Grabbing the damp piece of cotton, Chloe put some real elbow grease into attacking the countertops in circular motions. Polishing. Wiping. Polishing. Wiping.
She’d heard his message. And as usual, it sucked. And she’d been right about the reason he hadn’t taken her call last night.
Footsteps echoed behind her. She recognized the light tap of Amber’s shoes.
“What’s wrong?” Amber asked. “And don’t say ‘nothing.’ When you clean countertops at vampire speed, there’s always something wrong. Right after Jerry died, it was as if you dared a piece of dust to take up residence on your counters.”
Chloe turned around, squeezing the life and the moisture out of the innocent towel in her hands. “It’s official.”
Amber took a few more steps into the kitchen, eyeing the towel clutched in Chloe’s hand as if it was a weapon. “Okay, I feel as if I should know what that means, but I’ll admit ignorance and ask. What’s official?”
“He’s seeing her again.”
“Johnny Depp is seeing the pantiless woman?” Amber moved in and leaned against a counter.
Chloe nodded. “He had to have. He knows. He just left me a voicemail about her. How would he have known what I knew, if he hadn’t seen her?”
“Have you heard of this thing called a telephone?”
“What are the odds of that?” Chloe was so deep in hurt, she could barely think. “Especially when he didn’t take my call last night. And the reason why is because he was probably screwing her.
Amber shook her head. “You know I love ya, right?”
Chloe nodded.
“Good. Then I need you to listen what I’m going to say.” She reached for Chloe’s hand and looked her right in the eyes. “You’re an idiot.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped open and she pulled her hands away.
But it didn’t stop Amber from continuing. “Have you stopped and asked yourself if the reason you refuse to give him a chance isn’t just about what he did, but about Jerry? You’re scared. I know. But you’re still an idiot. I’m not saying take him back. If he’s really a womanizer, kick his ass to the curb. But damn it, hear him out. And you can fire me if you want for not sugarcoating it, but you need to hear this.”
“Okay, you’re fired,” Chloe said.
Amber looked at her, eyes wide.
“I’m not serious.” Chloe leaned against the counter, her heart hurting, her head spinning. Sheri and Amber had basically said the same thing. Were they right?
• • •
After giving all her counters a good polish, Chloe went home. She gathered a week’s worth of mail from her box and then faced her apartment. It felt empty. She felt empty.
Walking into her bedroom, she stared at the chair, free of the presents. Her fairytale dress no longer took up residence on her bed.
She’d hoped that ridding herself of them would magically make her feel better. That she’d feel stronger.
She did. But now that she’d gotten rid of the physical baggage holding her back, it was time to get rid of her emotional baggage.
Her phone rang. Was it Cary? She grabbed her phone. “Hello.”
“Chloe?”
Not him.
“Yes?” She didn’t recognize the female voice, but there was a touch of familiarity. A terrible thought hit. Was it the pantiless woman?
“It’s Kelly McAllen. Cary’s sister.”
Chloe’s breath caught.
“I’m calling because well, Bella’s party has been moved to an hour earlier. I know it’s crazy to change it last minute, but a couple of the girls have a dance recital.”
Party? It took her a second to remember the promise she’d made.
“Bella and all her friends are so excited. That’s all they’re talking about. I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made my daughter and her friends. The only thing Bella asked for her birthday was hard copies of all your books. She even had me buy a special pen for you to sign them. I’m sure you got the invitation in the mail.”
“Uh, well . . . I . . .” Damn! Damn! Damn! She thumbed through the mail and found the small envelope that looked like an invitation.
“The girls even went in together and bought you a gift. I hope you know how loved you are.”
Please don’t say that! “But . . . I . . .”
“Cary called me, and I have no idea what’s up with that guy, but he said he wasn’t going to make it. And, well . . . being that I know how devastated these girls would be if you didn’t show, I just wanted to . . . to confirm. I mean, God I would hate to break their hearts.”
Chloe closed her eyes again. “Yeah.”
“Great! See you at one.” The line went dead.
Wait! She hadn’t meant yeah she was going. Or had she?
