Instantly, I felt myself softening. “You get her in with that early development school yet?”
“We’re still on the waiting list. Ryan said that if by next week we don’t hear anything, he’s totally flashing my family name at them.”
Both of us laughed together.
Coming from a wealthy family myself, I tended to try and not wave my status around to get whatever I wanted. Not for any particular reason outside of the dying need to want some kind of normalcy that aligned with the rest of the world.
I was no stranger to my own privilege. Having grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth and living among the working class of Ellington Heights had shown me that much at a young age.Brandonhad shown me that quite clearly.
However, I would be lying if I said that sometimes being the son of a billionaire didn’t come with quite the expansive list of temptations.
And Carrie was no different.
“We do what we can for our kids,” I said.
She let out an exhausted sounding sigh. “Too true. You okay if I call you after Eva goes down for bed?”
“Yeah, of course.” The offer to read her daughter a bedtime story was on the tip of my tongue, quickly squashed once I remembered the conversation I had with Carrie a few weeks ago about our boundaries.
“Great! I’ll call you then,” she said and then ended the call.
My fingers drummed along the steering wheel while I edged my car through a four-way stop.
I hated feeling shut out of Carrie’s life.
Her fiancé, while not at all on our level in terms of family wealth, treated her well. After our divorce, Carrie had—much like me—stayed out of the dating pool for quite some time, only ever branching out when her friends had decided to set her up on a blind date with her now fiancé.
He was a nice guy. Wasn’t all that interested in her family, outside of getting to know them like any normal boyfriend would while dating. Seemed to genuinely care for my ex the way she’d always needed to be. And didn’t seem to mind that she and I were still good friends.
In my book, that was enough for me to approve of him.
After the birth of her daughter, though, things seemed to change. It was gradual at first. Subtle comments here and there. A guiding arm away from me whenever I got too closeto the baby, or he felt like I was becoming too involved with helping Carrie navigate early motherhood while he was working overtime.
Carrie had done so much for me over the years in terms of helping me navigate my world out from under my father’s thumb. Repaying her in kind by stepping in where her fiancé lacked was second nature and never needed to be asked of me, despite Ryan’s growing attempts to keep me away.
I bonded with Eva. Became like a pseudo uncle to her. She was such a wonderful little girl that I couldn’t help but feel that paternal love toward her.
And then it all came crashing down.
No longer was Ryan so casual in his attitude toward me. He’d grown overprotective of both Carrie and their daughter seemingly overnight. It was devastating to receive that phone call from Carrie expressing that Ryan wasn’t comfortable having me around anymore, especially in Eva’s life, and that I needed to take a step back from their family altogether.
I’d been crushed.
My pseudo family ripped away from me in the blink of an eye.
Before that, I never thought about wanting a family. Once it was gone, I’d mourned the losses like they were dead.
I supposed in a way, that’s kind of how it was. I wasn’t allowed to go back to those times, no matter how much I missed them. I had to come to terms with my new reality, just like when I’d been forced to leave Brandon and my life in Ellington Heights behind.
There was a part of me that had hope Ryan would eventually come around. Then again, in his shoes, perhaps I would be feeling the same way. My fiancé’s ex constantly popping in and out of the picture certainly could lead to some unresolved issues no matter how amicable Carrie and I were.
Stopping at the town’s main intersection, I pulled out my phone to send Carrie a quick text to tell her that it turned out, I was going to be busy tonight, only to be distracted by the email notification on my top bar.
Pulling it down, I saw Brandon’s name listed.
Immediately, I tapped on the notification.
‘Hey, Avery. Thanks for the photos. From them, it seems like the cars are in great shape, so you should have no problem selling them. However, I wouldn’t be able to give you any kind of estimate on what they’re worth unless I actually look under the hood. Where is this garage located? Is it local? I’m going to have to meet you so that I can get a better look. Let me know what your schedule is looking like for this week so we can figure something out. Best, Brandon Carmichael.’
