Chapter 32
“Want me to take Max out back before we start?” Jonathan asked as he came up beside Carly in the garage. It had been a week since the meeting with Mr. Griffin. Carly was starting to relax and settle into a routine with Gage and his son now that it seemed Daniel had truly moved on.
“Thanks, that would be great. Make sure he does his business before you come inside,” Carly answered as she pulled her bag of tutoring supplies from the backseat of the car.
Giving her a thumb’s up as he led Max around to the backyard gate, Carly couldn’t help but think of how proud she was of the tall, lanky boy growing up to be so much like his dad. Jonathan was nearly caught up in the areas where he’d fallen behind in math, and she felt he would be fine on his own soon with just some occasional help. Since they’d begun the tutoring sessions last fall, he’d never once complained or whined about having to sit down with her every weekend. In fact, he would often joke and make them both laugh until they cried, and she knew she would be thrilled to have him as her stepson, although she still wanted some little ones of her own.
Stepping past the laundry room and into the kitchen, Carly stopped to ogle Gage. He worked with his back turned at the kitchen counter. Her body began to tingle as the muscles across his back rippled through the tight gray T-shirt while he expertly wielded the knife, chopping the steak into perfectly sized cubes. He stopped and smiled as he reached to grab some skewers laying on the counter beside him and saw her standing in the doorway.
“Hey, beautiful. I didn’t hear you come in. Get over here and kiss me.”
Unable to resist his deep, rumbly voice, Carly sat her bag down on the floor and walked over to wrap her arms around his waist as he leaned down and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
After retrieving her bag, Carly took a seat at the bar. “Do you need any help? Jonathan took Max out to the backyard, so I have a few minutes before they come in.”
He shook his head. “I’ve got it covered. You can sit there and look pretty while I finish up.”
Carly sat across from Gage, admiring the way he quickly and efficiently chopped up the remaining onions and mushrooms, thinking about how lucky she was to have picked Oaktown to move to when she’d fled, until Jonathan and Max came barreling in through the patio door.
“Ready when you are, Carly.” Jonathan grinned as he reached into the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
“Get one of those for Carly, and then you two go ahead and get started. I’ll have these ready for the grill in about 15 minutes. Meet me outside when you finish,” Gage directed as he started spearing the meat and some colorful vegetables in an alternating pattern onto the skewers.
Thirty minutes later, after Jonathan and Carly went through the lesson she’d prepared, they both got another water from the fridge and headed outside to the patio. It’d been unusually warm the past week, and she was eager to take advantage of the break in the normally chilly and rainy January weather. She laughed when Jonathan found a tennis ball and threw it, triggering Max to streak across the dead grass of the lawn. After watching them for a minute or two, she walked over to Gage who was turning the kabobs on the grill.
“These are almost ready. Will you grab me a beer from the fridge?” Gage leaned down as Carly came up beside him, planting a kiss on her forehead and setting off another round of tingles in her body.
All through dinner, and afterward cleaning up the grill and the kitchen inside, Gage, Jonathan and Carly talked back and forth about school, sports, and even some of the girls Jonathan liked. As they talked, she was struck by how comfortable all three of them were becoming, almost like a real family.
After Jonathan headed up to his room to finish up some homework, she knew it was the perfect time to bring up something she’d been thinking about for the last several days. Carly felt her stomach clench at the thought Gage might not feel the same way she did about marriage and children, but she was tired of waiting around. She forced down the lump in her throat and walked over to where Gage was sitting, flipping through the channels on the big screen television.
“Can I talk to you about something?” she quietly asked, sinking down on the sectional next to him.
“Of course, but before I forget, I need to ask you something, too,” he remarked as she snuggled in closer, and he pulled her against his side.
“You first,” Carly said, taking the small opportunity to delay her questions for just a minute longer, enjoying the feel of his strong arms holding her close.
“Okay,” he said and kissed the top of her head. “Every year the Rattlers host a charity event for disadvantaged kids who want to play sports, and I’m on the board. I wanted to see if you’d like to go with me this year. There’ll be a dinner with a silent auction the night before, then a full day of fun activities for the kids we sponsor at the stadium the next day. Then a board meeting first thing Monday morning. I’d like for you to go with me.”
“I’d love to. When is it?” Carly sat up, thrilled he wanted to take her to something that meant a lot to him.