Chloe sank deeper into her chair and stared at the phone. Why did she get this crazy feeling Kelly was lying and Cary planned on being there?
Would he go so far to make his sister lie for him?
Did Chloe care?
• • •
“You’re here!” Bella squealed when Cary walked into his sister’s house, gum in his pocket and a present in his hand. “Where’s Ms. Sanders?”
He hesitated to make promises, but he told her what he’d told himself all night. “She should be here.”
She hugged him, present and all, then whispered. “Got any gum?”
“Don’t give her gum,” his sister called from the kitchen. “She’s going to have enough sweets today.”
Cary hurried and dropped the already retrieved gum into his niece’s hand. “Too late,” he called out.
He heard his sister moan and then he heard the tapping of little paws as Pooch came hurdling into the entryway.
He came right up to Cary, stood on his back legs and rotated in circles, as if being cute would make Cary pick him up.
Bella looked at the dog. “Oh, so sweet. Mom’s right, he really likes you.” Then she looked at the present he’d rushed out last night to buy.
“Is that mine?” Bella asked, eyeing the present.
“What do you think?” He knelt down to pet the dog who’d started attacking the hem of his jeans.
She glanced toward the kitchen and inched forward. “Can I open it now?”
“Don’t you dare let her open her gift now,” his sister called out again.
Bella made a face. “I swear she has ESP or super hearing.” The chirping of a phone sounded in the background and his niece ran off.
Standing up, he made his way into the bright yellow kitchen to his psychic sister. Pooch followed, running figure eights around his steps.
His sister, cutting vegetables at the counter, looked back. “Put the present on the bar over there.”
He did it.
“You’re early. Jeff is outside by the pool getting the grill going and drinking a beer. You should join him. Beth is on her way, too.”
He sat down at her kitchen table.
She looked at him suspiciously and placed the carrots on the tray.
“Has she called?” He held his breath.
“No.” Then she muttered the word, “Thirteen.”
“Thirteen, what?”
“Thirteen times you asked me since you went home yesterday. Twelve calls.”
He had not called her twelve times. Or had he? Okay, maybe he had, but it had mostly been about what to buy Bella for her birthday. Or maybe he’d just used that as an excuse. “Sorry,” he said.
She stopped chopping and stared at him. “You love her, don’t you?”
“It certainly feels like it.”
“And you’re scared?”
“No,” he said. “I’m terrified.” He blew out a cloud of air from his lungs. “Do you think she’s going to forgive me?”
He saw the doubt flicker in her eyes. “Did you bring the rope?”
“Rope?”
“To keep her here after she finds out I lied.”
“So that’s a no, huh?” His chest tightened and frustration bubbled up inside.
“No, I was teasing . . . sort of.” She came over and hugged him. “You made a mistake and I’m sure that hurt her. But if she’s smart, she’ll realize it was just a mistake and snap you up. And if she doesn’t. . . Well, she doesn’t deserve you.”
“Thanks,” he said, staring up at his sister and realizing how much he loved her. She’d had to step into the role of being a mother. And she’d rocked at it.
She moved back to the counter and popped a carrot into her mouth.
He ran a hand over his face, and listened to her chop vegetables.
“Oh, no. Stop him.” She pointed to the corner of the kitchen were Pooch stood by his food bowl.
“Why?” he asked.
She ran over and snatched the food from the floor and sat it on the counter.
The dog turned and looked at him, as if begging him to intervene. “Why can’t he eat?”
She ignored his question and asked one of her own. “You sure you don’t want him?”
Frowning, not liking the fact that it got harder to say no, he pulled the signed check from his shirt pocket. And when he did, he felt the printed boarding pass to Clearwater. It was part of his argument he planned to make with Chloe.
“Three hundred, right?” he asked, and stuck the boarding pass back in his pocket
“I guess.” She took the check from his hand and looked again at her watch. “She’s late.”
“Who’s late?” he asked.
“Terri Hall, she’s the owner of Tender Paws Rescue. She’s coming to take him.” She eyed the dog. “And she doesn’t want him to get car sick.”
