by Alina Jacobs
"How did you make the ice so clear?" he asked.
"It’s easy," Allie replied. "You just need a small, cheap cooler and fill it with water and stick it in the freezer for an hour or so until the top layer of water freezes. Something in the way the ice freezes because it's in an insulated container keeps the air bubbles out, and you have clear ice."
"Pretty impressive," Grant said as Allie poured him some of the special cocktail. He drank a generous amount. "Hey, this is really tasty!"
"Don’t go overboard," Kate told him then took his glass and sipped. "This is really good! What’s in it?"
"It's an apricot sour," Kate said. "It's a variation on a whisky sour. They’re a big thing in the South. They go well with oysters."
"And she makes drinks too! The perfect woman!" Harris said, coming into the room. He looked as if he had been drinking all afternoon.
Allie poured him a generous amount of the mix but only added a small amount of whisky.
"Sit down," she ordered him and brought him something to eat along with his drink.
"This is all you're going to have," she told him, "so enjoy that drink."
He smiled at her. She was used to dealing with drunks, but all things considered, Harris wasn't all that bad.
After cocktails and appetizers, they all went into the dining room for dinner. Nancy had decorated the table with candles, garlands of fall leaves, colorful pumpkins and squashes, as well as richly colored fruit like pomegranates.
"The table looks beautiful, Nancy," Jack said.
"Yes, it's really lovely," Grant said.
"Kate and Allie helped me," Nancy replied as they all took their places.
"I would just like to say that it's so wonderful to have Grant, Carter, and Mark here with us, and Kate too, of course," Nancy announced.
"And Allie," Carter added.
Allie looked around at their table. She didn’t feel completely comfortable sitting down and eating with the family. She so clearly did not belong there that it was almost comical.
When she was a kid and her mother and her mother’s boyfriends would scream and fight, she never even imagined that she would be a part of a nice, stable family. All she dreamed of was a little one-bedroom apartment all to herself with a cozy balcony and maybe a dog. While in North Carolina, she felt as if she had almost achieved her dream. Looking around at Carter's family, however, was a cold dose of reality that she really hadn’t come far at all. But what did it matter? She would never see them again, anyway.
"How was your honeymoon?" Mark asked Grant while the food was being passed around.
"Great. I planned it really well, didn’t I, Kate?"
"I thought my mom helped you," Mark teased.
"Where did you two go?" Allie asked. Carter snorted, downed his glass of wine, and poured another one.
"Oh," Kate gushed, "it was wonderful. We traveled all through the south of France. We even visited the town where Julia Child wrote most of her books."
"Wow," Allie said. She had never known anyone who had done a real honeymoon in a foreign country before.
Carter kicked her under the table. She ignored him. He kicked her harder. She mentally cringed and then let out a loud burp. Grant snickered, Carter chuckled and almost spilled his drink, and Harris doubled over laughing while Nancy looked on, appalled.
"Excuse me," Allie said.
"That’s the type of woman I like!" Harris said, slapping the table.
"Honestly, Harris," Kate's grandmother said.
Dessert was a multilayer crepe cake covered in chocolate ganache.
"Have you had this before?" Kate asked Allie.
Gus whined at her feet.
"No chocolate for dogs," Grant said to the corgi.
"I've never seen anything like this," Allie said, marveling at the cake.
"Yeah, Les DesChamps is not the most highbrow of places," Mark said.
"How long have you been stationed there?" Allie asked.
"For a couple of years. I’m doing drone stuff."
"Ah," Allie said.
"You know a lot about the Marines," Mark said, inspecting his cake.
"Just through osmosis," Allie replied. "I do bartending for a catering company that has a lot of the contracts for officers' parties and the like."
"So you met Carter at a bar, you said?" Walter asked and took a bite of his dessert.
Allie stood up and grabbed the coffee pitcher off of the cart and topped everyone off.
"It’s the dive bar where I work the majority of the time. Some days, I work at a slightly more upscale establishment, although definitely not as nice as anything you guys have here, I’m sure. I do more craft cocktails there. It’s a lot of noncommissioned officers and commissioned officers. Officials will go there as well if they are visiting the base."
"Tom Toms Oyster Bar?" Mark asked.
"Yes," she said, cutting him another slice of cake.
"I've been there. It’s like the only nice place, unless you want to go to Raleigh." He gave Carter a sideways glance as Carter poured liquor into his empty coffee cup.
"Do you commute there for school?" Nancy asked.
"There's a satellite campus for North Carolina’s biggest public university near Les DesChamps. That’s where I take most of my classes. One semester, I had to go into Raleigh, which was a rough commute. But now it’s mostly online courses, and I only have to go into the city for a test or for the first day of class or in the middle. It’s a lot better."
"Carter, you could have been taking classes, then. I didn’t realize it was so easy. You could have some more credits under your belt and have finished up at Harvard," Jack said.
Carter grimaced. "I don’t know. I flamed out of college once."
"You could at least earn an associate's degree," Jack pressed.
"Grant doesn’t have a degree," snapped Carter. He turned to Allie. "Can I have another drink, please?"
