Anchored: A Lake Series Novella (8 page)

“Everything
okay, honey?” Michael asks, knowing full well that she is not
okay. If I can see it, he certainly can.

“Everything
is as fine as it’s going to be.” Rachel makes a hard line
with her lips and pats Michael’s hand.

“Can
I see those?” Michael points to the papers in Rachel’s
hand and then takes them from her without waiting for her reply. His
eyes turn into saucers and he blows hard the breath that he held for
the five seconds it took him to see what was so shocking.

Rachel
takes the papers from him and folds them over, shoving them in her
purse.

“We’ll
look at those later,” she says.

Michael
takes in the desolate look on Rachel’s face. The impact it has
on him is visible on his own. I can imagine they’ve shed plenty
of tears in the last eight months just dealing with his terminal
diagnosis. No one wants to talk about the logistics of dying, but it
has to be done. Unfortunately, those logistics include figuring out
how all the bills are going to be paid.

“We
… we have a good savings and some investments. And, we were
already talking about selling the business to one of my pilots.
Between those things, Rachel is going to be just fine.” Michael
looks at Rachel and squeezes her hand. “But, honestly, I can’t
bear the thought of her getting rid of her family’s land.”

“Michael,
it’s okay,” Rachel protests.

“It’s
not okay. And it’s not right that I even entertained the
thought.” He looks at Will and steels himself. “If your
offer still stands.”

“It
absolutely still stands … with one condition,” Will
tells him.

“Anything,”
Michael replies.

“You
give us a chance to be brothers.” My heart is beating like a
full on drum corps inside my chest. It’s one thing for Michael
to humble himself and accept our help for Rachel’s sake. It’s
another to tear down the wall he built and let Will in. I don’t
know what Will is going to do if Michael says ‘no.’

Michael
is not quick to reply. I can almost see the wheels turning in his
head as he contemplates how he wants to spend his last days.

“There
was a time I knew I could never even think about that. I was
convinced you were just like him and I didn’t want any part of
that. But, you were there tonight for us, and that says a lot about
who you are as a man. So, I guess it’s time I got to know my
little brother.”

Will
breathes a sigh of relief and the room practically glows from the
smiles beaming from our faces. And while Michael’s prognosis
isn’t good, we know that we are about to embark on a short but
marvelous road.

Cancer
sucks and I want to punch it in the face.

In
the last three weeks, Michael has had three more episodes like the
one at our house. If he would keep himself hydrated like his doctors
have told him to, this wouldn’t keep happening. Now that he has
begun a relationship with us, Rachel is happy to have more people
staying on top of Michael about this. And when Michael’s
mother, Victoria, heard that Michael had knocked down the wall he had
up between him and Will, she was ecstatic. It was killing her not to
tell us what was going on with Michael, but he had given her strict
instructions not to share their personal issues with us. I think it’s
the only reason she hasn’t already come to see him. She knows
that this is truly the only time Michael and Will are ever going to
have together.

“Are
you all packed?” Will asks, entering our bedroom with a baby in
each arm.

“I
am, but I’m still not sure about this.” I take Natalie
from his arms and hold her close to me. “I know it’s only
two nights, but I’ve never been away from them before.”

In
a few short hours I will be boarding a plane to New York to ambush
Caroline and get things straight between us. We haven’t spoken
since the night she stormed out, which was almost month ago. I’ve
tried to reach her countless times since that night at dinner, but
she won’t reply to any of my calls, emails, or texts. When her
own mother couldn’t get her to call me back, I decided that
desperate times definitely called for desperate measures. Carol was
more than willing to oblige in helping me figure out what was going
on with Caroline. So she gave me the spare key to Caroline’s
apartment in New York and I booked my flight.

“It’s
going to be fine. I’m here and the moms are chomping at the bit
to come help out tonight.” Will envelops me in his arms and I
rest my head on his strong chest, letting the nervousness in me calm.

“I’m
sure you’re right. But just to make myself feel better…”
I pull a folded piece of paper from my nightstand and hand it to
Will. “I’ve detailed the girls’ day and made some
notes.”

