by Marci Bolden
“She’s probably in the kitchen working on dinner,” he assured her.
But the kitchen was empty as well.
Carrie went to the back door. “It’s still locked. She didn’t go out this way.”
“Is it possible that you didn’t see her?”
She looked at him in disbelief and then pushed past him and headed for the front door. “Shit,” she hissed when she found the lock released. Yanking the door open, she stepped outside, hoping to find her mother-in-law on the porch. The space was empty. “Damn it. It’s getting cold, Will.”
“We’ll find her. She couldn’t have gone far.”
“We don’t even know when she left.”
“We’ll find her,” he repeated.
They turned at the sound of gravel crunching as a vehicle headed up the driveway.
“There’s Nat. I’ll send her out to look in the stores. Mama has a short list of places she likes to go.” Carrie didn’t wait for Natalie to get close to the house. She started running toward the truck, meeting it as it neared the house.
“Lose something?” Natalie asked when Carrie reached the driver’s side window.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Doreen smiled brightly as she waved at Carrie, completely oblivious to the fuss she’d caused.
“Mama. Where did you go?”
“I needed some fresh air, honey.”
“She was almost to the highway,” Natalie said.
“You and Mike looked so cozy. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Will,” Carrie whispered when her friend looked at her with confusion.
Natalie nodded. “Gotcha.”
“You scared us,” Carrie said to Doreen. “Please don’t walk off like that. We didn’t know where you were.”
“I’m a full-grown woman, Carolyn. I can take a walk if I want to.”
“I know. Please let us know from now on. Please.”
“If you’re done with the lecture,” Doreen said, not even trying to hide her frustration, “I’d like to get started on dinner.”
“That would be great,” Carrie said flatly. “Go on ahead. I’ll see you at the house.”
Natalie reached out the window and squeezed Carrie’s hand before easing off the brake and driving the rest of the way to the house.
“You okay?” Will asked when Carrie finally reached the porch.
“I think I need to start bolting the doors so she can’t get out without me.”
“Do you want me to call someone?”
She nodded, trying not to let the misery show on her face. “Yeah. I guess it’s time.”
Will’s entry into the kitchen was greeted with a curse from Carrie. He couldn’t help but smile. “That doesn’t sound good.”
She frowned as she looked at her reddened fingertips. “Potholders can only do so much.”
“You okay?”
She grinned when he kissed her fingers after examining them. “I’m better now.” Her smile faded when she looked into his eyes. “Something wrong?”
Will hesitated, not wanting to say what he had to say. “Donnie let us know that we wrap at the end of the week.”
“Oh,” she said after a few seconds. She held his gaze for a long time before pulling her hand away and turning to the dish she’d pulled from the oven. “Well, it has been almost three months. That’s how long Donnie expected it to take when he reserved the rooms.”
“Right.” Will watched her busy herself with dinner.
“So you’ll be leaving by the end of the week, then.”
“Donnie put in the call to start making flight plans.”
Carrie stuck a meat thermometer into a chicken breast. “I’m sure you’ll all be excited to get back to California before the cold weather sets in.”
Will creased his brow. “I don’t give a damn about the weather.”
“Well,” she said lightly, “you would if you’d spent another few weeks here. It’ll be snowing before long.”
He gently grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. The touch of anger that he felt at her seemingly dismissive tone faded as he saw the sadness in her eyes. It was a look he was becoming increasingly familiar with, yet it never failed to rip at his heart.
“It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“You can come visit. I won’t even charge you for a room.” She tried to laugh at her joke, but it sounded miserable.
“I’ll take you up on that.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “You have nothing to apologize for, Will.”
“I feel like I do.”
Pulling back, she looked at the thermometer. “Dinner’s ready. Would you please let everyone know?”
Will wanted to press the issue, but she turned her attention to dinner and he took the hint. He gathered what was left of the inn’s guests, and they sat around the table. While everyone else was excitedly chatting about how close they were to wrapping the shoot, the knot in Will’s stomach grew so tight, he could barely eat his dinner. He was thankful when his co-stars left the table and started settling into their evening routines.
Carrie offered Will a weak smile as she cleared the table. However, once she disappeared into the kitchen, she didn’t reemerge for some time. Finally, he went to find her, but the kitchen was empty. Peering outside, he verified that she wasn’t sitting by the fire, so he made his way upstairs.
He finally found her backing out of Doreen’s room. Looking over her shoulder at him, she put her finger to her lips. As soon as she latched the door, he took her hand.
“Come with me,” he whispered.
She hesitated in following him to his room, but he tugged her with him.
Once inside, he shut the door behind them and then spoke in his normal voice. “What do you think I’m going to do? Ravage you?” he asked, pulling her against him.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You usually do.”
“I’ve yet to hear a single complaint.”
