“No. Because you weren’t going to go.”
“Oh.” Laura had always believed her sister’s crush on Macklin had kept her from going away to college.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was a factor. Not the biggest one. And definitely not the only one.”
“He’ll—”
“No. He won’t.” Carly’s shoulders dropped a little, her voice doing the same when she said, “But I’m okay with that. Or I’m learning to be.”
“It’s his loss.”
Carly smiled, the same smile Laura saw on her own face when she was pretending to be happy and wasn’t. “Yeah, it is.”
“Maybe someday…”
“Maybe. But I’m not putting my life on hold while I wait. And neither are you, because you have a guy ready to build a life with you. A really good guy who loves you as you are.”
Laura’s phone rang in the other room and she grinned. “Speaking of.”
“Go answer the phone. Tell him to get his ass over here to help move your shit. I’ll keep packing.”
Rushing back to the living room, she grabbed her phone and answered it just before it went to voicemail. “Hey.”
“You okay?”
Frowning, Laura said, “Yeah, why?”
“Your voice, when you answered, just now. You sounded out of breath or…”
Laura’s smile returned. Nash was always checking on her. He knew her so well, he could tell when something was even slightly different. “I’m fine. Had to run from my room to the couch to answer the phone.”
“Oh, you’re in town already?”
“Yes. I needed to get my uniform shirts from the dry cleaner’s. I forgot to grab them yesterday.” She grinned wide. “Someone distracted me after my shift.”
Nash chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not apologizing for that.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“Good. And speaking of shifts, you’re not on until four, right? Got time to have lunch with your favorite guy?”
“Oh, Dad’s free for lunch?”
“Ha, ha. Seriously though, I’m done for the day and thought we could eat together, if you haven’t already, before you head in to work.”
“We can. But maybe we should get takeaway from Della’s?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Okay, grab us some subs and meet me at Carly’s place.”
“Carly’s? You want to eat takeaway from Della’s at Bake & Brew?”
“No, not Bake & Brew. Upstairs. In the apartment.”
“Oh, right. Okay. I’ll be there in about ten as long as it’s not busy at Della’s.”
“Actually, just come here. I’ll call in an order for us to pickup on the way back to the Inn.”