“You
do remember that I’ve been here most days since they were born,
right?”

“I
said it was to make
myself
feel better.” I look up at Will with doe eyes and grin.

“You
are way too cute for your own good. You know that, don’t you?”

“And
you love me for it!” I wrap my arms around Will’s middle
and he kisses me on the top of my head.

“Yes,
yes I do.” Will grabs my small suitcase from the bed just as
the doorbell rings. “That must be Tyler. He said he wanted to
stop by before you left.”

When
we open the door, Tyler is standing there looking a little beaten.
The last time we asked him about Caroline he said that they were
speaking but that things definitely felt off. She suggested that
maybe they should break up, but Tyler said that wasn’t
happening and Caroline hasn’t mentioned it again. He hasn’t
seen her since that night at our house and it’s beginning to
wear on him.

“Hey,”
I say, giving Tyler a hug when he walks in.

“Hey.
You all set?” he asks and I nod in reply.

“Have
you talked to her lately?” I ask him. “What’s she
saying?”

“Yeah,
I talked to her yesterday. She says that we’re fine but she
won’t talk about Europe. She’s supposed to be leaving in
a month and she won’t talk to me about it. She just tells me
that I don’t need to worry, but how am I supposed to not worry
when she won’t talk to me?”

I
don’t think I’ve ever seen Tyler this upset and rambling
before. I also don’t think that any girl he’s dated has
ever been as important to him as Caroline is.

“I
was going to ask her to marry me. I still want to. I just don’t
know if she feels the same way anymore.”

“Well,
I’m going to do everything I can to find out what’s going
on. It isn’t like Caroline to act this way, and there’s
too much at stake for me to let it go.”

Tyler
hangs out for a bit until it’s time for Will to take me to the
airport. He insists on parking and staying with me until I’m
checked in and am ready to go through security.

“I’ve
arranged for a car to pick you up at the airport and stay available
to you all weekend. You’ve got enough to handle without having
to deal with New York City cabbies,” Will tells me.

“You’re
too sweet.” A car service is unnecessary but I learned a long
time ago not to argue points of chivalry and care with Will.

Will
kisses me and then I kiss my sweet little munchkins before I leave
them at the entrance to the security checkpoint. Once my shoes are
back on, I wave and blow a kiss to him from across the cluster of
people waiting their turn in the full body-scan machine.

I
run through my plan of action before my flight while I snack on my
chai tea latte and petite vanilla scones from Starbucks. Carol wasn’t
sure of Caroline’s schedule since it could literally run from
first thing in the morning until the wee hours of the night. So if
she isn’t at her apartment, I’ll just use the key Carol
gave me and let myself in. I’ll turn all the lights on so when
Caroline does get home, she’ll know something is up when she
walks in.

The
driver Will promised would be waiting for me in Baggage Claim is
holding a sign with “Mrs. Layla Meyer” printed on it. I’m
reminded of when we arrived at this same airport on the first leg of
our honeymoon. It was the first time I had seen my married name
printed and I was overwhelmed with emotion. Funny how it still does
the same thing to me now.

I
tell the driver that I’ll call the service when I’m ready
for them to pick me up. I have a hotel reserved, but I’m
willing to wait all night to talk to Caroline if I have to. I knock
on her door and no one answers. It’s almost six, but Caroline
keeps anything but typical work hours.

“Hellooooo!”
I call as I open the door. Nope. No one here.

Sleek
white furniture lines a pink and green floral carpet in the middle of
the room, with crisp, white and pink pillows on both the couch and
loveseat. Pink, blue, and green accent pieces are strategically
placed on a bookshelf with all of Caroline’s favorite books.
Some of them are stacked with a vase or trinket on top. The place is
beautiful, but much more sterile than I would have thought. But since
Caroline divides her time between here and Los Angeles, it’s
probably hard to personalize the space as much as she’d like.