“And I doubt you will.” Carrie kissed him. “Unless Mama is in the room next door.”
“I want to talk to you.” He pulled her with him to the sitting area.
Dropping onto a chaise, he watched her sit across from him in an oversize navy blue-and white-striped chair. He took her hands and leaned close so she would have no choice but to hear what he was saying. “I don’t want you to worry about us.”
She gave him one of her fake smiles. “Why would I worry?”
“Because you wouldn’t be you if you weren’t worrying about something.”
“There is that.” She dropped any attempt to hide her concern and her smile faded into a frown. “I thought we’d have more time.”
Will tucked her hair behind her ear. “We’re going to be fine. I’ll call you all the time. E-mail, text, video chat. Whatever it takes to keep us going.”
Carrie inhaled slowly. “You’re going to get back to California, back to your life, and I’m going to stay here. That will change things, no matter how much we say it won’t.”
He squeezed her hands and looked into her eyes. “I’m willing to try. Are you?”
She nodded slightly. “I am. I told you that already.”
“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. I can fly back anytime.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“We can make this work.”
Lifting her gaze to his again, she smiled, this time with more confidence. “Of course we can.” Leaning forward, she kissed him gently and cupped his face. “And we will. We’ll make it work.”
Will frowned as he watched the line between her brows deepen. “What are you thinking?”
“What to tell Doreen. I guess I’ll tell her you’re going on a trip.”
His heart sank. He hadn’t even considered what his sudden disappearance might do to Doreen. “Will she be okay?”
“Yeah. She’ll forget all about you by the
end of the day.” She smiled, but he didn’t believe her failed attempt at being light. “She’ll be fine. I can handle it.”
Clutching her hands, he held her gaze. “I need you to promise me something, Carrie.”
“Don’t go there, Will,” she warned as her smile faded.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“You want me to promise to put her in a home if she gets too hard to handle.”
He shook his head. “I was going to make you promise that if she gets worse because I’ve left that you’ll let me know so I can try to make it better.”
“Oh.” Squeezing his hands, she let out a deep breath. “And how would you do that?”
“I don’t know. Call her or something.”
“That’s nice,” Carrie said softly. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, but I’ll let you know.”
“And if she gets to be too much…” He watched her glare at him but held on to her hands when she started to stand. “Listen to me, Carrie. Carolyn,” he said more firmly when she refused to look at him. “Tell me. I’ll help you any way that I can.”
The burst of irritation that had filled her face faded. “I have to tell you something,” she whispered.
“What?”
“My name is not Carolyn.” She smiled when his brow creased. “The name on my birth certificate, the name my parents gave me, is Carrie. Just Carrie. Mama started calling me Carolyn about a year ago. I have no idea why.”
“But Natalie calls you that sometimes.”
“As a joke.”
A stunned laugh left him. “I’ve called you Carolyn so many times, and you never corrected me.”
She grinned mischievously. “I know.”
“Why?”
“I kind of like it when you call me that,” she said with a shrug. “Like it’s a term of endearment or something. I figured it was time for you to know.”
“I guess it is. I’m a bit disappointed, though. I felt like we shared something special.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be,” he insisted. “It’s not your fault that your mother-in-law renamed you. What else don’t I know about you?”
“So many things,” she teased.
“I’ll bet.” Kissing her again, he let it linger, loving the feel of her mouth on his. “Can I still call you Carolyn?” he asked, making her laugh.
Chapter 18
“What is this?” Carrie asked as she entered the small cabin the next evening.
Will smiled. “Well, it is my final week here, at least for a while, and I wanted to do something special.”
She turned and looked at him, disappointed at the reminder. Time had passed quickly, and he’d told her the cast would be working long hours wrapping up the film. “How did you do this without my knowing?”
He smiled, clearly proud of himself for sneaking dozens of roses, a bottle of champagne, and some fruit out to the cabin without her realizing it. “I have my ways.”
“Very sneaky.”
“I have to be where you are concerned.” He pulled her to him. “Has anyone ever told you that you are a bit of a control freak?”
She grinned. “A lot of people, actually. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’ll have you know.”
“No, it’s not. Not at all. I’ve quite enjoyed getting a little spontaneity out of you when I can.”
“Have you?”
He moaned his confirmation as he leaned down to kiss her. The kiss lingered, threatened to ignite, but he pulled away. “I have a plan for this evening.”
“So do I.” She smirked.
“Don’t worry, that is in my plan, but first…” He moved away from her to light several candles and then pulled his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his music for several seconds before selecting a playlist and setting it on the counter. An old Frank Sinatra song filled the room.
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“I tried.” He held her close while they slightly swayed to the music. “I should have done this for you a long time ago.”