Pooch stopped staring at the empty spot where the food was and came over and begged Cary to hold him. Out of pity, he picked him up. The animal did a circle in his lap, and plopped down. His head rested on his paws but he cut those beady, pleading eyes up at him.
“So, you found him a home?” He tried to ignore the tug on his heartstrings. Because damn it, those damn strings were already stretched so tight over Chloe, he thought they would snap.
His sister sighed. “Not exactly.” She continued to stare at her watch. “Terri’s never late.” His sister’s phone rang. She looked at the number. “See, I told you. She’s like the punctuality queen.” She took the call. “Hey . . . Yeah, first one story after the large brick house.” She hung up and then reached for Pooch.
He growled. Cary gently put his hand over the dog’s snout and scolded him. “Be nice.”
His sister picked up the animal. The dog whimpered and gazed back at him as if he knew this was goodbye.
“What do you mean not exactly?” Cary looked at his sister because he couldn’t handle goodbyes any more than he could handle having a dog.
She stared at him then looked back at the door as if to make sure no one was listening. Sighing, she pulled Pooch close to her chest and covered the dog’s other ear with her hand. “He’s going to the farm.”
“What? No. You find dogs homes. That’s what your organization does.”
“We’ve had him for six months. He snaps at potential owners. He snapped at Bella.”
His heartstrings grew tighter. “If I remember the story correctly, I was a biter when I was a kid and mom and dad didn’t send me to the farm.”
“No,” she said, but then her doorbell rang. She looked at Cary and just stood there as if pondering something.
“Last chance. Take him or . . . he goes to the farm.”
“You can’t do this,” he growled.
She hesitated. The doorbell rang again and she took off, dog in tow. “Coming,” she called out.
He popped up from his chair and rushed into the living room before she opened the front door. “You can’t do this,” he repeated.
“He’s run out of chances,” she said, sounding so cold, and not at all like his sister.
That’s when he figured out what Kelly was doing. “This is just another ploy to try to make me take the dog or give more money. Right?”
She shook her head. “A ploy? Please. I didn’t even know you’d be here this early.” The doorbell rang again. “Oh, get me his leash? It’s on the hook beside the light switch.”
In a little state of panic, he did her bidding. He heard her answer the door. Closing his eyes, he stood there for several minutes telling himself it would be crazy to take on a dog—especially a sissy, cross-dressing, half-pint dog.
A pathetic bark echoed.
“Shit.” Those strings to his heart snapped. He walked into the living room. “Fine. I’ll keep him.”
His sister’s smile beamed and she put the dog down. Pooch came hauling ass toward him almost as if he understood. Cary picked up the animal and glared at his sister and the older woman standing in the doorway.
“You’ll have to fill out the paperwork,” the lady said. “But you can do it online.”
“Fine.”
The woman moved in to pet Pooch. He growled. Cary didn’t scold him, he wanted to growl, too.
“Guess you escaped the farm by the skin of your teeth.” The ease with which the woman said it pissed Cary off.
“You know, I’ve donated a lot of money to your organization, and I was under the impression that it was a no-kill shelter.”
She looked confused and then glanced at Kelly. “It is a no-kill shelter.”
“But you just said . . .”
“Oh.” She laughed. “The farm isn’t . . . the big farm in the sky. It’s a real farm I own in East Texas. It’s where difficult dogs go to live with my brother and his wife who attempt to train dogs into being more adoptable.” The woman bid her goodbye and walked out.
Cary stood there and glared at his sister.
“What?” she asked. “I can’t help it if you misunderstood.”
“Bullshit!” he muttered, then with Pooch in tow he headed to the back door.
“You’d better put your car in the garage if you don’t want Chloe driving by and just leaving. He looked at his watch. It was only 11:30. No way would she show up this early. He had time to down one beer and try to forget that his sister had once again conned him. And then he needed to figure out how to con Chloe into believing that he deserved her.
He wasn’t guilty of what she accused him of, but he wasn’t sure he deserved someone so damn perfect. So talented. So . . . sexy. But it sure as hell wasn’t going to stop him from trying.