She nodded, dropping her hand from my cheek and taking my hand again. “I never had children, Caroline. Stay with me, and I’ll give you a job in my company.”
I gasped in shock. “I don’t know the first thing about cosmetics.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” Tears filled her eyes. “You can become the daughter I never had. I can protect you, Caroline. I have the money and the resources. I want to do it. I need to do this for my best friend.”
Was I foolish to refuse her help? Would I have accepted if Marco weren’t in the picture? But I thought about the office full of white and glass walls. The model-thin employees looking like they were ready for a photo shoot. I’d barely worn makeup since August, and my idea of nice clothes was shopping at Target instead of Dollar General. I would hate this life.
Caroline Blakely would have found a way to make it work. She’d have settled.
Well, Carly Moore didn’t settle.
“Those are both very generous offers,” I said carefully, “but I can’t accept.”
“What do you do in Eastern Tennessee? Where do you live?” She paused. “Are you in a relationship with that deputy? He seems very concerned about you.”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you any of that.”
Her face dropped. “You don’t trust me.”
“I don’t fully trust anyone other than Marco.”
“So you are in a relationship with him.” She frowned. “How much can a sheriff deputy from some Appalachian mountain town make? It can’t be much. And how are you making money? Are you teaching school? Between your two salaries, you’d be lucky to be above the poverty line.”
“I’m not going hungry, and I have a roof over my head.” Then I added, “And a sheriff’s department is a county law enforcement agency.”
“I understand his appeal,” she said with a knowing smile. “He’s quite a handsome man, and his job probably gives you a sense of security, but it’s never a good idea to hitch your future to a man. Your mother did that, and look what happened to her.”
“I am not my mother.” As much as it hurt me to admit it, there was no denying it was true. She had always been my model of the ideal woman, and in my own eyes, I’d invariably fallen short. The realization that she’d been far from perfect was making me question everything.
“No,” she said softly. “I can see that.” She squeezed my hand. “We have so much to catch up on. At least stay a few days. If you still want to go back, I’ll arrange for a private car. Your Deputy Roland won’t have to make the trip.”
“As much as I’d love to do that, this trip was spur of the moment, and I have responsibilities I need to get back to.”
She released a frustrated breath. “At least tell me why you ran from your father? What happened?”
“Did my mother love Uncle William?”
She blinked in surprise. “Yes, she thought she did.”
“Why didn’t he want to marry her?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Because his brother saw her first and decided he wanted to marry her. Will said he’d never defy his brother.”
I let out a puff of air. “So he figured it would be better to screw his brother’s wife behind his back?”
She shot me a glare. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“Don’t talk about my best friend like that,” she admonished, but she sounded more tired than angry.
“How did Uncle William take Mom’s death?”
“He was devastated—so devastated he actually risked everything by returning from Maine for her funeral. Truly, it nearly killed him. He looked like walking death looking over her casket. Somehow, he managed to leave and return to Maine without meeting his own death. Then again, maybe it was enough for Randall to have taken Mary Caroline from this world. What better punishment than making William live without the love of his life, knowing his indiscretion was the reason for it?”
“What about his child?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I think Will always suspected you were his, even before anyone discovered Randall was sterile. I saw the way he treated you. He thought you hung the moon. But ultimately Randall’s name was on the birth certificate.”
“Why didn’t he at least insist on a DNA test?”
She shook her head, distraught. “Caroline . . . I don’t know.”
“You both thought he murdered my mother, and yet you left me there with him.”
Tears flooded Tiffany’s eyes again. “There was nothing I could do, Caroline. Trust me, I would have sent someone to kidnap you and bring you to me if I thought I could have gotten away with it. I took my role as your godmother seriously.” She leaned her face closer to mine. “I still do. Carly, please . . . reconsider. Come stay with me. I’ll protect you, I swear.”
My goddaughter came to mind, and I tried to put myself in Tiffany’s shoes. What would I do if I found out that Bingham had killed Lula?
I didn’t even have to think about it. Although I barely knew Beatrice and I certainly wasn’t Lula’s best friend, I’d do everything in my power to protect that little girl. Even if it meant kidnapping her and living on the run. I would never leave her to her father’s mercy because Todd Bingham had no mercy.
And neither did Randall Blakely.
Tiffany had been my mother’s best friend. She’d known me since I was born. She claimed to care about me, yet she’d left me to that hell.
No wonder my feelings about her weren’t all warm and fuzzy. What guarantee did I have that she wouldn’t abandon me again at the first sign of trouble?
“I appreciate that,” I said, slowly tugging my hand free of hers, “but I’m not a little girl who needs saving anymore.”
She started to protest, then stopped. “Yes, I can see that too, but I hope now that you’ve opened the door we can stay in touch.”
I smiled, but it was forced. “I’d like that.”
“And when you have the opportunity, come and spend a weekend with me. You can even bring your handsome deputy with you.” She gave me a sweet smile.
I held firm. “I need William’s new name, Aunt Tiffany.”
She started to ask who, then stopped. “What happened with your father?”
“Give me Uncle William’s new name, and I’ll tell you.”
“Grayson Matthews,” she said. “He lives in Kennebunkport, Maine.”
“Does my father know?”
“I’m sure he does.” She gave me a stern look. “Now, why are you scared of your father?”
“You really don’t know?” I asked. “The night of the wedding rehearsal, I heard him planning to kill me.”
“Why?” she asked in horror. “Why now?”
“Because once I was married, I would be superfluous.”
Then I got up and walked out of the office.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Marco was waiting for me by the elevator. He looked me up and down as though to make sure I was okay.