Lifting her head from where it had been resting on his shoulder, she searched his eyes. “Being alone with you is enough for me, Will. This is nice—wonderful—but I don’t need this.”
“But you deserve this. You deserve to be pampered and romanced.”
“You’ve done everything right,” she assured him with a kiss.
“I hope so. I really hope so. I don’t ever want you to doubt that I want to be with you.”
She kissed him again. “I won’t.”
“The time that we’ve shared has meant so much to me.”
“I know,” she whispered against his lips. “It’s meant the world to me too.”
“I feel like you’ve helped me reconnect with something inside of me, something that was missing.”
Fear started to settle around her heart. For someone who was so adamant that their relationship wasn’t ending, he was certainly laying the reassurances on thick. “Are you going to talk all night?”
He grinned. “I was trying to make the most of our time together.”
“The way I see it,” she said as she stepped back and pulled her shirt over her head, “you can talk to me on the phone any time you want, but this could be the last chance you’ll have for who knows how long to lay me down on that little bed. You’re wasting an awful lot of time telling me things I already know.”
Will tightened his arms around her waist, and he lifted her several inches off the floor as he kissed her hard and continued his march to the cot. He leaned down, his mouth staying locked with hers as he eased her down.
The sound of laughter drifted up to Will’s room as he peered through the sheer curtains. Carrie and Mama had been walking through their little garden, pulling vegetables and talking. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but every now and then their giggles filled his ears and made him smile. His smile froze, fading a touch, when a strange warmth settled over him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the feeling was contentment. Maybe even happiness.
Sitting on the arm of the chair next to the window, he continued watching but with less focus on Carrie and Doreen and more on whatever was shifting inside him. Some time passed before he realized what he was feeling—nostalgia. A strange and unexplained sense of calm that only came from feeling at home. Watching Carrie and Doreen together brought the same sense of normalcy from his childhood. Something Will hadn’t missed in years.
His mom and grandma used to garden when he was younger. They’d bring in baskets of carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers that would be cut up for snacks or to be used in salads at dinnertime. His family would talk over each other during the meal as multiple conversations happened at once. Sometimes Will or his brother would reach across the table for something, only to have their father lightly swat their hands and remind them to ask for things to be passed to them.
“There’s no need to climb on the table,” he’d explain every time.
Will’s smile faded with the memory. How had he gone from having Sunday dinners around crammed tables to feeling like staying on a movie set was more important than being with his ill father? How had he gone from a childhood where family was everything to feeling like paying his mother’s bills was pulling his share of caring for her as she aged? How had his stage persona—that empty version of himself he shared with the world—become real?
Sliding off the arm and sinking into the chair, Will let his eyes swim out of focus. He couldn’t imagine Carrie ever saying that paying Mama’s bills was enough. He couldn’t imagine her ever putting her job above Mama’s health. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t. The moment Donnie pushed to have Doreen removed from the home, Carrie had pushed back. She’d given back money she couldn’t afford in order to protect Doreen—a woman who wasn’t even her blood relative.
Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees, Will silently chastised himself for turning into everything he loathed. Juliet triggered him because she was s
hallow, self-centered, and would do anything to advance her career. Will had to admit he wasn’t much different than her. This year had changed him, the guilt had worn down his ego, but he couldn’t recall the last time he’d called his mom to check in.
He was distracted with the movie, with the networking, with the fan interaction. When he wasn’t, he couldn’t get his mind off Carrie. Everything came back to him, to what he wanted to focus on. And there was no part of feeling guilty that he wanted to focus on. Sure, he’d paid his father’s medical bills, but when it came down to what really mattered, Will had failed his family.
He’d failed his parents and his brother.
Slouching in the chair, Will pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at it for a long time before scrolling through his contacts and finding his mother’s phone number. Swallowing hard, trying to breathe through the shame that was threatening to choke him, he tapped the screen to connect the call.
Chapter 19
Rain was quickly moving in when Carrie walked onto the porch Saturday morning. The weather seemed fitting for the day. She was glum, despite the last few weeks having been especially nice. Ever since Donnie and Juliet had left, leaving her with only the more pleasant of the cast, Carrie had enjoyed having guests at the inn.
Now, standing out in the chill of the early autumn morning, she accepted hugs from her guests as suitcases were carried to rented cars. Natalie had taken Doreen to get her hair done at Carrie’s request. They had both grown so accustomed to having these people in their house, Carrie wasn’t sure how Mama would handle sending them off, especially since she had come to think that Will was her son.
“Try to walk down the stairs from here on out,” Grant suggested, giving Carrie a tight hug.
She laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
“I need a date to the premiere,” he teased. “You’d look great on the red carpet.”
“Oh, you surely can find someone who has had more plastic surgery than I have.”
“That’s right, let me down easy.” Grant looked over when Will stepped out on the porch, suitcase in hand.
