by Paige Rion
“Yeah. Any sign of her yet?”
They paused in their conversation as the waitress appeared and brought them coffee, and then hurried off to wait on other customers. Rachel doctored hers with cream and took a sip.
Andi frowned. “No. I know it’s only been two days, but I’m worried. It’s cold, and I can’t imagine she has much money or anywhere to go. I just don’t understand why she hasn’t reached out if it really was her that you saw.”
Rachel shrugged. “Maybe she’s scared. If she’s pregnant and there’s any chance her stepfather is responsible, I’m sure she is. Plus, she’s got to know if anyone finds her, she’s going to jail. It’s a small town. Everyone knows what happened. And even though I love Callaway, the second someone sees her, they’ll relish being the one to turn her in. It makes for great gossip.”
“You’re right.” Andi exhaled and chewed her lip. “So, what do we do?”
“I was thinking...” Rachel rotated her mug, letting the warmth of it sink through her skin. “The other night, she seemed startled by something. I think she initially thought I was alone until she got a closer look. Either that or maybe she figured no one would see her out there. But I’m pretty sure her presence meant she was hoping for one or both of us. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Think about it, it’s always been our place. Our hangout since we were kids, even in winter. It makes sense she would go there looking for us. It’s private, away from the public eye, and she has no idea that we hadn’t been talking for so long.” Rachel’s cheeks grew hot as she mentioned their impaired relationship. “And the other night, when she realized I was with a stranger, she probably freaked out and bailed.”
“So, you think she may have been hoping for one of us, but because Rex was with you, she left?”
“Exactly. I just have this feeling... She wants our help, but she wants us alone.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I think we go there every night until she shows up.”
“Every night?”
Rachel shrugged. “Do you have a better idea?”
“What are we going to do if she does show up? Hide her? Turn her in? What?”
Rachel sighed. “I don’t know. It’s a bad situation... If we hide her, we’ll get slapped with our own charges. But what else do we do? What if we turn her in and they put her in jail? Will she give birth while in there?” Rachel’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “No,” she said, firmly. “That doesn’t seem right. Maybe my father can pull some strings.” She doubted the notion, even as she said it. Her father seemed to be famous for doing whatever was needed to benefit himself but wasn’t so charitable when it came to helping anyone else.
“What if we spoke to Mr. Peach and got him to drop the charges?” Andi asked.
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t know that it’ll matter. She might be looking at felony charges because of the amount of money she stole. It won’t matter if he drops them. It’s up to the town to prosecute. We may be able to get him to ask the judge to go as easy as possible on her, though. They’d probably drop it to misdemeanor charges. And it’s her first offense, so...” she trailed off, unsure of whether this would end well for Carma, one way or the other.
“I guess we’ll figure it out when the time comes.”
Rachel nodded, and there it was. Both of them agreeing, even if they didn’t come right out and say it. They would do anything to help her. Even if it meant getting in trouble themselves. Because that’s what they did for each other. It was what they’d always done—at least until Rachel screwed up with Andi. But she would make up for her mistakes with Carma.
“So, how are things with Rex? You seemed...different the other night,” Andi said, taking a sip of coffee.
“Rex...” Rachel stared into her mug, trying to suppress the grin on her face and failing. Reaching up, she pressed her fingers to her burning cheeks. “He’s a pleasant surprise.”
Andi set her cup down and stared at Rachel, slack-jawed. “Oh, my. Rachel Anne Beaumont, am I wrong or are you blushing? Over a guy?”
Rachel laughed. “I like him. Like, really like him. I don’t know...” she shook her head. “And not because of some ulterior motive or because I want something out of him.”
Andi raised a brow, looking as though she didn’t believe her, and Rachel couldn’t blame her. “What about your plan to get him to fall for you so that he’ll forgive your mother’s debt?”
“Turns out none of that’s true.”
“What do you mean it’s not true?” Andi scowled.
“He actually works with my father.”
