by SJ McCoy
She stared at her phone, but it didn’t ring. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She was being silly. She needed to go take a shower and get herself dressed and ready for the day—whatever the day might hold.
He still hadn’t called her back by the time she was dressed. Now she was getting really worried. She tried him again, but it went straight to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message this time. He knew she wanted to talk to him. Instead she called Cassidy.
“Hey, chica.”
“Hi. I don’t suppose you or Shane have heard from Carter this morning have you?”
“Uh-oh. What’s up? He did stop by here early this morning. Shane was on his way out and I wasn’t even dressed. They talked outside. Why, what’s going on?”
“Maybe nothing. I don’t know. But I need to talk to him and he’s not answering me. He left before I woke up, and he wasn’t right last night.”
“What wasn’t he right about?”
“Ugh. All the stuff with Autumn. I think he thinks it’s all his fault.”
“How could anything to do with Autumn be his fault?”
“Because if I was still there, Autumn would be fine. The reason I’m not there is because I’m here with him.”
“That’s not true though, is it? You don’t want to sing anymore. That’s got nothing to do with being with him.”
“No, but he doesn’t get that. All he sees is that I’m staying here because of him. I’m scared that he’s taken off again.”
Cassidy sighed. “Sit tight. You sound like shit. I’m coming over. It might all be nothing, but I’d rather you were writing this down than speaking.”
“Thanks.” Summer’s throat felt as though it was closing up. She didn’t know what Cassidy could do, any more than she knew what she herself could do, but it would be good to have her friend here.
~ ~ ~
Cassidy grabbed her car keys and pulled her cell phone out to call Shane.
“What did Carter want this morning?” she asked when he picked up.
“Hello, my love, how nice of you to call to see how I’m doing.”
She laughed. “Asshole! I’m sorry, okay? I’m worried. Summer just called me in a panic because he took off without saying anything this morning.”
“Ah.”
“Ah, what? What does that mean? He’s not headed for the hills again, is he?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh, shit. What’s his deal?”
“He doesn’t want to screw things up for Summer and her sister. He thinks if he takes himself out of the picture she’ll go back to Nashville and everything will be okay.”
Cassidy sighed. “Except Summer would be heart broken.”
“And so would he.”
“And Autumn would feel like shit that they broke up because of her.”
“Yup. I did try to tell him all of that this morning, you know.”
“But you didn’t get through?”
“He’s shut down.”
“But he hasn’t left?”
“No, but he’s thinking about it.”
“So what do we do?”
Shane was quiet for a long moment.
“What?”
“I don’t know. I mean, is it really our place to do anything? I want to help them out, but I don’t want to interfere.”
“Shane! We have to do something!”
“I had a feeling you might say that, but what exactly do we do? I’m open to suggestions.”
Cassidy thought about it. “Do we go find him and try to talk some sense into him?”
“Only if you want him to hightail it out of town.”
She sighed.
“Listen, why don’t you go see Summer? I’ll see if I can catch up with Carter.”
“Okay, thanks. Call me when you know anything?”
“Will do.”
Cassidy hung up and headed for her car. She wasn’t sure that they’d accomplished anything. Shane had already talked to Carter this morning. She still wasn’t sure she really understood what was going on with Autumn that meant Summer should go back to Nashville anyway. She decided to call her before she went to Summer’s place, to see if she could get a clearer picture of what was going on.
“Hey, Cassidy.” Autumn sounded surprised to hear from her.
“Hey. Is everything okay with you?”
Autumn sighed. “No, but don’t tell my sister that.”
“What’s going on?”
“Ashley’s trying to run me out. She doesn’t like that I’m working so well with Matt. I think she sees me as a threat, so she’s trying to keep me locked down to only working with Summer.”
“And she doesn’t like the fact that Summer’s not going to be there for you to work with?”
“Not one bit. She’s trying to make sure she comes back whether she can sing or not. Is she okay? She sounded terrible when I talked to her.”
“She’s not okay, but not just her voice. Carter seems to have gotten it into his head that he’s screwing things up for the two of you. He thinks the best thing he can do is take himself out of the picture so Summer can come back to Nashville.”
Autumn gave a harsh laugh. “That wouldn’t solve anything. It wouldn’t bring Summer’s voice back. It wouldn’t get Ashley off my case, but it would break Summer’s heart. She’s head over heels in love with the guy. Can he not see that?”
“I think he’s a little too caught up in being head over heels in love with her. He’d do anything for her. Including giving her up so she doesn’t have to choose between you and him.”
Autumn blew out a big sigh. “Can you talk some sense into him?”
“Maybe, if I can find him.”
“Should I come back up there and tell him myself?”
“It sounds like you’ve got enough going on.”
“I have, but this is important. Summer’s finally met a guy she wants to spend her life with. No way am I going to see her lose him because of me.”
