Chapter 20
Carly sniffed and rubbed the palm of her hand against the tight ache in her chest as she gathered up her purse and her school bag full of papers to grade, not looking forward to the long lonely week ahead. School was out the following week for the Thanksgiving holidays, and because of her stupid ex-husband she wouldn’t be able to go home. She couldn’t take a chance he would find out she was there, and her parents couldn’t come to her for fear he would follow them.
She wiped a tear from her cheek as she locked her classroom door, telling herself Gage had been so busy with preparing the team for their next playoff game and meeting with the producers for his documentary he’d just forgotten to ask what her plans were. She sniffled again, refusing to let her mind wander to the terrible thought he might be rethinking his decision to get involved with her and didn’t want to introduce her to his family.
As she walked across the parking lot to her car with her head down, reading a text from Sophie, she nearly screamed and almost dropped her phone when two large hands grabbed her arm.
“We’re going to have to stop meeting like this,” Gage’s deep voice joked from above her head. Carly relaxed as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Hey. What’s up?” Carly asked trying to sound upbeat but knew she’d failed when Gage scrunched his face in concern.
“What’s wrong?” he asked wiping away another escaped tear from her cheek.
“Oh, just feeling a little sad I won’t be going home to see my parents next week,” she answered, her lips quivering. “I’ll be all right, though.”
“Well, that’s why I was coming to see you. Until today I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my folks either with the playoff game coming up, but everything’s worked out. We won’t be leaving until Friday morning and come home late that night. If you don’t have any other plans, would you want to go with Jonathan and me to my parents for Thanksgiving?” Gage asked as he ran his hands down her arms before letting her go.
Carly’s heart filled with warmth, and she couldn’t help the grin on her face as she rocked up on her tiptoes and kissed Gage’s scruffy jaw.
“Of course, I’d love to,” she answered. As she eased back down a troubling thought had a sweat breaking out on her forehead, and she looked back down at her phone. Opening the browser, she frantically typed in a search for Thanksgiving recipes and began muttering under her breath. She wasn’t the best cook, and she had no idea what she should make. If only Rachel weren’t leaving tomorrow, she thought. “Would you ask…”
“Carly,” Gage growled, interrupting as he leaned over to read the phone screen. “Calm down and stop worrying. My mom will say you don’t need to bring anything. Besides she’s dying to meet you.”
“She is?” Carly replied, surprised since they’d agreed not to say anything to their parents yet.
“Yeah, Jonathan let it slip, and she’s been bugging me ever since. I wanted to talk to you about it, but with everything going on I just haven’t had the time. I apologize,” he said, touching his lips to her forehead.
At the feel of his warm, firm lips a shiver went down Carly’s spine. Swaying slightly, she shoved her phone into her pocket and said, “There’s no need to apologize. I know how busy you’ve been. Thanks for inviting me. Now I can look forward to meeting your parents instead of sitting at home by myself.”
Gage pulled Carly into his arms and rumbled, “I have got to get better at this. I should have asked you sooner what your plans were. I’ve been out of the loop for so long. This year is the first Thanksgiving I’ll be spending with my parents and Jonathan in over ten years. They came to a couple of my Thanksgiving Day games when I first started with the Rattlers, but quickly learned they didn’t like the traveling and fighting the crowds and never went to another one.”
“It’s okay,” Carly said, hugging him back, sorry he’d missed out on that time with his family.
“All right, that’s enough of the lovey-dovey stuff, mister. We wouldn’t want Dr. Crawford to see any PDA in view of any students,” she laughed and pulled away from him, opening her purse to look for her keys.
Gage cleared his throat, and Carly jerked her head up gasping as he pushed her up against the side of her SUV. “Hey, since you aren’t going out of town can I pick you up tomorrow for our usual dinner at my place?”
Before she could answer, he trailed one finger down the curve of her arm and continued, “Jonathan is spending a few days with Julie’s parents, so if you want…”
A kaleidoscope of wings fluttered in Carly’s stomach, and a low throb began between her legs. Her heart raced as she gazed into his smoldering eyes. They hadn’t had a chance to enjoy any alone time since the night they’d made love after she thought he was cheating. She was more than ready to feel his incredible body moving over hers again, but what would she do with Max? With shaking hands, she slid to the side and pulled her keys from her purse.
“Yes, I want,” she breathed out, her skin tingling as she watched his eyes turn a deeper shade of blue then whispered, “but I’m not sure I should leave Max alone that long. Rachel and Sophie are both leaving in the morning. Maybe you should come over to my place.”
“Bring Max with you. Your bed is too small for what I have in mind,” Gage growled as he slid a hand around the back of her neck and lowered his head.
At the sound of a door slamming from across the parking lot Carly jumped, remembering where they were and shook her head sliding to the side. “Unh-unh, you know better.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I can’t seem to help myself around you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Gage replied, giving her an apologetic look as he reached down and opened her car door.
Wishing they didn’t have to continue sneaking around from fear of her ex-husband finding her, Carly let out a ragged breath as she pulled out of the parking lot. She’d have to call her mom and see if Daniel had bothered them lately. If he hadn’t, maybe he was starting to forget about her.
***
The next morning after Rachel and Sophie had left, Carly listened as her mom’s phone rang, absently fingering her gold chain, hoping her parents wouldn’t be upset she hadn’t told them about Gage yet.
“Hi, honey. How are you?” Carly’s mom said, sounding out of breath as she finally picked up.