At Andi’s dumbfounded stare, she waved her hand and continued. “I know. I don’t understand it either. It turns out Rex isn’t a loan shark at all. Instead, he runs some veterans charity, and my father is one of his supporters and vice versa.”
Andi’s eyes glinted in the light. “That makes no sense. Why lie about it?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. My father’s covering up something. I just don’t know what.”
“And you think Rex knows what it is, don’t you?”
Rachel avoided meeting Andi’s gaze, preferring to focus on something in the distance, afraid her friend could read her eyes too clearly and see how much it scared her that Rex may not be telling her the whole truth.
“I think he might,” Rachel said. “I believe him, but I don’t know... There’s something mysterious about him. He definitely has his secrets.” She envisioned Molly. “But he’s honest and good. And he cares about me, too. I can feel it. He’s shared so many deep things about himself with me, and I can’t get him out of my head. Even if I couldn’t find out what my father was hiding, I’d want to be with him.”
Rachel glanced to Andi, who leaned back into the booth, her face a mask of concern. “Usually if things seem too good to be true, they are.”
“How can you even say that?” Rachel asked, feeling a flicker of irritation. “You have Ford, and he was damn near perfect.”
“Ford was anything but perfect. His past is murky and he made a million wrong choices where I was concerned. You know that better than anyone. Not to mention he actively stole me away from another man. I may love him, but perfect, he is not.”
“He’s perfect for you,” Rachel said, feeling scolded, and knowing Andi was right.
“Yes. Perfect for me. Listen, I’m not trying to upset you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. And this thing with Rex and your father.” She shook her head slowly. “It doesn’t sit right. The way he’s been spending so much time with you. The way your relationship has progressed so quickly.”
“But you and—”
“I know.” Andi raised a hand. “Ford and I fell in love after only a couple weeks, maybe sooner. Sometimes I wonder if it was the moment I stepped in that office. But with Rex...You had a reason at first to get him to fall for you, to move the relationship at a quick pace. But what about him? What’s his motivation?”
“Maybe it’s me. Just because I wasn’t good enough for Ford, doesn’t mean another man wouldn’t want to be with me.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Rachel sank into her chair and crossed her arms, feeling defensive.
Andi leaned forward. “All I’m saying is that for a new relationship, you’ve both moved awfully quickly. You had a reason. What is his? Maybe it is just you. I hope it is... Or maybe this thing with your father is more than it seems. Maybe there’s something he’s not telling you. Something he wants.”
Rachel, toyed with her coffee mug, trying to ignore the knot tightening in her chest. She wanted to think of a retort, something smart, but came up empty because the very same thing had crossed her mind. It was half the reason she showed up at Rex’s apartment, and it’s the one thing that nagged her still. The notion that Rex may not be who he seemed festered within her like an open wound. But every time she saw him, she slathered affirmations over her doubts like salve, telling herself that the man she
knew was the man he said he was. The one who braided hair, put dolls to sleep, and baked muffins. The one with the harsh past and the emotional scars to prove it.
Reaching out to her, Andi placed a hand over hers and forced Rachel to meet her gaze, She noted the genuine concern there—concern that may not be entirely deserved after causing Andi her own dose of heartache last year.
“Just be careful.”
Rachel nodded. “Yeah sure.” She tried her best at a smile. How in the world was she supposed to be careful with her heart when she left it back in his apartment?
* * *
It had been two days since she’d heard from Rex. Under normal circumstances, that would mean nothing, but since the moment they met, whether fueled by her own agenda, or their magnetic attraction to each other, they had been on a fast track to wherever their relationship was taking them. A day hadn’t passed since meeting him that they hadn’t had some form of contact. His absence in the last couple days, the complete and utter quiet, had her heart aching in places she hadn’t known could hurt. And with his absence came the total realization that in only a little over a week Rachel had fallen for him despite her best efforts to keep her emotions at bay.
