and laughed. Her light laugh, flirty laugh was nothing compared to Zoe’s boisterous chuckle. He wasn’t sure which laugh he preferred more. He held his breath as she reached out and plucked the twisted tape from his finger. He didn’t like the electric bolts that jerked up his wrist from the slightest touch of her fingers. He pulled another piece of tape off and carefully placed it on the paper. He didn’t wrap things pretty and precisely as she used to, but he didn’t care. The paper was usually torn off, unless your name was Mallory Philips and then you carefully peeled off tape in order t reuse the paper. His gift to Zoe didn’t need to have immaculate creases that looked steamed to perfection.
He grabbed one of the little cards from the turning display that sat between himself and Cara and grabbed a pen.
“Colton, that’s a condolences card,” Cara said softly.
He looked at the front of it, tossed it aside and grabbed a pink one with a heart on it. He glanced at her to see what she thought of that and saw that her blue eyes were glued to him. He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the blank inside of the card. He had no clue what to write Zoe; no apology seemed good enough. With a shaking hand he wrote:
Z, sorry about your phone—I bought you this one to replace it. I’m going to figure this
out, I promise. Call you soon, -C.
It didn’t seem affectionate enough, but he couldn’t write anymore with Cara staring at him like that. He put the card in an envelope and wrote Zoe’s name across the front. He then taped it to the present. He reached for a spool of ribbon, stared at it dumbly for a moment, and then put it back.
“Colton,” Cara said lightly. “Can we meet somewhere for dinner tonight? To talk?” He looked back at her and gulped at the lump growing in his throat. She was bent over in such a way that he all he could see was her cleavage. Cara always had great breasts. He was glad that he wore sunglasses so she couldn’t see that his eyes had drifted lower than her face, but she must have assumed he had because when he met her eyes again, she was grinning.
“I’m busy,” he said simply.
“Come on, Colton,” Cara said earnestly. “I know you’re not busy—you’re avoiding me.
You always avoid things that are difficult and uncomfortable. I know I have no right to ask you to—”
“You’re right, Cara, you have no right to ask me for anything,” Colton snapped. She didn’t seem put off or startled by his tone; she simply stared at him calmly and then looked down at her nails. He saw her twist her engagement ring around her finger before she looked back at him. “Where have you been? Paris?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I can tell you all about it over dinner—if you let me. Wouldn’t you rather spend an evening with me and let me explain things to you? I should have done it a long time ago, but it’s never to late to say your sorry.” Pretty tears filled her eyes making them bluer than normal. Colton breathed slowly in and out of his nose, but it did nothing to calm his racing heart. “It’s never too late to say that I’ve made one of the biggest mistakes of my life—is it?”
Colton noticed Jamie slipping away. He swallowed hard and turned to his employee; his voice came out tight and rushed, “Is the bouquet done?”
“Um… no,” Jamie stammered. “I was just going to go to the bathroom really quick.”
“Could you finish them first?” Colton asked. No way in hell did he want to be left alone with Cara—he wasn’t ready for that. Jamie nodded and returned to work.
“I know you don’t believe me,” Cara said softly. “It’s been so long—almost a year… I…
please Colton, its only dinner. A second chance?”
Colton frowned. “Fine… I’ll have dinner with you, Cara.”
“Great,” she sighed. “Tomorrow? I’m staying at the Hilton until I can get an apartment—
we could have dinner in the restaura
nt there.”
“Yeah, fine,” Colton said quickly.
“Seven?”
He nodded and looked at Jamie. “Done yet?”
“Nearly,” Jamie nodded her hands working fast.
“Great, thanks, Colton,” Cara said reaching across the counter she grasped his hand and squeezed his fingers. He stared at the diamonds in her engagement ring and wondered if she’d kept it on the entire time or if it had been put in a box somewhere far out of sight—
just as he had been. Her thumb gently caressed his knuckles and caused his arm hairs to stand on end. She released him when the shop door swung open the bells jingling. Colton turned his attention on the new customer and felt his stomach kick hard.
Paige looked directly at him and then walked toward the counter. He didn’t know what to expect from her since her face gave him no indication of what she was thinking or feeling. She seemed very laid back, passive almost. As she moved slowly her shoulders pulled back by her heavy bag, her eyes darted from him to Cara. For a second he thought he saw her pink lips press together in a firm line, but she still showed no emotion on her face. She stared up at Cara with interest and assessing eyes.
“You’re very pretty,” Paige told her.
Cara was taken aback by the flattery, she smiled down at Paige. “Why… that was very nice, thank you.” Paige shrugged her bony shoulder and continued to stare at Cara. Cara glanced at Colton as Paige’s scrutiny continued and after a moment she laughed lightly, clearly uncomfortable. “Um… your hair style is very nice—very now.” Paige’s fingers moved up to her hairline, she pulled at the spastic pieces of red hair that had been gelled calm. She then pushed her glasses up her nose and shrugged her shoulder again, “It was nicer last week, before my mom chopped it off in a drunken rage.” Cara’s mouth fell open in response. Colton would have laughed had he been feeling better and wasn’t in the situation that he now was. Paige’s situation with her mother wasn’t funny necessarily, but she’d spoke in such a dead, monotone voice, it almost seemed like a joke.
Paige continued after a moment of awkward silence: “I’ve never really cared much for superficial trends either. You know, fancy jewelry, Vuitton bags—” Colton noticed Cara push her purse back so Paige couldn’t see that it was a Vuitton “—designer clothes, priced astronomically high, fancy, impractical city shoes. People spend so much money on material things.
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