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“I don’t know. I always thought there was more under the surface, but as I told him, it’s only been a few months.”
“If you think he’s hiding something or being someone he’s not, you need to address those things.”
“I don’t think it,” she said...but did she?
“It doesn’t sound it to me,” her mother said.
They talked a few more minutes and then she did something she hadn’t done before. She called Avery to see if her best friend knew anything about Carson that she didn’t.
Avery came over thirty minutes later when she’d told her what happened last night.
“That’s a wild adventure for you,” Avery said.
“Don’t remind me. That’s over with, but I’m trying to figure things out with Carson now.”
Avery grinned. “You know I had this problem with Carter. He wanted to handle the situation with Mike.”
Mike was Josie’s biological father who showed up out of the blue on the island to try to get Josie.
Carter had gone behind Avery’s back to find information on Mike and be prepared.
Laine had picked on Avery and said that there was no reason to get mad at a man that wanted to put you first.
“That’s right and you got ticked,” she said.
“And I believe your words were something to the effect of, ‘A strong man that loves you and wants to be there for you. Oh no. One not afraid to stand in front of you and take the burn of the fire in your place. Get me a sword, we need to cut him down.’ How close am I?”
Laine sighed. “Right on. I forgot I said that.”
“It’s easy to say things when you’re not the one living it. You told me you’d love to have a man do for you what Carter did for me.”
“Gold nuggets!” she shouted. Avery giggled. “I hate having my words thrown back at me. I guess I owe Carson another apology.”
“Oh, maybe just talk. Find out why he reacted the way he did. It’s probably nothing more than why Carter did. But don’t you want to know either way? Something is bugging you or you wouldn’t have asked me if I knew anything about Carson that you didn’t. I don’t think I’ve ever known you to do that. You always want to form your own opinion and get facts yourself.”
“I have. I guess love can mess a person up.”
“It can,” Avery said. “But if it’s done right, it’s the best thing in the world.”
34
MY BAD
The last person Carson expected to see was Laine ringing his bell that night.
He opened the door. “Why didn’t you just come in?”
“I wasn’t sure how welcome I’d be,” she said.
Which made him feel like shit. “Maybe I shouldn’t have left the way I had, but I couldn’t stay and risk saying something to tick you off even more.”
“You shouldn’t be afraid of ticking me off at all,” she said. “That’s on me.”
“There are a lot of things on both of us,” he said.
“There are,” she said. “I talked to both of my parents. I talked to Avery. Everyone made me see that I didn’t do anything wrong to cause that situation and that you reacted the same way most men would.”
“Is there an insult there?” he asked. He wasn’t sure and didn’t want to assume.
