by Alina Jacobs
"Jack!" Nancy said threateningly.
Carter raised his head to look at his father. "You always try to ruin my life," he said slowly.
"I only told her the truth, that she isn't good enough for you and that you deserve someone better, Carter. She's ruining your life. Stacy, her violent ex-boyfriend and his brother, the car accident."
His father looked startled as Carter barked out a laugh.
"That was me," Carter said to Jack's inquisitive look. "I was driving, and I asked her to take the blame—paid her to take the blame."
"Oh," Jack said, his face falling, "I—"
"Why didn't Allie tell us?" Walter exclaimed. "We were so awful to her that night. I think I threatened to hurt her!"
"I asked her not to," Carter said. "It was me. All of this was me. I told her to behave that way. I went to talk to Stacy. I left her alone. I found the embezzlement scheme and didn't do enough to mitigate any potential fallout. I let you all think she was the bad influence, when really, I screwed up and she covered for me."
"Carter, I…"
"I don’t care," Carter said, not looking at his father. "I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t care that you are disappointed in me. I’ll never be what you want, so it doesn’t matter. But the way you all treated Allie, especially you, Dad, is really unforgivable. So I quit. I’m done. Burn my inheritance. I don’t care. I don't want to be part of this family anymore."
Carter walked upstairs to grab his bag. As he took out several items Kate had packed that he didn't think he would need, Walter knocked on the door of his suite and let himself in.
"Carter, stop," he said, taking the bag from him. "I care about you. We all care about you."
"Allie doesn't want to be with me," Carter mumbled.
"I highly doubt that. She strikes me as fiercely loyal," Walter said, sitting down on the bed. "I'm sure it’s a simple misunderstanding."
"It's not," Carter said, looking at his uncle. "She said that it was for the best because she hates being around all of you. You make her miserable and make her feel like shit."
"I don't," Walter protested. "Jack—"
"It’s all of you!" Carter shouted.
"You're tired," Walter said quietly, "and in pain. Go to bed. We'll straighten it out tomorrow."
Since he knew he was being watched, Carter waited until it was after midnight then dressed in dark clothes and snuck out through the window.
He didn't know where he was going. He wandered to the cemetery. It was dark as he made his way to the familiar gravesite.
"What do I do?" he whispered.
There was no answer from the grave. What did he expect? The dead stayed dead. He had a sudden longing to join them.
"You there!" a man called out.
Carter squinted in the bright flashlight beam that the cemetery guard shined in his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Just visiting my cousins," he said.
The guard shook his head. "The cemetery is closed at night. Come back in the morning."
"Of course," he said.
Carter headed to the water.
73
Allie
When she saw Carter wasn't at work the next day, Allie felt guilty.
"He's probably at home, resting," Liz said, patting Margot.
Since Allie was working late every night and her apartment door still wasn't fixed, she took the dog to the office with her.
"You're right," Allie said. "I shouldn't bother him." She texted him anyway that afternoon but didn't hear back from him.
She sent a message to Kate, inquiring about Carter, when she left the office after another late night. Grant immediately called her back.
"Carter's missing!" he said frantically. "You haven't heard from him?"
"No," she said, feeling panicked. "He's not in the apartment?"
"I sent him to New Cardiff. He disappeared a few hours ago, apparently. Kate and I are on our way there."
"I'm heading over there," Allie said into the phone as she scooped up Margot and ran to the elevator.
"He's still in the at-risk period for suicide, you know," Grant said softly.
"We'll find him. He couldn't have gone far," Allie said and hung up. Then she hopped in her car and drove as fast as she dared to New Cardiff.
Allie knew how serious a risk suicide was among veterans. There had been several occasions just in the few months before she left North Carolina when she had to stay behind at the bar to talk down a marine who was wavering about harming himself. People who she would have thought were fine, but it was as though a switch flipped and then they suddenly couldn't keep up the façade anymore.
She felt so guilty! What if Carter was dead somewhere? It would be her fault.
"I've called the police," Nancy said when Allie arrived. "They have cruisers out looking for him."
"If anything happens to him, this is your fault," Nancy said to Jack. "I will hold you responsible."
Her voice wavered, and Kate hugged Nancy. Still dressed in her nightclothes, Carter's mother looked more undone than Allie had ever seen her.
"Could he still be on the property?" Allie asked.
"We don't know," Jack said tersely. "Walter and Stefan are out searching."
"I'll drive around."
"I'll come with you," Jack said firmly as he followed her to the car. Allie didn't have the mental energy to protest.
"Does he have favorite spots he likes to go to?" Allie said.
"We checked the lot where the house fire happened," Jack said.
Allie drove past just in case. She used the high-powered flashlight she kept in her car to scan the property. The last of the debris from the house had been cleared away, and she didn't see any sign of Carter on the flat lot.
Jack looked at his phone as Allie started up the car. "Grant says he wasn't at the cemetery." He sighed. On the floor next to him, Margot whined. "I guess we should just drive around. Hopefully we’ll find him."