She thought of the beginning—that day at the casino when she went to see him for the first time—and how different her perception of him was. She had believed him to be the kind of man that preyed on people’s weaknesses. She thought he was on the verge of tearing her family apart, blackmailing her father and threating her mother for debts owed. She wondered now whether she would’ve fallen for him had all those things turned out to be true. And the answer that came to her was frightening. Because she doubted there would’ve been any stopping her feelings. They were on a freight train toward love, barreling down the tracks, unable to stop even if they tried. This locomotive wasn’t turning around for anyone.
And as she sat in the freezing cold of the cove for the third night in a row, the fire flickering in front of her, with Andi to her right, she thought of Molly, of Rex, and how vulnerable he was under the tough façade he carried around with him.
A shiver shook her and she clutched the thermos of coffee in front of her a bit tighter, leaning closer to the fire pit. “How many more nights do you think we’ll spend out here?”
Andi glanced at her with rosy cheeks and a cherry nose. The thick, woolen scarf she wore covered her mouth, muffling her voice as she spoke. “I don’t know. It’s only been three nights, but I’m starting to doubt whether she’ll ever show. I’m starting to doubt whether it was even her you saw in the first place.”
Rachel stared at her friend. The heat of her breath puffed in foggy clouds, forming an odorless smoke around them. “I know. I would doubt it, too, if I hadn’t seen her with my own eyes. But I know it was her.”
“People sneak out here from time to time. It wouldn’t be the first time someone came down here without permission.”
“A pregnant woman? At the end of February?” Rachel eyed her, brows raised. She didn’t blame Andi for doubting her. After all, the likelihood of Carma being back in town and in hiding was rather farfetched. But, dammit, she had seen her. She couldn’t have missed her reddish hair that flamed under the moonlight anywhere.
Rachel shuddered and rubbed her hands together. The cold bit into her legs, despite her jeans and her lips had gone numb. “She could’ve at least picked the spring to return.”
Behind them, the snapping of a twig cracked in the night like gunfire. Rachel met Andi’s gaze. Her eyes widened in the filtered light from the moon, as they heard the sound of crunching leaves. “Please, let that be Carma and not some serial killer,” Rachel whispered.
“You always were afraid of it out here at night,” Andi said, although her own wide-eyed expression betrayed her alarm.
The thudding of footsteps approached, along with more snapping of debris on the forest floor. As the sounds grew louder, Rachel could make out their direction. They were coming from behind her. Turning, she faced the clearing on the east side of the cove.
Within seconds, a figure appeared, half hidden in the shadows of the trees. Whoever it was paused and stood, as if waiting for something. Rachel nudged Andi in her side. “Say something,” she hissed.
Andi scowled at her, then cleared her throat and cupped her hands around her mouth. “It’s Rachel and me, just the two of us.”
“You better hope that’s her!” Rachel hissed. “Because if not, you might have just given some psycho killer free range.” She sucked in a breath and watched as the figure slowly moved out from the shadows, revealing her face first.
The small features, the slightly upturned nose, bowed mouth, and sharp cheekbones appeared, followed by the strawberry hair. Rachel choked back both her astonishment and relief, unable to speak.
“Carma,” Andi whispered next to her.
She walked toward them, and as her form grew closer, the rest of her body emerged from the shadows. She moved until she stood only a few feet away. Dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a thick down coat, an unmistakable bump protruded above her hips, straining the fabric.
Though Rachel had believed what she saw the other night, the full realization hit her as she took her in, and the implication of everything Andi had shared hit her full force.
“Hi,” Carma said, and as she did, her hands moved reflexively to her stomach, cupping the unborn child, as tears fell from her eyes.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Carma sat between them. Her pale skin was shadowed with dark circles, easily seen in the flicker of firelight.
“Please, can’t we go inside? My parents are probably asleep. No one will know you’re here,” Andi pleaded again.
Carma shook her head. “No. I don’t want to get anyone else in trouble. I just...I need...I don’t know what to do.”
