I glance behind me, checking for the car again but the coast is still clear. “We had a tail. Pretty sure we lost him, but we don’t want to risk takin’ ‘em to Nix and Emma’s.”
I hear a little giggle behind me and I glance over my shoulder as Riley shakes her head and looks up at her Mama. “He said he had a tail. That’s silly, Mama.”
Camilla forces a smile to her face. “Yeah, it is, baby.”
“Yeah, I agree. Take them to one of the nicer hotels downtown and check them in under your name,” Blaze says, getting my attention again.
I nod, scanning the road again as I tell Kodiak to head downtown. “You got it, Prez.”
After hanging up with Blaze, I turn to Riley again and smile. “So, Miss Riley, I have a question for you.”
“What?” she asks, scowling up at me.
“Do you like to swim? ‘Cause I heard the place we’re going has a super nice pool.”
Her little face lights up and she jabbers on and on about going swimming. Kodiak glances in my direction and nods as I turn around to face the front, thankful that she never even realized she was in danger.
Chapter Twelve
Carly
I scan the street for Ivy’s little blue sedan as I pull up in front of Aunt Dottie’s house but it’s nowhere to be seen and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Leave it to my sister to show up late on the night she’s supposed to introduce us to her boyfriend. Even I’m cutting it close tonight. Unless, of course, they took his car. I look around again, but my car and Dottie’s old VW Bug are the only vehicles even close to the house. The front door opens and Dottie steps out onto the porch, waving at me with a warm smile on her face. This is exactly what I need after seeing my mother last night.
“Have you heard from your sister?” she asks as I climb out of the car and I shake my head.
“No. Have you?”
She frowns, scanning the street. “No.”
“She’s probably taking her sweet ass time since there is no way you’ll lock her out tonight.”
“And why wouldn’t I?” she asks, her tone all serious and I laugh.
“Because you want to meet Julian.”
She scowls for a moment before nodding. “Yes, that’s true. I suppose she’ll get away with it tonight or maybe I’ll just let Julian in and leave her out on the porch.”
“Now, that’s just mean, Aunt Dottie.” I laugh and she flashes me a grin.
“Come on inside and I’ll get you some sweet tea.”
“Sounds perfect.” I follow her inside and she directs me to the dining room table, which is already set with some of her best china and I arch a brow as I peek into the kitchen. “Feeling nervous, Auntie?”
“Hush, girl.” She shoots me a look that makes it very clear I should drop it. I giggle as I sit down and set my bag on the floor. I’m tempted to grab my phone and text Chance since I haven’t heard from him since earlier today but even the thought of sending the message irritates me. I’m not that girl and I’m not about to become her just because I want to soak up as much time as I can with him.
“Here you go, sweetie,” she says, handing me a glass of sweet tea and I take a sip, humming in approval. I don’t know how she does it, but her sweet tea is always the best. “So, how are you?”
I shrug, focusing on the condensation on the glass. “I’m pretty good.”
“That is not the face of someone who is good.” She draws a circle in the air the size of my face and pins me with a stare.
“It’s nothing. Just my mother.”
“Oh. What’d she do this time?” Dottie knows all too well what my mother is like but she’s usually good about not talking down on her. Not that I care all that much these days but when I was a kid and still thought there might be some piece of my mother that cared about anything other than herself, it was nice Dottie kept her opinions to herself.
“I had to go to a charity thing with her yesterday and there was this guy there.”
“Let me guess. Young, handsome, and more money than God.”
I curl my lip and tilt my head from side to side. “Yes-ish on the young part. Hell, no, on the handsome part, at least to me anyway, and definitely on the money part.”
“Typical,” Dottie murmurs, shaking her head as she turns to look out the window. I follow her gaze, disappointed when I still don’t see Ivy out there.
“You should have seen the look on both of their faces when I showed up with a date.”
Her head whips back to me and she watches me with wide eyes for a second. “You took a date?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s his name?” she asks, setting her sweet tea down and leaning forward like she’s just heard the juiciest gossip. And, in a way, she has. I can’t even remember the last time I talked about a guy to her or anyone else.
“Chance.”
“And you two are…” She lets her question trail off, arching a brow and I smile as I shake my head.
“We’re… I don’t know. We’re nothing but still…something. All I really know is we have a shelf life and it’s the only reason I’m allowing things to continue.”
She sighs and slumps back in her chair. I’ve lost count of the number of times Aunt Dottie has tried to get me to try dating again but I always refuse. “And why does it have a shelf life?”
“Because it’s doomed from the start, anyway.”
“Child, it would break your daddy’s heart to hear you talk like this. What happened to you all those years ago was horrific, I won’t even deny that, but you can move on. You can find someone who loves you the way you deserve, the way your daddy would have wanted you to be loved.”
Reaching across the table, I lay my hand on hers and shake my head. “Dottie, I love you and I appreciate what you’re saying but I have moved on. This is me after moving on and love is just not in the cards for me.”
She forces a smile to her face and nods, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “You know I won’t push you, but I just wish you would go see someone or consider giving love a chance again. Those boys, they were awful, but they were also young and who knows the men they are today.”
“I don’t want to talk about this tonight. Please, Aunt Dottie.”
She pats my hand with her other hand and nods. “Of course. Why don’t you tell me about work? How is the new job treating you?”
Pushing the memories from my mind, I smile and nod. “Really great, actually. I’ve always loved the writing part and now that I’m at Champagne Dreaming, I love my work environment and the people there. I would love to find something special I could do that would really put my stamp on the blog. Kind of like Alison’s advice column.”
“I’m sure you’ll find your thing, Honey. When the time is right.”
I smile. Dottie is all about someone’s energy and the time being right and listening to your instincts. She rarely worries over things the way other people do because she believes the universe will just work itself out. I used to think it was weird, but I’ve learned to listen to her advice over the years.