Cassidy had to laugh. “Now you sound just like him!”
“Oh, shit. I’ve got Ashley on the other line. I’ve got to go. Call me later, will you?”
“Sure.”
“And, Cassidy, thanks.”
“No problem.”
Cassidy stood there looking at her phone. She’d talked to everyone but the man in question. She wondered if Carter would pick up if she called.
She decided to give it a try.
“Hi Cassidy, is everything okay?”
She had to smile. He couldn’t override his instincts if he wanted to! “I’m okay, I’m worried about you though.”
“There’s no need. I’m fine.”
“Are you really? Or are you about to make a big dumb mistake?” Cassidy felt a twinge of guilt using those words. They were the words he used so often about himself, but that was why she said them—in the hopes of getting through to him.
“What do you mean?”
“You know damned well what I mean. Are you about to walk away from Summer because you think that’s what’s best for her?”
He didn’t reply.
“Well, I can tell you right now, that isn’t what’s best for her. You’d break her heart, Carter.”
“But, Cassidy, staying with me would break her heart in a different way because it would hurt her sister. I can’t do that to her.”
“Sorry, Carter, but I don’t think that’s your choice to make.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you can’t just make her decisions for her and walk out on her.”
Carter was quiet for a long moment.
“Are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, how about you start by calling Summer? She’s one upset little lady right now and I think she’s waiting to hear from you.”
Carter sighed. “Okay.”
Cassidy smiled, relieved.
“Can I ask you some
thing?”
“Anything.”
“What would you do, Cassidy, if you were me?”
Wow! It was easy, from where she was standing, to tell him he had to find another way to deal with this, but what would she do, if she were in his shoes? She knew the answer. “I’d probably screw things up completely.”
“How?”
“Never mind. I’m not going there. This one’s for you to fix or screw up all by yourself.”
“Thanks.”
~ ~ ~
Carter hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. He didn’t know what the hell to do! He closed up the greenhouse and went back to the house. He’d called the guys and told them he wouldn’t be on the job this morning. They were at a stage where they could get on without him for a couple of days. He’d come back home needing to hole up and think. The only solution he could see was to take himself out of the picture, but he didn’t want to. The way he saw it Summer would have to choose between him and Autumn and he didn’t want her to have to do that. He wouldn’t make her do that. He went out to the shed and set out several bowls of food and water for the cats. Buster came and rubbed around his legs.
“I might be gone a few days, old fella,” Carter said as he scratched the cat’s ears.
Buster turned big green eyes on him and meowed loudly.
To Carter it sounded as though he was disagreeing. He shook his head—it must just be his own instincts disagreeing really. He closed up the shed and went to collect his gym bag. Whenever he needed to think, he hit the gym. It helped somehow. It should be quiet in there on a weekday morning. There’d be no one to disturb him and maybe inspiration would strike while he was lifting.
He pulled up in the gym’s parking lot and pulled his bag out. He’d told Cassidy he’d call Summer, but he didn’t know what to say to her. He pulled his phone out and sent her a quick text.
I love you.
That was the only thing he knew for certain right now.
He was halfway through his workout when he saw Melanie. Damn. He didn’t want to talk to anyone at all right now, and if he did it wouldn’t be her.
She smiled and came over.
“It’s unusual to see you in here in the day,” she said. “How are you doing?”
He pursed his lips. “Not great. That’s why I’m here. I need some time and space to think, I figured this might be the place to find it.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to talk to her either.
“Is everything okay with you and Summer?”
He sighed, he sure as hell didn’t want to tell her about that!
He shrugged.
“I don’t mean to pry, Carter. I just want to see you happy. She seems so nice. I want things to work out for the two of you.
“So do I.”
She held his gaze for a long moment. “I know it’s none of my business, but hiding out in here isn’t going to fix whatever’s wrong.”
That stung, because he knew it was true. “I don’t know what is going to fix it, though.”
“Well, usually when two people have problems they need to talk to each other before anything gets fixed.”
Carter sighed. “The problems aren’t between me and her, though. It’s all about other people.”
Melanie nodded. “Well then maybe you need to talk to the other people?” She touched his arm. “Sorry. It really is none of my business. I just hope you can sort it all out. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
He watched her walk away and climb onto one of the bikes. She put her headphones in and gave him a little smile before she started to peddle.
Carter sat on the bench and thought about what she’d said. If he were to talk to the other people, who exactly would that be? Autumn? What could he say to her? This Ashley person? He couldn’t see himself convincing some high powered music executive of anything. He shuddered at the thought. Other than Summer, he didn’t do well talking to women from the city. He did better with men from the country. Then it hit him. He knew what he had to do.
