“Damn.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t pretty. That’s why I was surprised to see Alesha back in town a few weeks ago. I figured Carly would have nothing to do with her after that ordeal.” He shook his head slowly before dropping his gaze back to the scribbles and notes on the paper before him. “Poor Carly. She shouldn’t have to put up with that shit.”
I nodded. “Agreed.”
“What’s she gonna do?”
I shrugged again and went to sit in the metal folding chair opposite Aaron. “I have no idea. I offered to help but she blew me off. She said she wanted to handle it herself.”
Aaron’s lips formed a small smile. “That’s Carly for ya.”
I clenched my jaw.
Aaron noticed my tense expression and chuckled. “Don’t take it personally, Adams. She’s not doing it to piss you off. But last summer, she had half the town looking for Alesha and when it turned out that she’d conned my company out of money, ran off, and got drunk…well…Carly was embarrassed to say the least. I know you’re new here, but you’ve probably picked up on the fact that gossip spreads fast around here. Even after Alesha left to go back to Phoenix, it was all everyone wanted to talk about for a good few months. Carly was humiliated.”
My hands relaxed open on my thighs and I nodded over at Aaron. “It makes sense, but I’m not just some guy. You know? Or, at least, I didn’t think I was.” I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. I wanted to know where Alesha was and to make sure she was safe, but even more pressing, I wanted to know what Carly was thinking about our relationship.
If there even was one.
“I get it, man. But remember, Carly’s used to being on her own. She’s used to handling her own shit and not asking for help. She’s not pushing you away on purpose. It’s just how she is. She’ll come around.”
”Thanks man. I think I’m gonna call it a night. My eyes are bugging out from that thing,” I said, jerking my chin over at the heap of metal as I pushed out of the stiff chair.
Aaron laughed. “Take it, easy man. Keep me posted on Alesha, will ya?”
“Sure thing.” I gave him a slight wave and took off out the side door to the parking lot.
I drove home, stewing over what Aaron had told me about Carly. It all fit together as more pieces to the puzzle that made up the incredible woman I’d fallen for. It wasn’t that I had some knight-in-shining-armor complex where I needed to be needed. I wasn’t looking for a damsel in distress to rescue.
Far from it.
Carly’s independence and fire were two insanely hot traits. She floored me with her take charge attitude and work ethic. However, if we were going to stand a chance at building something together, we had to combine our paths, at least a little bit. Otherwise we were just friends.
In the past, that had always been the death knell for any of my relationships—if you could call them that. I was consumed with my life as a Marine and never allowed myself to get too deeply into another person’s life. So, when friction crept in, it was easy enough to pull the ripcord and bail. Rebounding from a breakup was a lot faster when you didn’t have much invested.
But that wasn’t good enough. Not this time. And not with Carly.
I wanted more.
A doggy whimper welcomed me home as I stepped inside my rental house. I smiled, having nearly forgotten about the small pup. “Hey there, Lady girl,” I said, stooping down to waggle my fingers at the side of the puppy playpen in the living room.
The short fence provided Lady with enough room to play with her myriad of chew toys without tearing apart any of the furnishings. I’d set her up there after taking a late lunch when Gemma had come over to the museum with the pup and informed me that she was mine now.
“You ready to go outside?” I leaned over the side and scooped the puppy into one hand. The puppy pads underneath her appeared to have been used, but I’d house trained a few dogs in my life and knew that consistent trips outside were the key. I hooked a lightweight leash to her purple sparkly collar and we went out the back door onto the deck.
A few steps down and I set her in the small postage stamp patch of grass. The moon was bright over the ocean and I drew in a long, cleansing breath of the salty sea air. Lady was content chewing on a handful of grass so I sank into one of the deck chairs and watched her play, content to set aside the heavy thoughts I’d been wrestling with on the car ride home.