“In two weeks. I thought maybe we could drive to Dallas after school on Friday, then drive back on Monday after I go to the board meeting that morning if you don’t mind taking a day off,” Gage answered. Carly’s heart sank, realizing that was the same Monday Dr. Crawford had scheduled her formal evaluation. Although she could reschedule, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea due to the poor marks she’d already received from the assistant principal.
With her heart thudding dully in her chest, Carly took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t go. Dr. Crawford scheduled my formal evaluation for that Monday.”
“Can’t you reschedule? I wanted to introduce you to some of the guys,” Gage said as Carly felt him pull away.
As he reached for his beer on the coffee table, Carly scooted over and sighed. “I could, but I don’t think I should. I don’t want to give Dr. Crawford any reason to give me a poor evaluation. I’d love to go, but this is too important.”
Carly wasn’t happy he had asked her to consider rescheduling when he knew how much trouble the assistant principal was giving her. She also needed to remember he was new to the teaching profession and not aware of how much a bad observation could affect a yearly evaluation.
“Are you upset with me?” Carly asked in a small voice when he stayed sitting forward, drinking his beer.
“No, it’s fine. I understand. There’ll be another opportunity for you to meet them later. What did you want to ask me?” he asked, sitting back to put his arm around her again. Carly was relieved he didn’t push her on the matter but could still feel the slight tenseness of his body.
“It’s not important. We can talk about it later. It’s getting late, and I probably should get going,” Carly answered, losing her nerve about wanting to ask him how he felt about having more children.
After gathering her and Max’s things and loading up her car, Gage was leaning in through the open window of her door. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gave her a quick kiss before stepping back.
“Are you sure you’re not mad?” Carly asked one more time, wanting reassurance she was doing the right thing by not giving in and rescheduling with Dr. Crawford.
“No, I’m not mad. It’ll be fine,” a tight-lipped Gage answered before giving Carly’s car door a couple of small knocks with his hand.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Go home and get some rest.”
A ball of unease settled in the pit of her stomach as she drove home. It was the first time they’d truly disagreed, and although he’d assured her he was fine with her not going to the charity event, Carly knew he was disappointed. Whether he was mad or just disappointed about it, she couldn’t tell. On top of being worried about her evaluation and scaling back on the surveillance of Daniel, she could add being worried that Gage was unhappy with her.
***
Over the next two weeks, Gage tried to act like everything was fine, but Carly knew deep down he was still disappointed she wasn’t going with him to Dallas. To try and appease his hurt feelings, she’d offered to stay with Jonathan since his grandparents were going to have out-of-town guests for the weekend. It was now early Sunday afternoon, and she’d talked Jonathan into doing their tutoring session early, so she could spend the afternoon getting prepared for her evaluation the next day. He’d agreed, but only if she let him order a pizza from his favorite pizza place.
They’d just finished the lesson and were sitting on the sectional discussing what kind of pizza to order when she picked up the new smart phone Gage had insisted on giving her when he found out she needed to replace the prepaid phone.
She had recently opened reopened her accounts on some of the social media sites on the new device when it became clear Daniel probably wasn’t going to come after her. As the screen lit up, the last one she’d looked at popped up and her heart nearly stopped. Carly almost let out a cry before she caught herself. She stared down at a picture of Gage kissing what looked like the same woman who’d approached him at the Christmas Day game. It had obviously been taken at the fundraiser dinner the night before, and the tall woman looked gorgeous in her sparkling emerald-green evening gown wrapped up in Gage’s tuxedo-clad body. Carly’s vision blurred as she took in the image of the her hands wrapped tightly around Gage’s biceps while he bent down clearly angling his head for a kiss.
Not wanting to upset Jonathan, Carly took a deep breath and held her phone with both hands to keep it from shaking. “Hey, I’m going to go outside for a minute. Can you order the pizza?”
“Sure. Is everything okay?” Jonathan asked, looking at her with concern.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I need some air. I’ll grab the pizza when it gets here,” Carly replied, quickly getting up and heading outside before he could ask any more questions. Holding back her tears, she hurried through the small hallway past the laundry room then into the garage trying to decide what to do. She didn’t want to upset Jonathan, but she couldn’t let him see her cry. She couldn’t believe she let someone do this to her again. She’d thought Gage was different than her ex but apparently not. As soon as she didn’t do something he wanted, he turned to someone else, just like Daniel. Ready to let out her frustrations about it to someone, she stepped out from the garage looking down at her phone to call Rachel.