Sadie’s brother Tim was there, and I was thrilled. Harrison and Drake were muscular and strong, but they didn’t have anything on Tim. He was very tall and probably the strongest guy I knew. I had him putting together the heavy wrought iron fence I’d brought in to make certain areas look exactly like the Garden District of New Orleans. Or as close as I could get to it. He was also strong enough to install the heavy replica gas streetlamps by himself. Harrison and Drake had barely gotten one up between the two of them.
Tim had also brought his best friend Natalie. Sadie and I exchanged glances. We’d always thought there was somethingbetween the two of them, but nothing had ever seemed to happen. Natalie had been late to ‘bloom’ as they say. She’d been skinny and nerdy looking until after high school. Then she’d suddenly turned into one of the most beautiful girls in town. She’d grown curvier, learned how to fix her long, shiny black hair, figured out makeup, started wearing contacts, and gotten her braces off. It had been like she’d become a bombshell overnight. But Tim was the only guy who hadn’t noticed.
Tim had always dated the same type of girl: blonde, stacked, sexy, and gorgeous. He didn’t require intelligence or ambition, but he did want them to be up for a couple of nights of fun. Then he moved on. Every. Single. Time.
Natalie had dark hair, and she was petite, smart, had plans for her future, and was a relationship girl. She was almost the exact opposite of the girls Tim dated. The only similarities were that she was sexy and gorgeous. Other than that, she wasn’t who Tim was looking for.
Sadie and I had concluded a while ago we must’ve been wrong about the two of them. But every now and then I caught something on one of their faces that made me second guess that opinion. But not tonight. At least, not so far.
I looked around at the faces of the people I loved and felt blessed. But my smile slipped a little when I realized it was over an hour past the time Thatcher had promised to be here.
I texted him, wondering if he was going to tell me he had forgotten. That would be nothing new, of course. That’s what he’d been doing for months now. He’d forgotten dinner plans, my parents’ anniversary party, date nights I’d planned for us. In light of what I’d learned about Madison, I was highly suspicious that he was with her at least some of those times, no matter what he’d said about being a busy CEO. I’d become accustomed to sitting at a table by myself waiting for him to come home. Orshowing up to a party and pasting on a smile while I made up an excuse for why he wasn’t there.
And I shouldn’t have to do that.
Only my parents knew some of what was happening due to him skipping their anniversary party. He’d sent them tickets to a resort in Costa Rica as an apology. They were grateful for the tickets, but they would have rather had him at the party.
Blair knew what was going on, of course. She was my best friend, and I told her everything. And there was the fact that I had stayed with her the past couple of nights.
I checked my phone again, but there were no texts or emails explaining his absence. I rolled my eyes, put my phone away, and got busy. I didn’t have time to worry about whether he was coming.
The door opened, and I looked up to see who it was. “Thatcher!” I was so surprised he’d come to help like he’d promised. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He gave me a quick kiss. “Of course I’m here. I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?”
I started to roll my eyes at that but caught Sadie’s eye over his shoulder and saw that she was taking in everything that was going on. I tried not to be embarrassed. She was about the least judgmental person I knew.
“Where do you need me?” he asked, taking off his suit coat and loosening his tie.
“Could you help hang up the mansions?”
He lifted his eyebrows, and I couldn’t help but stare at how handsome he was. Those crystal blue eyes got me every time. Even when I was angry and hurt. He smirked at me, and I could tell he knew what I was thinking. He got us back on topic, though.
“How am I going to hang up mansions?”
“They’re not actual mansions, of course. They’re buildings I painted on fabric. You need to hang them up all along the back wall to make it look like the Garden District. They’ll go behind the trees, wrought iron gates, and the gas streetlamps everyone’s working to get set up now.” I pointed to the work that had already been done.
He looked impressed. “Wow. Carrie, that’s going to look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying to hide how much his good opinion meant to me.
He worked with the other guys, talking and laughing with them just like he used to. The sight of that made me feel hopeful. Maybe everything was going to be okay between us. Maybe things weren’t as bad as what I’d been thinking.
Then I saw him look at his phone. He read a text, got a slight smile on his face, and walked over to me. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a work thing I have to handle. I hate to bail. I’ll see you at home later, okay?”
I just stared at him. “Are you serious right now?”
He looked annoyed with me. “Yes, I’m serious. You know my career is very important.”
“And this isn’t? You promised to be here.” I looked around, not wanting to draw too much attention. Everyone was looking, even if they were pretending not to.
“And Iwashere, Carrie. What else do you want from me?”
“You’re being an asshole,” I hissed. “You’ve been here about thirty minutes. Did you come just so you could say you showed up? Because it sure as hell doesn’t count if you arrive late and leave early.”
“I don’t have time for this right now. I have to get back to work.”
“Is it really work? Or is it Madison?”