Worried she’d called at a bad time, Carly ignored the question. “Are you busy? I can call back later.”
“Oh, no. I was in the kitchen and left my phone upstairs. I need a break anyway. Now, answer my question. How are you?”
Carly smiled to herself, hearing the scrape of a chair on the kitchen tiles and picturing her mom in her fuzzy pink robe fanning herself as she sat down at the table.
“I’m good,” Carly answered. “How are you and Dad?”
“We’re fine. Just wishing you could come home for Thanksgiving,” her mom sighed into the phone.
With tears threatening to spill, Carly choked out, “Me, too.”
“Oh, honey. I didn’t mean to upset you. We’ll see you soon enough at Christmas. Is Rachel going to cook a big dinner?” Carly’s mom asked with a hopeful note in her voice.
“No, she and Sophie both decided to go home for Thanksgiving,” Carly replied, grabbing a tissue from the box on the table beside her bed.
“Oh, no. Please tell me you aren’t going to be alone. That would break my heart,” her mom cried, causing another tear to leak from Carly’s eye.
Carly’s mouth tipped up when she remembered she needed to tell her about Gage, and she braced for her mom’s reaction to the news. Her parents were avid Dallas Rattlers fans, and she’d purposely not told them, knowing they would go nuts.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to be alone. I’ve been seeing someone for a few weeks, and he’s invited me over to his parent’s house for Thanksgiving,” Carly replied, her heart flooding with a warm, gooey feeling when remembering Gage’s much-needed invitation the day before.
“That’s wonderful. I’m so happy to hear you’re dating someone. So, tell me all about this new man. Seems like if you are meeting his parents it must be getting serious,” Carly’s mom said excitedly, and Carly knew she was probably already planning another wedding in her mind.
“Well, I met him right before school started. I didn’t tell you and Dad because I wanted to make sure everything was going to work out and because of Daniel. I’m not sure how he’d react if he found out. I don’t want to put anyone in danger, especially you and Dad.”
“You don’t have to worry about your dad and me. We would never say a word.” Her mom sounded hurt, and Carly almost regretted not telling her sooner.
“I know, Mom, but that’s not the only reason. Not very many people here know, either. Do you remember when I told you about Gage Wilson coaching at the school where I’m working?”
“Yes. Are you saying…?” Her mom breathed heavily into the phone.
Carly could hear the excitement in her voice as her mom mumbled to herself, putting two and two together and realized it was Gage, which was exactly why she hadn’t said anything. Her mom would’ve immediately told her dad, and neither one of them was good at keeping a secret. One of them might’ve eventually let it slip to one of their friends, and then everyone in their small town would find out, including Daniel. Despite her small fear her parents wouldn’t be able to keep it to themselves, Carly took a deep breath. As she let it out, she confirmed her mom’s suspicions and said, “Yes, I’ve been seeing Gage Wilson.”
She winced at the loud squeal from the other end of the line and held the phone away from her ear. As the noise died down, she put it back only to hear her mom shouting, “George, get your butt in here, pronto!”
After a few seconds more of mumbling, Carly heard her dad’s deep voice say, “You’ve been holding out on me, girl.”
Smiling at the warmth in his voice, Carly answered, “Sorry. I just wanted to be sure about him before I said anything. Do me a favor and put the phone on speaker so I can tell you and mom all about him.”
Over the speaker, she told them about Gage and his son, Jonathan. How happy she was with him. She also told them her concerns about Daniel finding out through social media, hence the need to keep the relationship quiet.
“Don’t worry. Your mom and I would never do anything to compromise your safety. We won’t say a word to anyone until you tell us it’s okay, but you can’t hide from that bastard the rest of your life,” Carly’s dad growled into the phone.
“I know,” Carly replied, her heart hammering in her chest. “I don’t know what to do, though. Part of me wishes he would find out to see what he’ll do, but I’m afraid he’ll go off the deep end, and somebody will get hurt.”
She thought back to one of the last threats Daniel made. He’d made it clear if he couldn’t have her then no one else could either. Whether he meant to hurt her, or someone she might be seeing, no one knew for sure. Carly straightened in her seat on the sofa remembering Daniel was the reason for her call.
“Have you or mom heard anything from Daniel lately?” she asked, a pain in her chest that he hadn’t stopped harassing her mom and dad, trying to find out where she was.
“Yeah, he tried to call a few days ago. He’s changed his cell number again, and your mom answered not knowing it was him,” her dad informed her. Carly’s heart lurched, knowing she’d brought this down on them.
“Of course, I didn’t tell him anything,” her mom said as she jumped into the conversation. “That sorry excuse for a man is never going to find you if we have anything to do with it.”
The hammering in her chest eased and Carly relaxed, comforted her parents would never intentionally do anything to compromise her safety. She wished there was a way to stop Daniel though. She knew things couldn’t continue this way forever but was at a loss for a solution.
“So...” Carly’s mom said, snapping her out of her pity party. “Since you’re going to meet Gage’s parents, I hope we’ll get to meet him soon as well?”
“Of course, Mom,” Carly answered. She would have to check with Gage, but she was sure he would be willing to meet them sometime. “Let me talk to Gage and see what we can work out.”
“All right. Let us know when you figure something out,” her mom replied as Carly heard her dad in the background.
“Can’t believe my baby girl is dating Gage Wilson,” he mumbled, and Carly smiled, relieved they hadn’t been too upset with her.