I thought I saw guilt flash over his face briefly, but then he just looked irritated. “No, Carrie. It’s work. I’m the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, remember?”
“Of course I remember,” I said quietly. “You remind me constantly.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’ll make it up to you later.” He pulled me to him, planted a kiss on the top of my head, and left. He didn’t bother saying goodbye to anyone else.
I could feel tears coming on, so I hurried to the restroom. I stood in front of the mirrors for a moment, letting the tears loose and trying not to make much sound. Then I heard someone coming and lurched into a stall just before they opened the door.
“Carrie?”
It was Blair, thank goodness. “Yeah.” I came out of the stall, wiping at my eyes. “He left again. He said he got a text from work, but…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the words.
“You think it was from her.” Blair’s face was a cross between sympathy and anger. “God, I’d like to shake him! He’sruiningwhat y’all have, and it’s killing me to see it happening.” She pulled me in for a hug and just held me for a while. “I’m so sorry, honey.”
“As soon as this ball is behind me, I’m going to tell him I’m not comfortable with him being around her anymore. Then I’m going to ask for marriage counseling. We’ll see what he says.” I shrugged, miserable. I didn’t have any other choice, though. The situation had become more than I was willing to live with.
“I’m proud of you for doing it. It can’t be easy.” Blair threw an arm around me, and we walked out of the bathroom together. Sadie and Melinda looked at us suspiciously, but they let it go when Blair gave them a slight shake of her head.
I just needed to lose myself in work and try to put everything with Thatcher to the side until I had time to deal with it.
The rest of the night went by quickly. Everyone worked hard, and I was beyond grateful for the help. It looked so good when we were done. I couldn’t even believe this was the same country club I’d been coming to for events my whole life.
“You did a great job, my darling,” Mom said, kissing my cheek. “This is the best theme and best décor we’ve ever had for the Orchid Ball. You really performed beyond my wildest expectations. I had no idea you were so creative.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I gave her a hug and turned to my friends as she and Dad left.
Tim, who had flirted with Gemma Reardon half the night, turned to Natalie. “Hey, Nat, I’m going to take Gemma home. Can you get a ride with one of these losers?” He pointed to the rest of us with a grin.
“I don’t need a ride…” Natalie started telling him before Sadie interrupted her.
Sadie pulled Tim towards her and whispered. “Gemma Reardon’s been married three times already. Did you know that?”
“Don’t judge, sis,” he said, shaking his head in mock disdain.
Sadie rolled her eyes. “She’s not even thirty!” she hissed.
Tim frowned. “That is kind of a lot…”
Heath Reyes walked up looking incredibly handsome, and everyone stopped talking. He was a surgeon at the hospital between Indigo Falls and Halliwell, and he was fairly new to our town.
“Hey, Heath,” Gemma said, twirling her hair, sticking her chest out, and walking over to him. “How’s it going?”
He looked at her with a pleasant smile as if trying to figure out if he knew her or not. “Just fine,” he said. He turned to Natalie, and his smile widened. It showed off his dimples, and all the women stared. Including me. He was so handsome, with dark hair, light gray eyes, and a skin tone that lookedpermanently sun kissed. “Hey, Nat.” He pulled her to him and kissed her while we all stared. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” she smiled up at him. “Bye, everyone. We’ll be at the ball tomorrow, Carrie. You did such a good job.”
“Thanks for your help,” I said, while we all tried to ignore the fact that Tim was staring at Heath and Natalie in complete shock.
Natalie stopped in front of Tim. “I wanted you to meet my best friend,” she said to Heath. “This is Tim Summers.”
“So, I finally get to meet the famous best friend.” Heath smiled and stuck out his hand, but Tim stared at it like it was a snake. He was looking back and forth between Heath and Natalie.
Sadie jabbed her elbow in his ribs, hard.
“Ouch! What the fuck, Sadie?” he asked, rubbing his side. But he reached out his hand and shook Heath’s. “Nice to meet you,” he mumbled.
Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know why he’s being weird,” she said in a low voice to Heath, but we all heard it. They walked to Heath’s car, a luxury SUV of some kind, and left.
“What the hell?” Tim asked loudly as he watched them pull out of the parking lot. He looked at us accusingly. “Did any of you know she was dating a surgeon?”
