"I thought your grandmother was cooking something," Grant said, casually wrapping an arm around Kate and kissing her on the cheek.
Carter watched her blush.
"She said she didn’t feel like it," Kate replied as Gus trotted along beside them.
They looked so elegant, like a magazine ad, he thought. Kate was perfectly done up and wearing expensive designer shoes, and Grant looked impeccable in his suit and wool overcoat.
He wanted what Grant and Kate had. He looked quickly at Allie, but her face was unreadable.
Could he have it with Allie? She clomped beside him in her heavy boots, and her black hair was pulled out of her face with a rubber band. She didn’t have any makeup on, and Carter could see the smattering of freckles on her nose. The dog refused to walk, so Allie held Margot in her arms, and clumps of white fur rubbed off on Carter's black jacket that she wore.
She was nothing like Kate. That was for sure, but she had her own charm, he decided.
After Kate picked up the cakes, they all rode back to the estate in separate cars. Carter was taking Allie to the park by the water as an excuse to not have to go home with Grant and Kate. Carter didn’t think he wanted to sit and watch his cousin be so in love. He sat in the car with Allie and glowered on the ride to the park.
"They seem happy," Allie remarked as they stood on the pier and looked out over the water.
The sky was grey, and the waves were choppy. Carter sank into the cold, wet gloom. It matched his mood perfectly.
"Yes, they do," Carter said.
"Newlyweds, right?" she asked.
Carter nodded.
"Is that your life goal for when you are done with the Marine Corps?"
"Say what?"
"You want to be like your cousin Grant and run a huge division in an international corporation, have a nice, well-bred wife, a big house, and a purebred dog."
"I don’t know," he admitted.
"What do you want to do?" she asked him.
"I'm not sure."
"You aren’t sure?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You have all the money, all the connections in the world, and a strong family. You could do anything you want, so what do you want to do?"
"I don’t know!" he shouted at her.
She was unfazed by his outburst. "You do know what you want. You're just too afraid to admit it to yourself."
13
Allie
When they returned to the Holbrook estate, Allie could smell food cooking. She'd never had a real Thanksgiving, and she was a bit intrigued to find out how exactly the Holbrooks celebrated.
She went into the kitchen and found Nancy and Kate there, wearing aprons and preparing food for the meal.
"Can I help with anything?" Allie asked. She knew Carter wanted her to be obnoxious and trashy, but she really didn’t think she had it in her right then.
Are you worried his parents won't approve of you dating their son? As if you would ever have a chance with someone like Carter,her thoughts nagged at her. She tried to ignore the part of her that always tried to take the cynical path.Realistic,she thought. After this weekend, she would never see Carter or his family again, so what did any of this matter? The money was already in her account—she had checked that morning—so she was going to put it out of her head and enjoy her brief taste of the good life.
Nancy gave her a polite look. "Do you have any favorite Thanksgiving dishes? I’m sorry. I should have asked you yesterday when the stores were still open."
"No, my family never really celebrated holidays," Allie said, washing her hands.