A
search for something to eat in the kitchen turns up a jug of orange
juice and a loaf of bread. I’m not surprised. Caroline isn’t
much of a cook. I do find an abundance of take-out menus. All of
Caroline’s favorite dishes are circled. I place an order for
Chinese, being sure to include something for Caroline, and wait. It
only takes twenty minutes for them to arrive, which is about twenty
minutes less than what we wait at home. When I ask the delivery guy
how he was able to get here so quickly, he tells me that they are
just a block away, and that they are
very
familiar with this address.

“I
bet you are!” I laugh as I put his tip in his hand.

I
leave everything in the thick, brown grocery bag and set it on the
counter. I’m hoping Caroline will be home soon and we can talk
while we eat together. It would be like old times.

I
walk down the hallway, passing a bedroom and bathroom before finding
Caroline’s bedroom. A soft smile turns up the corners of my
mouth. Caroline’s room is every bit of what I thought it would
be. A queen-size sleigh bed made out of warm mahogany sits centered
on the wall to the right. The quilt her grandmother made for her is
neatly made over the mattress. And the lamp we bought together when
Ikea opened in Charlotte is sitting on her nightstand. The matching
dresser opposite the bed is covered with framed pictures. I take a
few steps into the room so I can examine them more closely. That
small smile I had turns into a full on, face-splitting grin. Every
frame is filled with pictures of our group, our family. There’s
one with Caroline, Gwen, and me from prom, another of all of us from
that first trip to Grandfather Mountain, and another one from
graduation. And while there are several from random events and
selfies, the one that sits centered on the dresser in the largest
frame is my favorite. It is of Caroline and me on my wedding day. I
pick the frame up and become even more determined to get Caroline and
me back to where we used to be.

“Hey.”
Caroline’s voice startles me. I didn’t hear the door or
her footsteps in the hall. I spin around, the frame still in my hand.

“Hi,”
I say with a surprised jolt. I realize I’m still holding the
frame and turn quickly to put it back in its place.

“I
knew I hadn’t left all the lights on. I saw your suitcase and
purse, but the smell of Chinese food would have been enough to tell
me you were here.” She tosses her coat and scarf onto the bed
and kicks her shoes off into the middle of the room before turning
back to me. “What are you doing here, Layla?”

“You
wouldn’t return any of my calls, texts, or emails. You mom gave
me her spare key,” I tell her. “We need to talk. I don’t
like how things were left. I mean, it’s been a month since
we’ve spoken.”

Caroline
lets out a defeated breath. She knows she is trapped. There’s
no way I’m leaving here without things getting cleared up.

“Well,
what do you want to drink?”

“You
have nothing in your fridge,” I remind her as we walk down the
hall to the kitchen. I pull two plates from the cabinet Caroline
directs me to and begin serving our dinner.

“You
didn’t look in the right place,” she tells me. I watch as
Caroline gets down on her knees and pulls two six packs of soda out
from the back of the cabinet. “I can’t leave this in my
fridge. The other designers give me a hard time. Everyone here is
like, ‘I’ll have a chardonnay and the salmon’ and
I’m all ‘can’t I just get some Chinese food and a
Cheerwine?’”

I
laugh and make a face because that pretty well sums up dining with
Caroline. We smile and laugh with each other, and the hope I had at
resolving whatever it is that has come between us is stronger than
ever.

We’re
a few bites in when I have to dive right in. “You want to tell
me what that scene at my house was?”

“I
don’t know. I don’t know what came over me. I’m
sorry I acted that way. I shouldn’t have said those things to
you.” Caroline twists her mouth in contemplation.

“What
about Tyler? I don’t understand why you would drop that kind of
bomb on him in front of everyone. And how can you just decide that
you’re going to go to Europe indefinitely without talking to
him?”

“You
don’t understand. I meant it when I said that not everyone gets
a fairy tale romance like you and Will. How is anyone supposed to
compete with that?”

“Why
are you trying to compete?” I give her a puzzled look. “I
wouldn’t wish Will’s and my journey on my worst enemy.
I’m so glad we landed where we did, but the steps we took to
get here were awful. You know that, Care. And even if Will and I
hadn’t found our happy ending, you still have your parents’
example. I don’t know much about Tyler’s parents, but
they seem pretty happy.”