Eddie stood on the porch waiting for them with a huge smile and his arms out wide to hug Caroline. He kissed her cheek followed by a tight hug. "Great to see you, love. Did Beau take good care of you while we were gone?"
"Yes, he kept me busy and fed, just like he promised. Did y'all have a good time?"
April walked out onto the porch. "Caroline! Nice to see you again. I trust you had a good weekend and didn't get too lonely here by yourself." She turned her focus to Cade, lancing him with an icy glare.
"Hello, April. I was just fine while y'all were gone. Did you have a nice time?"
"Yes, it was lovely, thank you. We spent quality time together and got a lot accomplished." April slinked her arm around Eddie's waist and nibbled his ear. Caroline's stomach roiled at the forced display of affection while Eddie looked uncomfortable and slightly embarrassed.
And what did she mean by accomplished? Odd choice of wording. What could she possibly have had to accomplish? Caroline was under the impression it was just a romantic weekend. So weird.
Caroline forced a smile. "Great. I'm glad for you."
Even though April was smiling, her eyes still pierced daggers through Caroline's heart. This woman hated her, and it was no secret to anyone. Why, all of a sudden, had April put on this front, pretending to care about her. She also didn't get why April hated Cade so much. Jealousy that he wasn't interested in her? Caroline, a woman herself, couldn't figure this woman out. No wonder men were so clueless.
Eddie quickly cut in and placed his arm around Caroline's shoulders to lead her into the house. "Come in and see what I—we bought you on our trip. I think you're going to love it."
In the living room were two packages sitting on the sofa. Naturally, Caroline started with the larger one. She pulled out a beautiful Mardi Gras mask, complete with feathers and glitter painted around the eyes. The smaller package was even better. A heavily lacquered baby alligator head. She looked up at her dad and April with a big smile. "Thank you! It's awesome. I love it. More than you know."
"I suggested getting you a voodoo doll." Caroline's skin crawled with April's peculiar tone. "But your father said you would think it was ridiculous." She laughed. Caroline looked at Cade who glared at April. He didn't think her little joke was funny at all.
"He was right." Caroline tried to make her tone as dry as possible, for Cade's sake if nothing else. April quickly stopped laughing and glared. Caroline gave Eddie a hug and a kiss to say thanks. She turned to April, who stood in preparation for the affection, but Caroline stopped short. "Thanks, April. They're great." She retreated with the gifts upstairs, and felt cold blue eyes stabbing her in the back.
She walked directly to the jewelry box and cursed under her breath when she opened it. Her phone rested inside, no doubt with a plethora of missed calls. Probably all from Trevor. If Caroline knew anyone in law enforcement, she would take it straight in for fingerprinting. Though the person she guessed who had taken it wouldn't leave any fingerprints. Ugh! So frustrating!
Caroline checked to see just how many calls she'd missed, and there were plenty. Her dad's most recent call, of course. Her mom had called six times, Kristy called three times, Jamie called once, and Trevor a whopping eleven times. The strange thing about his calls, though, is they were all made within a sixteen hour period. Each call approximately an hour-and-a-half to two hours apart, and then they stopped abruptly. She guessed that must have been when he received her email explaining she'd lost her phone. She quickly dialed his number and prepared herself for a good chewing.
Trevor didn't answer his phone, and she smiled when she heard his sexy voice on the recording. She let him know she had her phone again if he wanted to call back.
She turned in time to find Cade standing in the doorway knocking on the frame. She perked up. "Hey! You're not going to believe this. I came in here and my phone was right where I had left it in the jewelry box. I looked all over this place, including in this very jewelry box, and it was nowhere to be found. I come back and it's sitting here like I never lost it to begin with. I'm not crazy, so someone's screwing with me, or there really is a ghost in here messing with my things."
He grinned, but she could tell he wasn't convinced the ghost did it. He'd helped look for it, too, and neither one of them found it. "Were there any calls made from it?"
"I don't know, I didn't check that. I only looked at missed calls." Caroline scrolled through the sent calls and the last one had been made before it went missing. "Nope, not since the last time I used it."
The little crease between Cade's eyebrows deepened as he searched for a possible solution. "That's really strange. Something isn't right about this, and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it."
"Maybe we can try the flashlight test again, or we could just ask her if she took it and try to figure out why. I can't see why a ghost would need a cell phone, or even know what one is, but I suppose stranger things have happened." Happy to have it back, Caroline didn't even care where it had been.
"So, April seems to have warmed up to you a little," Cade said.
"Huh! Is that what you call it? I see right through her little act. I know she doesn't like me and the feeling is mutual. Only I'm not willing to be fake."
"Yeah, she doesn't appear to care much for me, either."
She gave him a crooked smile. "You're not used to that are you? People. . .particularly women, not liking you?"
He smiled bashfully. "Oh, come on. You know as well as I do she can't stand me. I just don't know why. I've never spoken a word to her."
