by Amy Sparling
“I’ll miss her,” Riley says. “But not anyone else from that place.”
The two mile drive from the group home to my uncle’s house is so much faster when you’re in a car instead of walking. I kind of miss the walk. I’ve taken it so many times in my life, sometimes meeting Riley halfway so we could hang out, other times sneaking over there late at night to tell her something that couldn’t wait until the next day at school.
“This is the end of an era,” I say once we’re in my old room.
“And the start of an amazing future,” Riley adds. She pulls the black suitcase from the hall closet and drops it on my couch bed. Seeing the thing makes something twist up inside of me. Uncle Will bought it for me when he first took me from the home. I’d needed something to hold my clothes and the few toys I had, and he bought it for me. It was one of the first things anyone ever bought me that wasn’t second hand from a thrift shop.
I let out the breath I’d been holding and move to my dresser. “Let’s do this.”
Once all my things are packed, I survey the rest of the room. The living room that’s been turned into my room for the last six years. The stuffed elephant from the pier stares at me from my dresser, its little stitched on smile asking if I’m going to take him with me or throw him in the trash.
“We can’t forget this little cutie,” Riley says, grabbing him and placing him in the suitcase.
“Not yet,” I say. I put him back on the dresser. “Let him stay out for tonight.”
She has no idea what happened on that plane, I realize. No clue that the hot guy from the pier is also the asshole we’ll be working with for the next year.
I’m about to tell her when someone taps on the wall next to the sheet that divides my room from the hallway.
“What’s all that noise?” Uncle Will says.
“Come in,” I say, pulling open the fabric makeshift door. “I have really great news.”
Also, I’m happy to avoid thinking of Theo for the time being.
My uncle gazes around my room, his eyes landing on the suitcase. “You got the apartment?”
“Even better. We got the job.”
His eyebrows shoot to the top of his forehead. I guess even he thought we had no chance of landing an awesome job. “That’s good,” he says, nodding to himself. “Really good. When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. I’m just getting everything packed up here.”
“Make sure to tell me goodbye before you leave,” he says, pointing a finger at me. For a second I think he might get emotional, like maybe he realizes he’ll miss having me around. It makes my stomach hurt, seeing him indecisive like that, because even though we’re not the closest relatives ever, he saved me from that group home. He took me in when he didn’t need to, and I’ll forever be grateful.
“Thanks for everything, Uncle Will.”
He waves my word away with his hand. “It was nothing,” he says. It looks like he wants to say something else, but then he smiles. “I’ll order pizza for dinner.”
Chapter 13
That stupid elephant stares at me from my dresser. Everyone in the house is asleep but me. The lights are out, only the soft glow from the porch light outside drifting in through the slats in my window. I can’t see much of anything, just a little baseball sized shadow where I know the elephant is sitting, waiting patiently for me to make my decision.
Do I take him with me or does he go in the trash?
I throw an arm over my eyes. I don’t have to look at the time on my phone because I checked it a few minutes ago. It’s two in the morning, and I haven’t fallen asleep yet. Riley has been passed out since eleven, having fallen asleep while we watched a movie on my laptop.
I lean over and look at her. She’s balled up tightly on top of a pile of blankets. Her face is serene, her breathing steady. I would be as content as she is if not for Theo.
If not for my shattered heart.
For the millionth time tonight, I wonder why I’m so unbelievably pathetic. Once you find out a guy is a total ass, you should just shove him out of your mind forever. You should drop him. Forget him. Maybe stab a voodoo doll while thinking of his gorgeous amber eyes, the sharp lines of his face, the rough but gentle way he grabbed you in an embrace.
I sit up, shoving the blankets off me because I’m entirely too hot. I hate everything.
“Riley.” I nudge her back with my toes. “Riley, wake up.”
She stirs, and then because years of living in a group home has made her a light sleeper, she’s awake, pushing up on her knees. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sleep.”
She rolls her eyes. “So don’t sleep.”
“It’s more than that.” As much as I’ve tried to make myself stay mad about Theo, the hurt he’s caused me is trickling in like the rising tide. I’m not just mad. I’m broken.
We’d felt so right together.
We were right together.
How could I have been wrong?
I look over at the elephant. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
As much as it hurts to relive my two days with Theo, I tell Riley everything. From the Ferris wheel ride to almost taking things too far on his hotel room bed. I tell her about the connection we had, the strange pull from my heart when I was near him, like even my soul wanted us to be together.
She listens like the best friend she is, not judging, not interrupting. When I get to the part where I saw him on the plane earlier today, she grabs my hand, her eyes wide.
My heart had been wounded before, but now, sharing all of these things out loud makes them feel even more real. My heart rips in half when I describe the anger in his eyes, the resentment he showed when I said I was taking the job no matter what he wanted me to do.
She squeezes my hands. “Oh, Cara. This is awful.”
I don’t remember when I started crying, but my cheeks are streaming with tears. “I know.”
Riley moves closer to me, her knees pulled up to her chest while she rests her head on my shoulder. “How did you go so long without telling me?”
