"I’m so tired of Brandy and her wedding," Carter said.
"No kidding," Allie replied.
Her phone beeped.
"Have a suitor I don't know about?" Carter asked.
She gave him a strange look. "When would I have time for that?"
"Never mind," Carter said.
He took them both to the Holbrook estate.
"I'm meeting with your mom about the engagement party," she told him as he turned off the car.
While he waited for Allie to finish with her meeting, he took Margot on a walk. Setup for the couple's shower had already begun, he saw.
"Are you ready to go to Liz's?" he asked when Allie and Nancy came out of the study.
"Why would she go over to Liz's?" Nancy said. "We're having a celebratory dinner tonight, since you and Allie are now gainfully employed."
"Oh, I don't want to intrude," Allie said.
"Nonsense. You're Carter's girlfriend. You're staying for dinner."
Carter grimaced. It seemed Grant was taking it upon himself to push Carter and Allie together.
"Sorry," he said to Allie after his mother went to take a phone call. "Not that I don't want you to be my girlfriend for real—"
"Let's talk about this later," Allie said and walked off to help Stefan with the dinner.
Carter sulked through dinner. Harris was there and had brought Stacy, which didn't improve his mood.
What had she meant, 'we'll talk about this later'? She had a well-paying job. She could probably rent a better apartment. Why was she still rebuffing him?
In the middle of the dinner conversation, Stacy looked at him then looked meaningfully at Allie. Could it be true? Could her indecisiveness not be because of finances but because of her old boyfriend? Carter didn't want to trust Stacy, but maybe she was telling the truth about Allie.
57
Allie
Allie woke up bright and early the next morning to sounds of trucks pulling up in front of the estate. Carter, lying next to her, pulled the covers up over his head.
The previous night, before dinner, Carter had brought up her being his girlfriend. Despite all her fantasies earlier in the year about Carter swooping in to rescue her from her life, now that being with him could be a reality, she didn't know how to feel about that.
It felt right to wake up next to Carter, though, and she couldn’t deny it.
"Get up," she said, giving him a shove. He groaned and snuggled Margot close to his chest.
"Why is Brandy having another party?" he said, sitting up and yawning.
His hair was tousled, and she combed her fingers through it.
"It's the couple's shower," Allie said. "With Fernando's polo schedule, this was the only time to have it. Plus it's warm enough we can do it in the garden."
"There better be good food and drinks."
"Who do you think you're talking to?" she said in mock outrage as she stood up with her hands on her hips.