"The water," Allie said suddenly. "He took me to the park on the water."
"Oh God, what if he drowns himself," Jack moaned.
She sped to the park, and the brakes squealed as she screeched into an empty spot.
The car had barely stopped before Jack jumped out.
"I don't see him," he called, scanning the park.
Allie stepped out of the car and scanned the edge line down near the water.
"Maybe he flung himself over the edge," Jack muttered.
Allie ignored him. Margot jumped out of the car after her. She sniffed the air then barked and wagged her tail as she raced to a set of stairs Allie hadn't noticed in the darkness.
Allie and Jack ran after her. Down close to the water was Carter, sitting on the narrow strip of rocks.
"Margot? Hi, Allie. Dad?" Carter said, visibly confused when he saw them.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're alive!" Allie said as she and Jack hugged Carter.
"Of course I'm alive," he said.
"We have the entire fire department and the police and the state troopers looking for you," Jack said.
"What? Why?"
"You were missing!" Allie exclaimed and wiped away a tear that threatened to run down her face.
"Ugh, that is so embarrassing," Carter said. "You didn't call me?"
"You didn't answer your phone!"
He pulled it out of his pocket. "That's weird. I didn't get any messages." He waved it around in the air above him, and suddenly it let out a string of high-pitched beeps as a hundred text messages and missed call notifications came in.
"There it goes. Now it has a signal. Of course," Carter said.
"I’m going to call your mother," Jack said, patting Carter on the shoulder, and then walked up the stairs for a better cell signal.
Allie and Carter looked awkwardly at each other.
"I didn't mean those things," Carter said. "I care about you. You make me feel like I'm worth something and I can be better. You’re a teammate and a good fri
end. I'm glad I have you in my life. I know you think I'm shallow and stupid, and I guess I am, but sometimes I make you laugh, and we have a dog. That has to count for something, right?"
Allie looked at him sadly. "You may not have meant it, but you were right. I can't—I'm not good enough. I don't belong here," she said, gesturing to the surrounding area.
"Is that what my father said?" Carter asked bitterly. "Allie, I don't care what he thinks. You make me happy. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
He knelt down on the ground in front of her. "Allie, I don't have a ring, but would you marry me?"
"No," she said softly.
Carter looked heartbroken.
"It's not that I don't love you…"
"It's my family, isn't it?" Carter asked bitterly, standing up.
"No, it's not. It's me. I'm just very cautious," Allie said. "I don’t like to put all my chips on one horse."
"Not even this one?" Carter asked, striking a pose.
Allie smiled. "I mean, I don’t want to marry you just on a whim. I’d rather move in with you first to see if we're compatible. I want to be with you, but I want to do it right and take it slowly. I want to know that you can hold down a job and not be a slob and aren’t an alcoholic. I want to live with the good man I know you are, not the playboy billionaire."
"I can do that," Carter protested. "You’ve lived with me."
"Only for a couple of weeks," Allie said. "That’s not a lot of time to learn about a person."
Carter gave her a pleading look.
"Sorry, Carter," she said. "I don’t want to turn into my mother. She jumped from one horrible man to the next. I’m still paying for her mistakes. Do you sort of understand?" she asked gently.
Carter looked down at the rocks under his feet. "I guess so."
74
Carter
When Allie dropped Carter and Jack off at the Holbrook estate, Nancy was ecstatic to see him alive and well.
"I can't breathe," Carter said as his mother squeezed him.
"I was about to kill your father," she said as she released him.
"Bye, Carter," Allie said. "I have to go to work in, oh, a few hours."
"You can take off," Grant told her. "I'm not going into the office."
Allie shook her head and handed Margot to Carter. "It's no big deal. I'm used to working back-to-back shifts."
After Allie left, Walter glared at his brother.
"Now's the part when you apologize and grovel and explain how you're going to do better in the future," Walter said.
Jack looked at Carter sadly. "My father always showed extreme favoritism. My brother was clearly his favorite. Walter was just like you—fun, interesting. My father adored him. Even when Walter made mistake after mistake, I felt my father was never as hard on him as he was on me. I guess I let my own childhood insecurities impact our relationship."
Carter looked at his uncle. He was frowning but didn't say anything.
"I don’t know. I think we just started spiraling in this negative feedback loop. And it’s not your fault," he said. "I never should have let it happen. I don’t want us to be like the Burbanks with the way they pick at Finn. I don’t want that for us. I am really proud of the man you’ve become, Carter. I understand if you still feel you want to go, but I’d like you to stay."
Carter looked down at his feet. "There’s nothing for me here."
"Not even Allie?" Kate asked.
Nancy looked meaningfully at Jack.
"Of course I approve of your relationship with her," Jack said hastily. "She is very much welcome here."
"Of course she is," Walter snorted. "This is my house."
"She's not coming back. There is no relationship. She doesn't care about me that much."
"Did you explain that it was Jack’s fault?" Grant said.
Carter nodded. "I asked her to marry me, and she said no."
"Well, that's a big step," Grant said with a chuckle. "Maybe you could make a smaller ask."
