The Fairest of Them All (18 page)

The world tilted. Stunned, Carly shook her head to clear it. She couldn’t have heard correctly. “You’re not saying you’ve already bought it?”

Russ nodded. “They’ve been paid.”

Something heavy settled in her chest. It made it hard for her to breathe. “But they didn’t tell me,” she said, confused. “You didn’t tell me.”

Russ cleared his throat and quickly glanced at her. “Well, I kinda asked them not to discuss it. I thought it would be better if you and I worked out our, uh, personal relationship first.”

“You didn’t think to discuss this with me?” Her voice shook from the turmoil inside her. This sounded as though it was all part of a plan to keep her under control. She felt an ominous sense of betrayal. All her brothers and Russ had planned this without consulting her. The professional doubter on her shoulder reminded her that Russ still hadn’t said he loved her.

“Carly,” he began in that placating tone that made her grind her teeth, “I thought it was for the best and—”

Her hurt and confusion exploded into fieiy anger. “You thought it was best! What about what I thought? What if I don’t want you to be my partner? What if I think it’s a horrible idea?”

“How could it be horrible? We’re going to be partners in marriage. Why not in business? This way, you won’t have to worry about your brothers interfering.”

“No. I’ll just have to worry about you interfering.” She was so hurt and furious, she was ready to pop a blood vessel. She had to get away from him. “Stop the car and pull over.”

“Carly—”

“Don’t you Carly me. Pull over or I swear I won’t wait until you stop to get out of this car.”

His jaw tightened, and he pulled the car onto the curb. “You’re not being rational.”

“Rational! Why should I worry about being rational? You’re rational enough for everybody.” Carly unclipped her seat belt and shoved open her car door.

Russ checked his rearview mirror for oncoming traffic and followed her out of the car. “I didn’t think you’d get upset. I thought you’d be grateful.”

“Grateful!” she yelled. “Grateful because you and my brothers are manipulating me and my business. L-L-Leave m-me-” She cursed at the untimely stutter and waved her arm in frustration. “Y-You know what I mean. Leave me alone!”

Russ stared after her as she stalked down the road, digging her high heels into the gravel and dirt. “I can’t let you walk all the way into town. Be reasonable.” When she didn’t respond, Russ exhaled in exasperation and took off after her. It only took a few swift strides before he caught up with her and touched her on the shoulder.

She spun around with tears on her face and fury in her eyes. “I trusted you. I loved you, dammit. And then you went behind my back.” She backed away. “Get away. I never want to see you again.”

It was the first time she’d said she loved him out loud, and it did something to his guts. Russ stretched out his arms, reaching for her. “Carly, we can work—”

She pulled off one of her shoes, and Russ watched in disbelief as she threw it at him. She barely missed her target, which Russ grimly suspected was his crotch. Horrified, he ducked when she tossed the other one. Then she turned and ran down the road on her bare feet.

Russ hurried back to the truck and followed her even after she hitched a ride with Mr. Perkins, the old man who ran the vegetable stand. She didn’t waste a single glance on her new fiancé, Russ noticed. He gnawed the inside of his cheek as he watched her go into her apartment. She hadn’t said a word about their engagement, but Russ had the sinking feeling that this was one mess up he might not be able to fix. It left a hollow, lonely feeling inside him, worse than he’d ever felt before.

Surprisingly, the cruise went off without a hitch. Carly gritted her teeth and smiled graciously when she really wanted to spit nails. After she returned to her apartment, she was still too angry to sleep. Adrenaline rushed through her veins like caffeine. She spent the whole night flailing herself for her foolishness. She should have caught on to Russ Bradford and his tricks. The slime.

And her brothers. She hoped the Ladies Auxiliary descended on them like a horde of bees. It was the least they deserved.

She didn’t know whether she was more angry or hurt at Russ’s lie of omission. But she clung to the anger, because hurting and pining over a man who hadn’t ever said he loved her seemed the height of stupidity.

By the following afternoon, Sara had taken several messages from her brothers. “Daniel wants to know when you’ll return his call,” Sara said.

“After Christmas, if I’m feeling generous,” Carly said.

