“Sure you can. Normal people do it all the time.”
“We’re not normal,” he stressed, looking pointedly at Mom. “A little help here, Margie?”
“But—”
“I am normal when I’m here.” I caught his gaze, biting down on my lip so hard it hurt. He wasn’t sending them away. This wasn’t good. Wasn’t good at all. “Back home I follow all your rules, even though it kills me to be so freaking sheltered. Out here, you need to follow mine. You promised I could be normal here.”
His tough façade cracked. “Carrie…”
“Please?” I curled my hands into fists, not dropping my gaze. “Daddy?”
Yep. I pulled out the big guns. Worked every time.
“Hugh…” Mom grabbed his elbow, holding on tight. “They can take our bags home, dear. It’ll be fine. Plus, it’ll be nice with just the three of us.”
Dad released a breath and motioned them over. “You can take our bags and head back to the hotel. We’ll be there after dinner.”
The security man nodded, took our bags, and motioned for his buddy to follow him. He wore the same black suit they always wore, and I tried to picture Finn standing beside them perfectly immobile and serious.
The image of the Finn I knew didn’t mesh well with the security guard Finn, but I knew that’s what he was. What he did. “Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his voice gruff.
Mom grinned, looking back and forth between us. “So, where are we going?” Mom asked, linking her arm with Dad’s.
I forced myself to pay attention. “There’s a great burger place called Islands. We could—”
“Burgers?” Mom snorted. “I don’t think so, Carrie.”
Dad looked down at her. “I hear there’s a great five-star sushi place in town. Let’s go there. Sound good, Carrie?”
No. I hated sushi, and he knew it. Or at least…he should. Then again, maybe I’d never bothered to mention it to him. But there would be something besides sushi at the restaurant, so I could work with it. “Sure. That sounds great.”
“What time are your classes tomorrow?” Dad asked.
I had to think about it for a second. “Nine to four.”
“Any plans afterward?” Mom asked, her eyes on mine.
“Nope.”
Dad stiffened. “Do we have to do this right here, Margie?”
I looked at both of them, unable to follow whatever the heck was going on right now. I slid into the town car and waited for them both to be seated before answering. “I’d assumed I would be hanging out with you two, since you’re only here until Saturday night.”
“No hot date?” Mom asked, a smile on her face.
She wasn’t making any sense. One second she’s asking me to come home and marry a Stapleton, and the next she’s asking me if I have a hot date planned. I blinked at her. “Uh…no? Why?”
“Well...” Mom smiled even wider, but Dad grew even tenser, if possible. “Your father thinks you’re dating someone and hiding it. And I hope you are. Well, the dating part. Not the hiding, because I want to hear all about him. We all need to have some fun in college before settling down.”
Ah. So that’s why she was acting all happy to hear about the possibility of me dating someone. She viewed it as a fling or sowing wild oats or something equally untrue. I gripped my knees so tight it hurt, focusing on Dad instead of her. “Why would you think I’m seeing someone?”
“I have my reasons.” He looked over at me, pinning me against the door without even touching me. “Are you?”
My heart beat so loudly in my ears I couldn’t hear anything but my own panicked thoughts. “N-No…?”
Oh my God, did he know? Could he know? Had Finn told him?
He tilted his head. “Is that a question or an answer?”
“An answer,” I said, straightening my spine. If I was going to save Finn’s job and keep his father employed through his last few months, then I needed to do better at lying. I tried to ignore my racing pulse. “Of course it’s an answer. What kind of question is that, anyway?”
“The question of a concerned father.”
“Well, my concerned father needs to realize I’m not a little girl anymore, and he needs to relax.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I shot him a look that probably could have set coals on fire. “And this goes for you, too, Mom. I’ll date who I want, when I want, and I won’t answer to either one of you for it.”
Mom gasped, covering her mouth. “Carrie, don’t yell at us.”
I closed my eyes for a second. I hadn’t even raised my voice in the slightest. “I’m not yelling. I’m simply letting you two know that if and when I’m dating a man, I’ll bring him to meet you when I’m good and ready. Not a second before. You flying out here to check on me and try to catch me in a lie isn’t going to hurry me up any. You don’t like that? Then stop trying to dig into something that isn’t your business. Last time I checked, I was a legal adult. I expect to be treated as such.”
Mom’s eyes went wider, and Dad turned red…then even redder. I never stood up to them like this, so I got the shock they were experiencing—but dude, it felt good. Really, really good. “You listen to me, young lady, you’ll—”
Mom squeezed his arm, but didn’t look away from me. “Dear? I think this discussion is better ended right here and now. I know that look in her eye all too well. Let it go.”
“But I—” He broke off and pointed at me. “And she—”
Mom patted his arm. “I know, Hugh. It’s called growing up. Kids do that.”
“They don’t talk to their parents like that,” he huffed. “If I’d done that to my father, I wouldn’t have been able to sit straight for a week.”
The car stopped in front of the restaurant, but none of us moved. “I love you both very much,” I said softly, “but some things have to be done in my time, on my terms. That’s all I’m asking.”
Dad pressed his lips together, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to shout, but he nodded. “Fine. If you choose the wrong man, I will do everything in my power to send him packing.”
I had no doubt that Finn was probably the “wrong guy” in Dad’s eyes, but nothing would send Finn running. I was confident in his love for me, and in our love for each other. “You can try.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “Are you at least going to tell me who he is?”
“There is no ‘he’ at all,” I stated, opening the door. “Now let’s go eat.”
I heard my mother whisper something to my father, and he answered back in hushed tones. When they climbed out of the car, he looked even more pissed off, but he was quiet. I couldn’t shake the sinking suspicion that Dad knew more than he was letting on—that he was playing us both against one another until one of us broke and gave away our secrets. It wouldn’t be me.
I was determined to keep my silence, my freedom, and my Finn…
No matter what I had to do.
13
Friday night I tossed all my shit into the green field bag on my bed, my mind at least a million miles from this damn drill weekend. It had been two days since I last saw Carrie, and I was like a man detoxing from heroin. I had the shakes and I needed her now. If I could hold her for one minute, and inhale her sweet scent, it would be enough to get me through the weekend. Just a small fix.
I hugged her sweater she’d left here, holding it to my nose to inhale deeply. It wasn’t enough. I needed more. I needed her. But I couldn’t have her until her parents left. It was fucking ridiculous that I was so impatient considering the fact that it would only be a few days apart. It shouldn’t be so damn hard to be without her.