"No," she said. "You’ve had enough."
14
Carter
After dinner, the Holbrooks all slumped in the parlor. Walter and Jack insisted on more drinks, so Allie obliged. Carter wanted to drink, too, but Allie wouldn’t let him.
"You had a lot. You need to sober up," she said.
Grant thought it was funny that she cut him off. He would body-check Carter when he tried to pour his own drink.
"I’m done with you people." Carter huffed and went outside.
Allie followed him. Carter was sitting out in the garden next to a fire. Allie grabbed a blanket that she assumed Stefan had placed on the bench. She wrapped it around herself and Margot, who had followed her, and huddled down next to Carter.
There were snow flurries that dusted his dark hair with shimmering flakes. The fire gave off a warm glow, however, that chased away the worst of the chill.
"I hope your parents won’t be too hard on you because of me," she said.
"Who cares if they are? They're upset with me no matter what," Carter replied.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"What about your parents?" Carter said.
"My mother is off with her cult du jour. My biological father is dead, and the latest stepfather was supposed to be in prison, last I heard."
"Oh. I guess you think I'm spoiled, complaining about my parents."
"No. You feel what you feel. Having someone constantly belittle you isn't good."
"I mean they aren't that bad," Carter said.
"If they are, you can cut them off."
"Ha! You're going to hate me, but I need their money. I don't want to actually be disowned. I wouldn't be able to do, well, anything, really. I'm actually pretty useless."
She turned toward him. "You aren't useless. You have a lot to contribute. You could find a well-paying job if you wanted to be free of your parents."
"I don't want to go no contact," Carter said. "I just want them to want me, I suppose."
"Sometimes people just don't care about their kids," Allie told him.
"It's harsh, but it's the truth. I don't know your situation or your parents, but you have to be honest with yourself about who they are. When someone tells you who they are, believe them."
Carter wondered if his parents, Jack specifically, were that bad. When he was away from them, the distance and time blurred the slights, but when he was in their presence or was forced to confront his father's expectations and be found lacking, then the pain of being a disappointment burned in his gut. He hated to admit it, but he was happier when he didn't have anything to do with them.
"The night is too nice to sit here," Carter said, standing up abruptly. "Let's go for a drive."
"Where?" Allie asked, sounding skeptical.
"Around," he said. "A little joyriding is good for the soul."
"I'm not using my car for that," she hissed.
Carter smirked and grabbed her hand.
"We’re not taking your car."
He led her down a path. The air was freezing, and she only had on her long-sleeved T-shirt and the blanket to keep her warm.
"I hope you’re not expecting me to give you my jacket," Carter remarked. "It's my only one, and I’m not the chivalrous type."
"I’m not that cold," Allie said, gritting her teeth. "I’m from Minnesota. I just got too used to North Carolina, I suppose."
Carter pulled open a heavy door to one of the outbuildings on his uncle's property. Inside, there was a double row of pristinely restored vintage cars.
"Oh, wow," she said. "Are these yours?"
"My uncle’s," Carter replied. "He’s a bit of a car aficionado. Pick the one you like best."
He watched her slowly walk through the rows of shiny automobiles. She stopped in front of a vintage 1926 Bentley. Carter had always liked it because this particular model featured in one of his favorite books.
"All ready for the apocalypse?" Carter asked.
She smiled. "And he reads."
Carter jumped into the car, and Allie sank into the deep seat next to him.
"It's British made," Carter said, "so the steering wheel is on the wrong side."
"This is so cool," she said.
"Let's take it for a spin," he said, grinning at her.
"Oh no, I'm not going to jail for grand theft," she said.
Carter ignored her and revved the engine.
"Perfect," he said, and they roared out of the garage and down the long drive to the main road.
He felt like a teenager in one of those movies from the sixties. Cruising around in an immaculate car, a good-looking girl who seemed to care about him in the seat next to him.
He drove them to the waterfront, and they watched the snow fall over the bay. Carter told her about the history of the town, how it was a whaling then fishing and manufacturing town.
"The wealth then moved to various investment endeavors," he told her. "There are families here who can trace their lineage back to the founding fathers."
"Can you?"
"Not exactly," he admitted. "Maybe there was a marriage or two several generations back, but really, I’m not that great."
She smiled at him in the dark. "You know, you really are impressive," she told him. "Don't sell yourself short."
It meant a lot to hear that from her, and he felt more pleased than he should be.
"Am I impressive enough for you?" he asked her solemnly.
"Of course," she told him.
"You know," he said, "you still owe me a kiss."
"I don't owe you anything," she murmured as he leaned over her.
His face was so close to hers, and he couldn't help but close the distance and kiss her. Her mouth was soft, and he pulled her close to him, letting her body meld into his. He felt himself grow hard, and he pushed her back into the seat and slid a hand up her shirt to cup one of her breasts. She immediately stiffened and pushed him away.
"Sorry," Carter said, not meaning it.
"We should go back," Allie said.