Sara gave a little smile. “I’ll tell him.”

Carly noticed the satisfaction on Sara’s face. “You look like you’ll enjoy it too. You never told me what happened that day you helped Daniel.”

Sara nodded, her mouth tightening grimly. “He’s a member of your family, so I didn’t want to insult you.”

Carly laughed for the first time that day. “Insult me. I need a good laugh.”

Propriety warred with feminine pique on Sara’s face. Feminine pique won. “He was incredibly rude,” she burst out. “First he was angry that I had shown up to help him instead of you. Then, he wouldn’t let me feed him the soup.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve never met a more independent man. When I finally coaxed him into letting me feed him, he started lecturing me about what a bad influence I’ve been over you. Between,” Sara announced incredulously, “the barhopping and the mail-order lingerie.”

Carly choked on her amused gasp. “You didn’t let him get away with it, did you?”

Sara looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Well, no.”

“What did you do?”

“I tried to give him the rest of the soup, but he didn’t want any help. He started waving his arms, and it ended up in his lap.”

Carly howled. “Oh, I wish I’d been there. What did he do?”

“He yelled and I left. When he called just now, he pretended it never happened.”

“Yeah. Male pride.” Carly sobered, thinking of Russ, wondering if he’d be able to pretend their relationship had never happened. “Speaking of male pride, I have a new business partner. My backboneless brothers sold out to Russ.”

Sara widened her eyes. “Russ? Hmmm. Sounds like their clumsy way of making sure you’re taken care of.”

“In more ways than one. I think they wanted me to marry him too.”

“Well, it’s obvious that’s what Russ wants,” Sara observed. “He hasn’t hidden his feelings about you—calling everyday, stopping by to check on you, sending flowers. And now he’s bought out your brothers. It sounds like a perfect solution to your owning the riverboat outright.”

Carly blinked. “It does?”

“Sure. Now you get to be the boss without financially strapping yourself.”

“I hadn’t really thought of it that way,” Carly admitted quietly.

“Why not?”

Carly felt her skin prickle with heat. “The timing was off. I’d just told him I would marry him.”

“You’re getting married?” Sara’s voice raised a notch.

Carly winced. “Well, no. I think it’s safe to say the engagement’s off. After I threw my shoes at him, he left me alone.” Carly couldn’t endure Sara’s look of censure. “They did it behind my back,” she said hotly. “Didn’t bother to consult me.” She waved her arm. “Just arranged my life as if I were an idiot.”

Sara frowned, shaking her head. “It’s hard to believe Russ did that.”

“He said it was a
surprise
. He thought I’d be grateful.” With the first blinding rush of her anger blunted, Carly wondered if she and Russ had misunderstood each other. Talking it out with Sara made her feel confused.

“Did he try to explain?”

“Yes,” Carly admitted, “but I just felt too manipulated to listen. It was like he poked my one sore spot.” Why did all of this sound so lame today?

Sara’s eyes were filled with concern. “If you don’t trust him and if you really believe he’s that much of a manipulator, then I guess it’s a good thing you’re not going to marry him.”

“I didn’t say I don’t trust—” The phone rang, and she stopped.

“I’ll get that,” Sara said, exiting the room.

Carly stared after her. Sara was only repeating Carly. So why did she feel this sudden need to defend Russ? Why did she feel compelled to clarify and explain?

They should have consulted her, part of her insisted. To hear Sara tell it, though, Russ was giving her what she wanted—like any man who wanted to impress the woman he planned to marry. It had been an expensive, almost flamboyant gesture for such a prudent, practical man to make, she thought. Anybody else might call it a gesture of love. Carly’s stomach sank.

Had she been so busy watching for the words that she’d been blind to his actions? People say it all the time and it doesn’t mean a thing, he’d said. People make promises they don’t keep. Gwen hadn’t kept hers to Russ, and Carly had already taken back hers. Her angry words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Carly bit her lip against a wave of regret. Lord, what a mess she’d made. She bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. It all looked different now. Russ had busted a gut to win her over. He’d put himself on the line repeatedly. Like the night on the boat when he’d given to her so generously. He’d been tender and caring, sensing the healing she’d needed. He’d freed something inside her that night. She hadn’t recognized it until now, but Carly had let go of grief that had kept her bound until that night. He’d taken a deep hurt and ministered to it, showing her life could be different for her now.

