"There it goes. Now it has a signal. Of course," Carter said.
"I’m going to call your mother," Jack said, patting Carter on the shoulder, and then walked up the stairs for a better cell signal.
Allie and Carter looked awkwardly at each other.
"I didn't mean those things," Carter said. "I care about you. You make me feel like I'm worth something and I can be better. You’re a teammate and a good friend. I'm glad I have you in my life. I know you think I'm shallow and stupid, and I guess I am, but sometimes I make you laugh, and we have a dog. That has to count for something, right?"
Allie looked at him sadly. "You may not have meant it, but you were right. I can't—I'm not good enough. I don't belong here," she said, gesturing to the surrounding area.
"Is that what my father said?" Carter asked bitterly. "Allie, I don't care what he thinks. You make me happy. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
He knelt down on the ground in front of her. "Allie, I don't have a ring, but would you marry me?"
"No," she said softly.
Carter looked heartbroken.
"It's not that I don't love you…"
"It's my family, isn't it?" Carter asked bitterly, standing up.
"No, it's not. It's me. I'm just very cautious," Allie said. "I don’t like to put all my chips on one horse."
"Not even this one?" Carter asked, striking a pose.
Allie smiled. "I mean, I don’t want to marry you just on a whim. I’d rather move in with you first to see if we're compatible. I want to be with you, but I want to do it right and take it slowly. I want to know that you can hold down a job and not be a slob and aren’t an alcoholic. I want to live with the good man I know you are, not the playboy billionaire."
"I can do that," Carter protested. "You’ve lived with me."
"Only for a couple of weeks," Allie said. "That’s not a lot of time to learn about a person."
Carter gave her a pleading look.
"Sorry, Carter," she said. "I don’t want to turn into my mother. She jumped from one horrible man to the next. I’m still paying for her mistakes. Do you sort of understand?" she asked gently.
Carter looked down at the rocks under his feet. "I guess so."
74
Carter
When Allie dropped Carter and Jack off at the Holbrook estate, Nancy was ecstatic to see him alive and well.
"I can't breathe," Carter said as his mother squeezed him.
"I was about to kill your father," she said as she released him.
"Bye, Carter," Allie said. "I have to go to work in, oh, a few hours."
"You can take off," Grant told her. "I'm not going into the office."
Allie shook her head and handed Margot to Carter. "It's no big deal. I'm used to working back-to-back shifts."
After Allie left, Walter glared at his brother.
"Now's the part when you apologize and grovel and explain how you're going to do better in the future," Walter said.
Jack looked at Carter sadly. "My father always showed extreme favoritism. My brother was clearly his favorite. Walter was just like you—fun, interesting. My father adored him. Even when Walter made mistake after mistake, I felt my father was never as hard on him as he was on me. I guess I let my own childhood insecurities impact our relationship."