“I guess I thought I could get over it. I mean, the job is so important and we need it. I can’t just bail because of Theo.” Saying his name makes another piece of my heart break off.
I know exactly where the term heart break comes from now. It is more painful than any physical injury I’ve ever had.
“How could he have been so sweet one day and then so mean the next?” Riley shakes her head. “That just doesn’t make sense. Maybe he was mad about something else and he just took it out on you.”
“It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t want anything to do with me. As soon as I saw him on that plane, I almost burst into happy tears because I immediately pictured spending the next year with him.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “I was so stupid I even told him I’d be his trophy assistant.” My cheeks burn with embarrassment. “God, I’m so pathetic. He doesn’t want me. He has another girlfriend back at home. She’s probably way prettier than I am.”
“Don’t even go there,” Riley says, looking at me. “You are insanely hot. You’re a catch, you hear me, Cara Blackwell?”
I can’t help but smile at the look she gives me. “I don’t know about that.”
“It’s true. You can’t be hard on yourself just because some douche bag screwed you over. You deserve better. You’ll find better, okay? And then you can flaunt your hot new man in front of him.”
I laugh. “That’s not very mature.”
“So what? Revenge is sweet.”
I pick at my cuticles, wishing I could be as carefree and determined as Riley is. “I don’t know how I’m going to survive this. I know it sounds stupid but…he was so perfect. He felt so…real. Now it’s like I don’t trust anything anymore. If my heart could lead me so far astray, how can I ever trust it again?”
She levels a serious look at me. “What do you want to do?”
“There’s nothing I can do.” I take a deep bre
ath. “I just have to get over it.”
Riley stands up and paces the room, her thumbnail between her teeth while she thinks. “We can back out.”
“We signed a contract.”
I’m not proud to admit it, but I spent the first two hours of the night trying to come up with ways to get out of going to Austin tomorrow. I’d even gone so far as to consider breaking into a jewelry store so I’d be arrested. In jail your rent is paid for and your meals are included.
Of course, that would be a horrible solution to having my heart broken. “We can’t get out of this,” I say, shaking my head. “We have to go. It’s still the best option for our future. I just have to stop thinking about him.”
“It’ll get easier as time goes on,” she assures me. “I mean, I wouldn’t know from experience, but people always say that. Time heals all, and what not.”
“Maybe I’m crazy,” I say, looking into my lap. I almost shut my mouth so Riley doesn’t hear me say the stupidest most insane thing I’ve ever thought. But Riley knows me, all of me, and not telling her would be lying. “Part of me still doesn’t believe what happened. Like… I keep thinking maybe I imagined that Theo was so angry. He did kiss me back like he meant it. I could see it in his eyes, Riley. I felt it down to my soul. He liked me as much as I liked him, and then something changed, and he was mad at me, telling me to leave.” My face crumples up in confusion. “Who does that? What is that?”
She’s still chewing on her thumbnail. “I don’t know. But if you want me to tell you there’s hope for him coming back, I won’t. Any guy who treats you like that doesn’t deserve your attention.”
“But I felt it,” I say, unable to stop remembering what it was like when our eyes met, that tingle of energy that ran between us. It was like I’d known him my whole life.
And then, with no warning, Theo told me to go home.
Riley drops to her knees in front of me, taking my hands in hers. I can’t see her eyes very well from the darkness in the room, but I know she’s in her rare serious form. “Cara. If you don’t want to take this job, we’ll get out of it. I’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll get an apartment and we’ll get another job here in Sterling. Just say the word.”
“You’re the best friend in the world,” I whisper, tears still rolling down my cheeks. Regret flashes across her face, but she stays strong, refusing to back away from her word even though I know she wants to take this job more than she wants anything.
“You really are the best,” I say, wiping away my tears. “But we’re taking this job.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “I’ll get over Theo. Besides,” I say, laying back down and pulling the blankets up to my chin. “We have nowhere else to go.”
Chapter 14
The next morning I wake up with a peacefulness that only comes from sleep. It takes a few minutes before all the dread over Theo and the excitement over my new job comes back to me. It’s a force of nature, the two opposing emotions fighting for space in my mind. One thing is for sure though, today is the start of an entirely new life.
Riley’s voice filters in from the kitchen. I sit up and look around, finding that she’s already folded up the blankets she slept on and put them at the foot of my couch where they normally are, waiting for her to sleep over again. Only I’m not sure what will happen to them now that we’re leaving.
My uncle laughs at whatever she says. There’s a smell of toast in the air, so I’m guessing Rachael isn’t here today to make one of her amazing breakfasts. I get up and throw on the jeans and t-shirt I picked out the night before, which are now the only items I own that aren’t tucked away in my suitcase.
As I’m buttoning my jeans, my eyes land on the elephant. Pain soars through my chest, making each beat of my heart feel like a little stab of agony. It’s really not the elephant’s fault, now is it? He’s just a cute, super soft little animal. He doesn’t deserve to be tossed in the trash, where he’d be covered in dirt and rotten food and God knows what else.