The image of his face, lined with crushing disappointment, haunted her, stabbing her conscience. She'd hurt him badly, she realized. There was no one to blame but herself, and the heavy weight of remorse settled over her like a cloak. She’d hurt the one person who’d shown her more love than anyone else in her entire life. Carly squeezed her eyes shut, but the shame scraped her heart, leaving her raw.

She deserved it, Carly thought. She deserved every stab of shame, every bit of stomach turning self-disgust. But the realization that nearly shocked her with a doubling over kind of pain was that she did not deserve Russ.

With his fierce male pride, the only thing that would have made it worse was if she’d spurned him in public. Carly took small comfort in the fact that no one had witnessed her tirade.

Sunday morning dawned gray and rainy. The weather mirrored her spirit, and Carly was tempted to skip church. She felt miserable and confused. But she knew if she stayed away, she’d have to deal with twice as much flack.

She shrugged on her most boring navy dress and prayed no one would give her a second glance. She crept into an empty pew near the back and spent most of the service trying not to look for Russ.

Halfway through the sermon, she spotted him. His face was set in somber lines. He wore a navy suit that didn’t look the least bit boring on his broad shoulders and muscular frame. He narrowed his eyes and turned slightly. Her stomach somersaulted when he almost looked at her.

By the time the pastor gave the benediction, her palms were sweating. Just two days ago she’d begged him to leave her alone. Today she wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she knew the distance between them was more than seven pews. The dreadful loss she felt made her sick.

She managed to scoot out the back and made it to the steps where she paused to raise her umbrella. “Excuse me,” she murmured, feeling someone at her back.

Then she looked up and there he was, rain in his hair and bitter surprise in his eyes. She braced herself for his angry words. She deserved them.

“Hey, Russ,” one of his friends called. “Hear you’re dodging spiked heels. Better get yourself some armor.” Then the guy hooted with laughter and nudged the man beside him.

Carly nearly lost her breakfast. They all knew. She clenched her fists, wishing there was something she could do to rectify the situation. She looked at Russ and thought he was finally going to speak to her, probably curse her to hell. But he didn’t. He looked right through her as if she weren’t there, and walked away. He did exactly what she’d asked him to do, she realized. He left her alone.

Word must have spread fast, because Troy and Daniel confronted her that afternoon at her apartment while she folded laundry.

“Why won’t you marry him?” Troy asked.

Daniel shook his head. “I still can’t believe you threw your shoes at him.”

She couldn’t either. “I don’t have a good explanation. All I can tell you is that things are complicated. It didn’t help that you sold your part of Matilda’s Dream without discussing it with me.”

Daniel shifted. “That was Russ’s idea.”

Troy’s expression was pure censure. “He wanted to surprise you.”

“I was definitely surprised.”

“So, what are you gonna do now?”

Carly sighed, fighting an overwhelming urge to sob.

Since she’d seen Russ at church, she’d been teetering on the edge of an emotional cliff. “I, uh.” Her voice shook and she swallowed hard, taking an inordinately long time to fold a T-shirt. “I’m not sure.”

She watched her brothers exchange a look of discomfort. They could handle anything but her tears. She hoped she’d be able to spare them.

“Listen, Carly,” Troy said, “if Bradford’s done anything to uh—” He shrugged. “Anything to, you know—” He flicked out his hand impatiently. “You know what I mean, Daniel. You tell her.”

“Hey, don’t look at me.”

Troy frowned. “If Bradford’s done anything to compromise you, let us know and we’ll take care of it.” If she’d been in another mood, she would have laughed. Instead, she knew she’d have to word her response carefully or the relationship between Russ and her brothers would fracture, and Carly didn’t want that. “Russ hasn’t done anything for you to worry about.”

Troy let out a long relieved breath and nodded. “Okay. Well, we better be going.”

They walked toward the door, and Carly gave Troy, then Daniel a hug.