“You should take it easy,” he stresses. “But I never agreed to keep you in the dark.” That probably meant also avoiding my mother like the plague. “I know it makes things worse for you.”
Adam knows me too well.
He’s the one who saw me and had my back at the lowest point of my life. Or what I thought was my lowest, until four months ago. Somehow my mind drifts back to the wide-eyed copper-haired woman who left the housein tears. Does she have an Adam in her life? With no family, a painful breakup, and garbage for friends, is there someone she can turn to? If there were, wouldn’t she have crashed at their place rather than planning to live in a run-down cabin?
I’m not necessarily cruel. I put people in their place when they need a reminder. But she didn’t deserve to be talked to in that manner.
“What’s wrong? You’re more taciturn than ever.”
I’ll never hear the end of it if I tell him what’s bothering me. I might want to pretend I’m making a fuss over nothing, and her problems don’t concern me. Tell myself she’s a stranger and I’m practically doing her a favor already. But…
“I might have hurt somebody’s feelings.”
There’s a deafening silence on the other end. I should end the call and pretend I never said anything.
“Let me get this straight. You have feelings because of somebody else’s feelings?” Adams asks in the worst mock therapist’s voice. “First of all, how does it make you feel? Secondly, what’s the name of the squirrel that used to jump in the campus pool?”
“Be serious.”
“I’m dead serious. I have to check if you’re the real Carter.”
This was a colossal mistake. “Hilarious as always.”
“Spill, what did you do?” His tone is chipper. The bastard is enjoying this too much. “Is it worse than the time you gave your half-eaten sandwich to Prof. Alfson because you thought he was homeless?”
I give him the short version and it sours my mood even more. The talk about loneliness and her dreams for a family takes on a different meaning now.
“Did you apologize, like a big boy?”
“I tried to, but it’s more than accidentally stepping on her toes. I made a bad situation worse. She probably thinks I’m a dick.”
“And you care…” Adam pauses for dramatic effect. “Because?”
That’s a good question. I don’t give myself time to dissect this lingering bitter aftertaste of our last conversation. I learned early on to keep a certain distance in business and my relationships. My father’s words are still ringing in my ears.“You don’t need friends, you need allies. Power, money or blackmail will get anyone on your side.”
Still, there’s something about Eliza’s vulnerability tugging at my chest uncomfortably. For better or worse I always had mother and Jackie on my side. Can’t imagine being on your own like that.
“One more thing,” I ask Adam before hanging up. “Do something about Pierson. His latest article toes the line of macabre. He’s one deadline away from writing that they’re keeping me in a cryo-crypt in the Rawlings Enterprise’s secret underground tunnels.”
I pace around the cabin, waiting for her at the small dock over the lake, but she doesn’t show up until late at night when I’m lying in bed tracing the shapes of the trees in the shadows on the walls. After her efforts to avoid me today, it might be safer to talk to her tomorrow.
Friday morning the sound of pots on the stove fills the cabin and I can only hope she doesn’t sprinkle rat poison over my food. I didn’t expect her to cook today after theway she left. Frankly, I could care less if she kept her end of the deal. I wouldn’t wish a night in that slum of a cabin on even my worst enemy. Well, most of them.
Who am I kidding? I couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving Eliza in that safety hazard.
“You don’t have to cook breakfast every morning.”
Eliza peers at me over her shoulder and for the first time in a week, I’m not able to ignore her presence. Those amber eyes pick me apart and it’s unsettling.
“That’s the deal,” she says casually, but her movements are rigid and terse.
“I know.” I’m uncomfortable, fighting the urge to pick at my ill-fitting skin. “I won’t sue you if you don’t.” It’s a bad joke even for me.
She shakes her head slowly. A subtle crease forms between her eyebrows while she inhales deeply.
“If it’s because of what I told you yesterday,” she exhales disappointed. “It was a long time ago; I don’t need anyone’s pity.” Eliza looks straight at me and unlike other times since we’ve been here, her gaze doesn’t waver. A determined glint in her eyes warns me to tread carefully.
The stupidcharity casecomment floats between us like the poisonous tendrils of a jellyfish. Neither of us dares approach it. This morning is not off to the start I hoped for.
