Page 2 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

A lecture was coming on, Carly could feel it, but she tapped the screen as Jill said and squared a look at her. An image of her older sister filled most of the space. A beautiful brunette with her dad’s prominent jaw and their mother’s blue eyes—eyes Jill had passed on to her baby Emmett as well.

“Now,” Jill said, “I want you to turn your focus to the upper corner of your screen. See that beautiful blonde?”

Carly kept her eyes trained on her sister’s face. “Yep.”

“No you don’t. You’re looking at me. Look at the hot blonde chick in the corner and repeat after me.”

“Ugh.” Carly let out a groan. “No.”

“Do it, or I’ll tell Mom about the Indian vase I took the heat for…”

Carly sighed and forced her gaze to the corner. Like Jill, Carly had Mom’s blue eyes, but she’d also gotten the woman’s heart-shaped face, which made her resemble her mom most, according to some. Since Carly hadn’t ever seen her own father, she could only guess at what she’d gotten from him.

“I’m a young and single blonde babe on the beach,” Jill declared boldly. “Now you say it.”

Carly spun to look over her shoulder and spotted some James Bond-looking men on the path a few yards behind her. Handsome, distinguished, and squinting against the sun in her direction. Sure, it was the direction of the beach as well, but…Carly set her eyes back on the screen. “I’llneversay that out loud.”

Jill chuckled. “You’re no fun. Please just promise me that you’ll make out with at leastoneguy this summer. You’ll never know what’s out there if you don’t give anyone else a chance.”

Anyone else.Her sister hadn’t even said Jimmy’s name. She didn’t have to. Jimmy McGraw was the only man Carly had loved. The only man she wascapableof loving, it seemed. She moved her gaze to the glistening sand, then over the lapping waves. For the last three summers, she’d stood at this very spot and wished on the ocean view.Please let Jimmy figure out how much he loves me. Please let Jimmy move beyond the loss. Please help him see that he doesn’t want to spend his life alone.

For the first time in years, Carly couldn’t bring herself to make those wishes.“It’s harder than you think,” she mumbled.Uninvited, a flashback shot to her mind: her and Jimmy huddled over the lifeless babe in her arms. She forced it away, knowing she had moved so much further than Jimmy had. She just didn’t know how to help him do the same.

“I know it’s not easy,” Jill admitted. “But Jimmy is stuck, Carly. He’s stuck and he might not ever get out. That doesn’t mean you have to be stuck your whole life too.”

A hot streak of fear shot through her chest at the thought of releasing Jimmy once and for all. What would the rest of his years look like? Tears welled up in her eyes as she fought the sudden quivering of her bottom lip.

“I can tell you’re getting close to doing it,” Jill said. “Remember what Mom said? ‘In the instant before we release something meaningful, we tighten our grasp.’This is you tightening your grasp. But you’re only tightening it because you’re about to release him once and for all. I know it.”

Carly brought a hand to her face as she fought back the tears. Fear shifting to grief at the thought of a life without him. The grip she had on Jimmy was tied to a whole lot more than the man himself. It was tied to what they’d lost together, what they’d mourn for the rest of their lives, and what might have been had things all worked out.

If Carly could shake off the weight that had piled onto her shoulders at the topic, she would do that very thing. Instead, she had to sit with it. “I’m trying,” she promised, setting her gaze back to the small screen. “Okay? I’m trying to let—maybe I’ll make some progress here.” The wordslet gowere simply too painful to utter, but she thought them all the same. She needed to be free, once and for all, from the shackles of Jimmy McGraw. She just wasn’t sure how to uncurl her stubborn fingers and let go.

Jill studied her for a blink, hope seeming to smooth the concerned crease from her brow. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’re finally going to do it.”

Carly clenched her eyes shut against the pain seeping into her chest. It felt as if a pair of hands waited, scalpel ready, anxious to gouge out parts of her wounded heart.

“Maybe,” she whispered.

As the single word left her lips, a flock of seagulls took flight before her, the sharp snap of their wings echoing as they shot into the blue sky.

“That’sthe girl I know,” Jill said. “Use that stubborn side of yours to move forward now. You can do it.”

When Carly remained quiet, her sister spoke up once more. “Okay, I’ll let you get settled. Have fun.Don’tbe good. Call me once you’ve got news.”

“Okay, I will. Love you.”

Jill’s husband, Shawn, appeared in the background as she waved goodbye. Carly’s eyes shot to the sleeping baby in his arms. “Emmett and I love you, too, Carly. Have a fun time.” Shawn gave her a wave just before the screen went black.

Carly tucked the phone back into her pocket and peered into the blue sky. The flock of birds, barely within view now, brought a word to mind—freedom.

Yes, the healthy part of her longed to be free. Perhaps her sister was right—maybe she really was preparing to let Jimmy go once and for all. The making out with a guy on the beach part? Chances of that were sliver thin.

CHAPTER 2

Gage shrugged the travel bag off his shoulder and spun in place to take in the vaulted ceilings of the beach house. Exposed metal beams added to the modern appeal while leading the eye to the main event beyond the glass—the ocean view.

While Gage appreciated the structure’s job to accent that view, and what a fine job it did, he’d likely spend more time admiring the architectural design of the beach house during his stay. Just two more years of school and he could hit the ground running a firm of his own. Of course, if his famous father had anything to say about it, Gage would give up that dream to follow in his footsteps.