"Like what?"
Walter smiled. "I think I have the perfect idea."
A couple of weeks later, the Holbrooks gathered at Carter's parents' house to look at the newly finished restoration.
Carter had been working remotely, but he and Allie had been texting. He tried to send her several funny pictures of Margot throughout the day.
"I cannot believe this renovation is finally finished," Nancy said after greeting Kate, Grant, and Allie when they arrived.
"It looks great!" Allie told her.
While everyone helped themselves to pre-dinner drinks, Carter cornered Allie.
"How are you?" she asked him.
He smiled at her and kissed her. "Better now that you're here."
He cleared his throat and announced to the room, "Now that we're all here, I just want to say something."
He got down on one knee.
"I already told you no," Allie said, sounding exasperated.
"You don’t even know what I’m going to ask," he said and whipped out a printed photo of the luxury condo his uncle had just purchased.
"Allie, will you do me the honor…of moving in with me?"
She laughed and nodded.
"It's two thousand square feet, killer views, private elevator, lobby entrance," he said. "And we can fully renovate it how we see fit. Unlimited budget."
Water waved his hand.
"Sort of unlimited."
Allie was grinning from ear to ear as she looked at the pictures of the condo.
"It's also the floor below Kate and Grant's place, which is a drawback."
"Hey!" Grant said.
Allie smiled at Carter. "I’ve got to say yes to a nice piece of real estate," she said.
"Only the real estate?" he asked, feeling a little hurt.
She cupped his face and kissed him. "No, Carter. I'm saying yes all for you."
He beamed, grabbed Allie’s fist, and hoisted it in the air.
"She said yes!"
His family laughed and applauded.
"I hope you didn’t purchase that thing on my account," Allie said to Walter.
"It was a good deal, I think. I hope. I'm not a big real estate person, but the old neighbors would always complain whenever I had events there, so you would actually be doing me a favor by moving in. And keeping an eye on Carter."
"Also, we all like you, Allie," Kate said. "We can’t imagine not having you around."
"Also, let me know if Carter starts running you off," Grant said with mock seriousness. "We’ll get him squared up."
Nancy clapped her hands. "Now you have to start designing!" She left and came back into the room with prints of the plans and a board with material samples and paint colors. "This is what I’ve been thinking," she said as she laid everything out on the coffee table.
"I can’t believe you want to jump into yet another renovation project," Jack said.
"I adore designing. We’ll make sure you two have an impeccably decorated space."
75
Allie
It took months for the condo to be ready. It had taken a while to apply for permits, and it was already early summer by the time she and Carter were finally able to move in.
Allie was very tired of living in the tiny studio apartment.
"Hey there, neighbors!" Grant said when she and Carter showed up early for moving day.
"This is a huge place," Allie said, walking around. She still couldn't believe she was going to live there.
"This is almost nicer than the penthouse," Kate said as she walked around.
"We should put a stair here so that we can all be in one huge penthouse," Grant said, teasing Carter.
Carter grimaced.
"I brought some plants for you," Nancy called out as she swept inside.
"I'd like that," Allie said. "I’ve always wanted a garden. I was a little skeptical that all this antique furniture would fit in with such a contemp
orary space, but it actually goes really well."
"Yes, it used to look very nineties," Nancy said. "All that modern-type furniture was too much. You need some contrast. You don't want too much of the same thing. That's tiresome."
"Hey, my fish tank is in!" Carter said, walking around the enormous tank.
Margot barked at the large solitary grouper.
"I’m jealous," Grant said, peering into the tank.
"You aren't going to have a fish tank," Kate told him.
"Then you don't get to have a fireplace," Grant retorted. "I know you were admiring that one."
Allie laughed as Kate blushed. The fireplace was beautiful, Allie thought. She was glad they were able to include it.
She helped Nancy arrange the plants outside while Carter helped the movers put the furniture she and Nancy had chosen in place. There was a little room off of the balcony that was a greenhouse. They arranged several citrus plants and an avocado plant inside.
"This will be beautiful in the winter," Nancy said, and she placed a small table and two metal chairs in the little greenhouse.
Teak furniture with puffy white cushions went in the open balcony. Carter also insisted on a hanging herb garden near the kitchen.
"Are you going to cook?" Allie asked him.
"I might. I can make stuff. Besides, don’t you need fresh herbs for drinks?"
"I suppose so," she said as she arranged glasses and bottles of liquor on the antique buffet Nancy had repurposed as a bar.
"The one thing we won't be having is any more roommates," Allie said firmly as she pulled a pitcher of drinks out of the fridge and poured everyone a generous serving.
"Except for Margot, of course," Carter said.
"You might have to amend that, because the penthouse is next on my list," Nancy said.
"Carter!" Grant said. "We're going to be roommates! Again!"
Carter made a face as Grant tousled his hair.
When Allie and Carter were finally alone, he danced her around the apartment.
"I can't believe this is real!" she said and kissed him.
"Believe it," Carter said, then he looked at her seriously. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I swear to you I'm not going to mess this up."