~ ~ ~
Summer rolled her eyes at Cassidy. She could hardly speak anymore. She knew now that the stress was making her throat worse. She also knew there was nothing she’d be able to do about it until she talked to Carter.
She held up her pad.
What do I do???
Cassidy shrugged. “I wish I could tell you. I don’t think there’s much you can do until you hear from him.
But what if I don’t? She scrawled.
“Well, he can’t stay gone forever. I guess you just have to sit it out.”
If he thinks I’m going to leave, he’s got another thing coming. I’m staying right here.
“Hopefully he’ll come to his senses and come home and talk to you.”
Summer nodded. She hoped so, but she was starting to have a really bad feeling about all this. The worst part was that she had no control over any of it. She wanted to do something. She wanted to do something for Autumn. She wanted to do something to make Carter see sense, but there was nothing she could do. Except wait.
Cassidy’s phone rang.
“Have you spoken to him?”
Summer assumed it must be Shane.
“Oh.”
“What?” Summer’s voice was barely a whisper, but she had to know!
Cassidy looked up at her. “Well call me when you know anything, will you?”
She hung up.
“Now he’s not answering Shane’s calls either. Shane went out to the courthouse, and Carter’s crew said they’re not expecting him today. So Shane went to the nursery and there’s no sign of him there or at the house either.”
Summer sighed. “You think he’s gone?”
Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t know, but I do know you need to stop talking and start writing.
Summer’s phone beeped and she snatched it up. It was a text from Carter.
I love you.
That was all it said, but it made her heart leap. At least he’d sent something. At least he hadn’t shut down completely on her.
I love you too. Please come home.
She wanted to say so much more than that, but there was no point in a text. She needed him to come back, to talk to face to face, and to figure out how they were going to handle this.
Cassidy raised an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. “He loves me,” she whispered.
Cassidy smiled. “Then he’d better start proving it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Carter sat in the departure lounge and looked around at all the people waiting to board. He was glad that he only needed to go as far as Salt Lake City. That had been a lucky break. He didn’t like to fly and the thought of flying all the way to Nashville had filled him with dread. A quick google search had told him that he didn’t need to go there anyway. The person he needed to talk to was in Salt Lake tonight, for one night only.
His phone rang and he sighed. Whoever it was, he didn’t want to talk to them. He checked the display. Cassidy. He reluctantly swiped to answer.
“Thanks for picking up.”
He had to smile. “I just figured it’d be easier to answer now, than to take the grief later.”
She laughed. “Glad we understand each other. Do you want to tell me where you are and what you’re doing?”
“Not really.”
“Tell me anyway?”
He sighed. “I’m at the airport, waiting to get on a plane.” He heard her suck her breath in sharply. “I’m not just taking off. You were the one who told me that it’s for me to fix this or screw it up all by myself. I’m going to try to fix it…But I’m afraid I might just screw it all up.”
“Want to tell me where you’re going?”
“No. Listen, I have to go. They’re calling my flight. Take care of Summer for me.”
“I will, but when you get back here…”
“I know. I have to go. Bye.”
He hung up and joined the line at the gate. He hoped to hell that he wasn
’t about to screw this up. If things went like he hoped, then he’d be fixing things for Summer and himself—and for Autumn too. If they didn’t, he might screw things up, and then Summer might just hate him for it. He couldn’t afford to think about that. Now that he’d decided what he needed to do, he had to believe it would all work out. It was a gamble, and he wasn’t normally one to gamble on anything, but in this case the stakes were so high he couldn’t afford not to.
~ ~ ~
Summer sat out on the deck. She couldn’t settle down to anything. She couldn’t believe that Carter had left. Cassidy had reassured her that he hadn’t said he was taking off, but still. Where was he? What was he doing? And why wouldn’t he talk to her?
She sighed. She knew she wasn’t going to get answers to any of those questions until she saw him. Hero came out onto the deck and sat in a patch of sunshine beside her. This was the first time Summer had seen her leave her kittens to do more than go to the bathroom. She reached down to stroke her. Hero purred and jumped up onto her knee. She head butted Summer’s shoulder and kneaded her lap. It was comforting in a way Summer couldn’t explain. If she was honest, she’d grown used to the thought that she and Carter would live here, in this wonderful house. They’d have Hero and her kittens and become a real little family. At some point they’d have little ones of their own. Now, in the face of it all going up in flames, she could admit it to herself. She’d had it set in her own mind that this was going to be her life—Carter was her future. She wasn’t too concerned if she never sang again. She’d found where she belonged and the man she belonged with.
She couldn’t stand the thought of having it all torn away from her. As if sensing Summer’s discomfort at that thought, Hero jumped back down and went back inside to her kittens.
Her phone buzzed with a text. It was Autumn.
Are you okay?
Yeah. Carter’s gone, but Cass says he isn’t running. I don’t