"Maybe that's why she doesn't like you. Because you never paid her any attention. Maybe she's jealous because she's lived here for so long, and you've never given her the time of day, but then I come along and you and her husband both want to spend time with me. Did you think of that?"
"Nope, that's why I've got you to give me a little insight into the delusional female mind."
"Glad to help." Caroline's phone rang, and she knew from the ringtone it was Trevor. She gave Cade an apologetic look, and he nodded as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"See ya later, sweet girl." He walked out without looking back.
Caroline eagerly answered the phone. Glad to be excited to talk to Trevor. The past couple of days had her worried, but the butterflies in her stomach proved her true joy to hear from him.
"Hey. Sorry I missed your call, I was in a meeting. What's up?"
"Nothing. I haven't talked to you much since I've been here and wanted to call you. Did you get my message?"
"No, I didn't get a chance to listen to it. I just saw that you had called, so I wanted to give you a call back while I had a minute."
"Oh. Well, I couldn't find my phone all weekend and I thought you may be worried about me."
"Yeah. . .I got your email."
"Oh, good. I should have emailed you sooner. I'm sorry, I guess I didn't think about it."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're keeping yourself busy down there."
She ignored his snarky tone. "Not too busy, there's not a lot to do down here. I met some of the people that work for my dad. That was pretty cool. Oh, yeah! Guess what I saw cross the road?"
"What?"
"Guess!"
"Oh, come on, Caroline, I don't have time for this. I don't know. . .a chicken?"
"An alligator! It was the coolest thing I've ever seen. It was huge. You should have seen it!"
"Okay, well that's kind of cool. Where were you when you saw it?"
"We were driving down some back road. I'm not sure exactly where we were."
"We?"
"Cade and me. He's one of the guys who works for my dad. He's cool, you'd like him." She lied through her teeth. Trevor and Cade had absolutely nothing in common except their interest in her, which she had no doubt they would not enjoy discussing with each other.
"Ahhh. . .I see. Good to know you're not bored. Anything else going on?"
"No, not really." Tingles prickled her neck as she lied.
"Don't let your extra
curricular activities get in the way of your agenda."
"My agenda?"
"With Eddie."
"Trev—"
"Listen, I gotta run for now. My dad's waiting for me. I'll call you later. Try to keep your phone with you this time."
"Sure. I miss you."
"You, too. Bye."
Something was wrong. She couldn't pinpoint it, but something was definitely strange about that conversation. Not the Trevor she knew. He seemed quiet, distracted. . .distant. Usually he was very focused and playful when they talked on the phone, but the last few times they'd argued. Or one was defensive about something. But at least there was emotion of some sort. This call was very unemotional and it left her depressed, sad. Something was definitely wrong.
That evening turned out to be quite uneventful. Cade at his place, and Caroline in her room. He had fulfilled his duty for the weekend, so she supposed he didn't want to overstay his welcome. The internet had nearly put her to sleep when a knock on her door filled her with hope. She scolded herself for wishing Cade had come calling.
"Come in." Claire walked in, her bloodshot eyes were swollen and her cheeks splotchy. "Oh no, honey, what's wrong?"
Claire sank down on the bed, indecision creased her brow. She sniffled. "You got a minute?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"Well, I saw Brad, that guy I told you about, at a party this weekend. We flirted and he seemed really into me all night. He came out of the bathroom one time with white powder around his nose. I think he was doing blow. You know, cocaine."
"Oh no! Claire, you do not want to get mixed up with that."
"Well, it gets worse. When he saw me, he grabbed my hand and dragged me into one of the bedrooms. He tried to force me to have sex with him." She started crying again.
"What did you do?"
"I told him no and fought him. He's strong. . .so strong. He ripped my shirt." She twisted the tissue Caroline had given her until it nearly shredded. "I remembered what you and Beau told me, so I screamed for help and Lindsey came busting through the door. He stopped, but not before threatening both of us. I called the police and he got busted."
"Wow, Claire. You definitely did the right thing." Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "That's intense. I'm so glad you're okay."
More relaxed and animated now, she stood and paced the room. "I know! I was so scared! I have to say, it felt really good to slap him across the face."
Brad had shattered Claire’s confidence. Caroline needed to give her reassurance. "I'm glad you did what you did. And I'm sure Lindsey is thankful, too. Rape is a serious violation both physically and mentally. Things could've been so much worse." Caroline smiled and gave her a hug.
"I'm glad you're here. I've always wanted a sister. I wish you could stay and not have to go back to Chicago at the end of the summer.
"I know. Me, too. We have cell phones, so I'll always be just a text or phone call away."
"So. . .does Beau have any brothers or cousins he wouldn't mind introducing me to?"
Caroline giggled. "He is pretty hot, isn't he? I know he doesn't have any brothers, but I'm pretty sure he has cousins. I'll see what I can find out and let you know."
Claire bowed her head and fidgeted with her fingernails. "Thanks for listening to me and helping me with my drama. I really do appreciate it."
"You are welcome. I love this. I never had any siblings, and, well this is like a dream come true for me. I do have one question. