Page 51 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

Gage groaned in frustration and reached for his phone. It seemed that for every potential scenario there were a dozen questions to go along with it. He hit the call button once more, praying she’d finally answer this time. Yet halfway through the very first ring, his call was sent to voicemail.

In three days Gage had to fly off to Maui. In two days he planned to address the situation with Carly and the tabloids. But today, right now, he was desperate to hold the woman he loved in his arms and comfort her.Please, Lord, protect her heart right now. Help me find her. Help me set things right.

With that, he typed out one last message to her, attaching a picture of the pendant in his fist:I found this in the parking garage. Please call me so I can bring it to you and hold you and tell you how I’m going to fix this mess.

Sure, he was assuming she knew by now, but that seemed to be the only explanation for why she’d leave and why she wouldn’t answer her phone. He stared at the screen, willing her to return his text. If nothing else he wanted to make sure she was okay. What if she’d been harmed? He thought back on the way he’d been chased down the freeway, and worried she might have panicked in her distressed state and driven right off the road.

Just as his pulsed raced hard enough to hurt, his phone buzzed with a text. He straightened up as he saw who it wasfrom. “Thank heavens,” he muttered as he tapped the text box on his screen.

Thank you so much for finding that. My heart was shattered all over again. Please leave it with Christian for now. I overheard what you told your dad, Gage. I don’t want to be someone you have to hide or worry over or pretend you don’t really like. A man I love once taught me something important, and I plan to live by it: if a guy can’t act out on his love for me, then he doesn’t deserve me.

Gage stared at the phone as her words sank in. What he told his dad? What was she talking about? But then he remembered the conversation he’d had on his way up to Carly’s floor. Could that be what she’d overheard?

The phone dinged once more, delivering one final message:

I’mturning off my phone now. I plan to change my number since I don’t want to be contacted by anyone from the media. I just want all of this to go away, and it sounds like you want that too.

Gagedidwant the media attention to go away too. What he didn’t want was to lose Carly in the process. Determination gripped hold of him as he revved up his car and headed toward the lot exit. He’d take care of this mess, and then he’d make things right with Carly.

It’d require a lot more than words in a text to help clear things up, but that was fine by him. Gage had no intention of giving her up without a battle. Time to gather the troops.

CHAPTER 22

Carly couldn’t remember being so miserable. Both Mom and Jill were at Carly’s place by the time she pulled into the driveway. Bless Jill for circling the wagons. Since then, the two had poured on the love, assuring Carly that she was not alone and that they’d do anything they could to support her.

While having her small family there kept her from returning to an empty home, Carly couldn’t help but picture the magnifying glass from her dream hovered over her chest, carving a hole into the center of her heart with slow-burning precision.

Jill, bless her, had offered to curl into bed with Carly while Mom took the spare bed. She’d taken her up on it too, and reminded herself all night long that at least Gage Craven had fallen in love with her. She truly believed that he had, but that he’d simply been denying it to appease his father. But then again, how much could he really love her if he was okay with keeping her a secret? She couldn’t help but think Gage had never really sent that message to his dad after all. Maybe he’d somehow set up that whole thing just to…to make her think that he wasn’t like Jimmy. Incapable of taking things to the next level.

“So you going to be ready to go back to Myrtle Beach on Saturday?” Jill asked as she joined Carly on the back patio. She offered a mug of coffee to her, taking a seat once Carly took hold of it.

“Thanks.” She wrapped her fingers around the hot mug and sighed.Couldshe really go back to The Royal Palm? “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. I’m pretty sure that everywhere I look will make me think of him now.”

Jill nodded. “Mom’s baking banana bread in there.”

Carly shot her a look.“Ourmom is?”

A small giggle sounded in Jill’s throat. “I know. I think she’s finally becoming a normal mom. Why couldn’t she have taken up baking while we were kids? Save us from all the packaged cakes and goodies we were always scarfing down?”

“No kidding.” If nothing else, Jill had distracted Carly right out of her musings. She never thought she’d see the day her mom baked banana bread. “I’d like to go to Ava’s grave today.” She glanced over at her sister, squinting against the morning sun. “Will you come with?”

“Of course.”

Carly figured her older sister had a whole lot to say about Gage. What she couldn’t understand is why she wasn’t saying it. Didn’t she want to tell Carly that she was making a giant mistake?

She took a sip of her coffee, knowing, before even tasting it, that Jill had made it just right. Not only did the creamy appearance of the brew confirm it, the pair had known one another’s preference for years.

An image of Gage floated to mind. “Gage drinks his coffee black,” she said. “With sugar, but no cream.”

Jill nodded, making a small sound of acknowledgement.

Carly sighed, recalling a little tidbit she and Jill discovered last night—where the tabloids had most likely scored the picture.It was Tonya McGraw, Jimmy’s mother, who’d posted the image from the hospital on social media, linking Carly’s name in the process. It had been harmless enough, just a post announcing the birth and death of her only grandchild at the time.

“You know,” Carly said, “it’s crazy how people twist things around to fit their own agenda, not even bothering to seek the truth. If those guys would have simply stated the real cause of Ava’s death, I wouldn’t have been so upset. I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted them to post a picture at all—especially since I’m onlyoneofthreepeople in that photo—but at least they could have spread the word about her condition. Maybe encouraged people to look into ways they could help comfort those who suffer the loss of an infant.”

“You’re right,” Jill said. “Getting the truth out there could have at least accomplished something positive.”

“I really thought…” Carly died off there, not wanting to offer the words in her head aloud. It was too painful. Already the chest pain was back with a vengeance. Still, her mind finished out what she couldn’t say.I really thought we could get married one day. Have a family.