This is how I rationalize taking him with me.
Keeping the elephant is simply a kind act saving this inanimate thing from the dumpster. It’s not because I’m so pathetic I can’t let Theo go even though he’s totally an asshole.
It’s not like that at all.
Riley looks as though she’s never seen a stressful day in her life. Her brown hair is swept back in a sleek ponytail, those wispy bangs she cut herself are parted in the middle and hanging down. She’s wearing black leggings, her combat boots, and a silver sparkly tank top.
“Good morning, sunshine,” she says when I walk in the kitchen. “You were sleeping so peacefully I didn’t want to wake you up.”
“Thanks,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. Staying up most of the night stressing out really does help you sleep in the early morning hours.
“Riley makes the best coffee,” Uncle Will says from his seat at the kitchen table. He takes a sip from his coffee mug and nods, as if to reaffirm the fact. “Why did she have to go and leave right after I discovered this fact? I should have had her making my coffee every morning.”
“I’ll show you how I did it,” she says with a laugh. “I’m also an excellent toast maker but no one’s complementing that.”
“Dork,” I say, rolling my eyes. Some toast pops up from the toaster and Riley puts it on a plate, then hands it to me. There’s three kinds of jams and butter on the table. Toast and jam is one of our favorite breakfasts because it’s easy and requires no cooking skills at all.
I sit next to Uncle Will, trying not to feel sad about how this is the last time we’ll have breakfast here together. Even though we’re both moving on to better things, it is a little sad, in a way.
Riley makes me a cup of coffee and then sits down while we eat. “You’re not going to eat?” I ask, pointing a piece of toast at her.
“I’ve had a ton already,” she says, cupping her mug close to her lips. “I’ve been up over an hour.”
“I would say it’ll be quiet around here with you girls gone,” Uncle Will says. He looks thoughtfully around the small kitchen, his lips dipping into a frown. “But really, at Rachael’s house, her kid is louder than both of you ever were.” He chuckles.
“Oh shit,” Riley says, looking at the time on her phone. She looks up at me, excitement dancing in her eyes. “Our car will be here soon!”
My stomach flutters. It’s almost time.
When the limo pulls up to the front of the house, Uncle Will carries my suitcase to the door for me.
“Cara,” he says, just before I step off the porch. I turn back to him and he pulls me into a hug. “You be careful, you hear?”
I nod, hugging him back. “I will.”
“I’m just a call away if you need anything,” he says with a thin smile. “Preferably don’t need money because I don’t have much of that.”
I laugh. “No worries. We’ll be fine. Good luck with selling the house.”
“Thanks, Cara.”
He stands on the porch and watches until our limo turns down the end of the road.
“I’m so excited,” Riley says, laying her head back in the seat to look at the roof of the car. “I can barely function, I’m so excited.”
I nod along, but I’m not sure how I feel. I think I might be so overwhelmed with every kind of emotion and it’s somehow turned me into a zombie who feels everything and nothing at once.
But even I can’t ignore that one feeling is louder than the rest of them.
What will I do when I see Theo?
The limo’s tires crackle over the asphalt at the airport. More people are here today. Two cars are parked near the tower, and the massive metal door of the nearby hangar is opened, revealing a few small personal planes. None of them are as big as the private jet that still sits on the runway.
My stomach twists into knots as our driver loads up our bags onto the back of a golf cart. As much as I don’t want to, I’m counting down the minutes until I see T
heo again…
We ride up to the jet, we get out. My legs are jelly as I walk toward the stairs, much slower than Riley whose excitement is practically floating her up each one.
Henry greets us at the top of the stairs. He’s wearing a crisp black suit and holding a glass of whiskey in one hand.
“Good morning, Riley,” he says, stepping back so she can get on. “Good morning, Cara.”
“Good morning,” I say. If he notices how damn nervous I am, he doesn’t say anything.
The jet is full of people, which makes me stop cold then I get to the top of the stairs. I recognize Kyle, and two of the other guys from yesterday sitting up near the front. A football game is on the television and they’re watching it absentimdendly while talking about other stuff.
Three beautiful girls are also here. They all look older than me.
“Hi,” Riley says, walking right up to them. “Are you new hires, too?”
The first one, the leggy girl with tanned skin and beautiful cascading hair, gives us both a look like we’re something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. “Yes,” she says finally.
It is clear she doesn’t want anything to do with us. And I can see why. She and the other two are arguably more beautiful than Riley and I could ever be. A rock settles in my stomach.
Why did they hire us instead of more girls who look like them?
Riley doesn’t seem to mind. “Come on,” she says, slipping into one of the two chairs in the back row and pointing for me to sit in the seat next to her.
“Now that everyone is here, we’ll be taking off shortly,” Henry says. The stairs rise up and lock into place behind him. “Everyone, put on your seatbelt for the takeoff, then you’ll be free to move around. And to my new recruits,” he says, turning a pleased smile to the five of us, “Welcome to the Rosewater Clan.”
“Clan?” Riley mouths, her brows pulled together. They were called Rosewater Industries on the contract we signed.