Rachel met Andi’s eyes. She looked at her helplessly, wanting for her to say something to get her to concede, but Rachel knew Carma wouldn’t budge. There was no way she was going anywhere with them. Wherever she had been hiding out this whole time, it had kept her presence in town secret and she wasn’t about to risk that.
“Start from the beginning. Tell us about when you left.”
Carma glanced to Andi, communicating something with her eyes, to which Andi responded, “I told her. I’m sorry, but when she saw you the other night...”
Carma smiled, but the gesture was a sad one. “It’s okay.” Straightening, she glanced at Rachel and started. “After Andi bailed me out, I knew I had to leave. There was no way I could stay here, waiting to get thrown in jail, or worse...visions of house arrest plagued me, and what my stepfather would do to punish me. I could imagine him telling me what an embarrassment I was, and I just couldn’t handle that. I’m a grown woman now. I should’ve stopped his abuse. I should’ve been stronger. I should’ve fought back.” Her voice shook, but she forged on. “But I was so surprised and frightened when he forced himself on me over the summer. I thought those days were over, and I thought...” her voice trailed off, as a sob wracked her body.
Rachel placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to look calm when, inside, she was anything but. “It’s okay. And you’re not responsible for what he did to you.”
Carma wiped at her face, and after a moment, took a shaky breath and nodded. “I left. I had some money, although not what I had stolen. You remember my old boyfriend from high school, Jimmy? I heard some months back that he had moved out to his cousins’ place in North Carolina. I visited there once, and so I knew how to get there. Or at least, the general vicinity of where I was going. Looking him up and finding the exact address was easy. I stayed with him a while, just until I could get a job and get on my feet. But then a couple months went by and it hit me that I hadn’t had my period. I figured it was nothing. Wanting it to be nothing, I ignored it, but a month later I seemed bloated and the daily bouts of nausea took their toll. I went to a doctor, knowing what they would tell me...But I just hoped I was wrong. I even found myself hoping it was cancer, a tu
mor, something, and anything other than the truth that I was pregnant.”
Rachel took a deep breath. “Is it—”
“I don’t know. I slept with Jimmy shortly after arriving.” Tears fell from Carma’s eyes as she continued. “I figured if I rekindled our romance, he’d let me stay. It could be his or it could be...”
“How far along are you?” Andi’s voice was a whisper.
“About six and half months.”
Andi nodded.
Rachel said nothing, ingesting everything Carma had shared, doubting there was anything she could do to help.
“Why’d you come back?” Andi asked. “I mean, I’m glad to see you. I’m glad you’re okay and safe, but... Carma, if they find you, they’ll put you in jail.”
“I just couldn’t do this on my own. I would’ve stayed with Jimmy had I not gotten pregnant. But I was scared. I have no health insurance and what little money I saved from waiting tables, I spent on the first two doctor’s appointments. And when Jimmy found out, he wanted to marry me, to—”
“Why didn’t you do it? You could build a life for yourself away from here.” Andi placed her hands on Carma’s, her expression helpless.
“What if the baby’s not even his? He’s estranged from his family. He has no idea I’m running from the law. I can’t exactly apply for a marriage license. And even if we got married, what if we’re out one day and someone spots me? What if I got arrested with a young child in tow? Then what?’
“I understand all that, but what can we do for you? We can’t—”
“I can help,” Rachel said.
Both women turned to her, looking at her with equal parts desperation and question.
“I’ll get my father to help you.” A determination, strong as steel, wrapped around her as she stared into Carma’s eyes. “He has to have some power to wield. I’ll get him to pull some strings and cut you a break. I can’t promise what will happen. You may still get some jail time, but it’s worth a shot, and considering your condition, that will help rule in our favor. The prison is already under-budgeted and over capacity. They won’t want the expense of a pregnant woman, especially one with no criminal record in the jails, let alone the expense of the delivery.”