They drove in silence. The Bentley couldn't go that fast, and there was a truck behind them on the two-lane road that clearly did not want to travel twenty-five miles an hour. The driver pulled the truck out to pass them. Another car appeared in the opposite lane. They didn't have their lights on. Carter swore as the truck swerved into their lane, clipping the Bentley. The antique car fishtailed then rolled over and came to rest upright in a ditch.
Carter gasped as he tried to reorient himself. His heart was hammering in his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked Allie as he tried to pull himself out of the wreckage.
Allie crawled out through the broken front windshield.
The police came while Carter was wiping the blood off of his face. Margot was terrified and had her head hidden under Carter's armpit.
The EMS personnel looked them over while the police wrote down a report.
"She was driving, sir," Carter said.
Allie looked as if she was about to protest, but Carter gave her a meaningful look.
After calling his parents and having to listen to his father berate him for allowing Allie to wreck the car and almost kill him, Carter turned to Allie and said, "Look, I can’t afford another mark on my license. I don't even think the Bentley was legally allowed to be on the road. Please just take the heat for this? I’ll pay you. I promise."
15
Allie
Allie waited with Carter for his parents to come. They weren't far from the house, and Jack and Nancy were there shortly after Carter ended the call with them.
"Take him to the emergency room," Jack ordered as soon as he arrived on the scene.
Carter’s face had blood all over it, but it looked more like superficial injuries to Allie. Her hip felt bruised, and her neck hurt. She didn’t have the money to go to the emergency room, so she promised herself a very cold ice bath when she returned to the Holbrook estate.
"Oh no," Nancy said, fretting over Carter. "We could have lost you!"
"I'm fine."
"No, you aren't," Jack said.
Allie rode in the car with him after the police said she could leave. They had taken down her license information. She hoped that she wouldn't be charged with anything. She could not afford a lawyer or all of the costs associated with going to trial. Carter had better pay her a large amount of money for what she was doing for him.
When they arrived at the house, she walked into the foyer behind Jack. Grant, Mark, and Walter were there waiting for her. They did not look happy to see her.
"You need to leave now," Jack said, turning to face her. "You almost killed my son."
"He was never in any real danger of dying," she said, mad that they were treating her as if she were some sort of criminal.
Jack pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head. She stared him down. It wasn’t the first time someone had stuck a gun in her face.
"I know women like you," Carter’s uncle Walter said. "You ruin everything you touch. You stay away from Carter. Do you understand? Or you’re dead."
Stefan came down with her bag and the dog carrier. She took them wordlessly. The butler also handed her a paper sack.
"Food for the road," he told her.
Allie didn't say goodbye. She took off the ring and threw it at the feet of the Holbrook men. Then she picked up her things and marched to her car. She hated the Holbrooks, hated New England, and wanted to go home and take a hot shower and climb into her own bed.
But first, Allie had a long drive back to North Carolina. Her whole body ached. She was too sore and tired to be angry with Carter. She tried to distract herself from the pain by mentally calculating how much she was going to charge Carter for the car accident.
As she thought about Carter, her thoughts drifted to the kiss. The last time Allie had been kissed, aside from sloppy drunks, was by Bryce. This was nothing like that. Carter's mouth was soft, and his tongue had traced her lips, promising more. She had just wanted to sink into him. But it would never be.
Her phone buzzed, jerking her back to reality. She glanced at the scr
een; there was a message from Carter.
Come back!
They can’t treat you like this
Plus I paid for the whole weekend
She used the phone's assistant to write back,
Your dad said he’d kill me and have my body dumped in the swamps so no thanks
Money is nonrefundable
She kept driving through the night and pulled into her apartment parking lot early in the morning.
"You're back already?" Stacy asked, yawning as she came out of her room when Allie unlocked the front door. "What happened to staying the weekend? How was it? Did you take pictures?"
"It was fine," Allie said, throwing her bag on the floor, and poured some water for Margot.
"Did you, you know, sleep with him?" Stacy asked.
"No, of course not!" Allie said sharply.
"Yes, you did!" Stacy cried. "I told you Carter’s mine."
"Stop being stupid," Allie said. "There's nothing between me and Carter. It was a business transaction. If you want him, you can have him. I don’t want him or his family ever again."
"That’s not very nice," Stacy said with a pout. "You’re so mean to him. You'd better be nicer! That’s my future husband." Stacy was starting to grate on Allie’s nerves.
"I have a headache," Allie said. "I’m going to sleep."
After showering and making an ice pack for her back, she received a text message from Tom Toms Oyster Bar. They did brunch on Sundays and holidays.
Can you come in?
Allie sighed and rubbed the ice pack on her shoulder as she replied,
sure
"How was your trip?" her boss asked when Allie arrived.
The place was slammed.
"I forgot you were going out of town. You told me, and I completely forgot. What happened? You're back early it seems, not that I'm not grateful."
"His family hated me," Allie replied, heading to the bar. She wasn't able to say much more because she was busy making pitchers of mimosas and Bloody Marys. In between making batches of drinks, she waited tables and tried to alleviate the pressure on the servers.
When the last of the brunch customers had paid and left, they were able to close and start prepping for dinner.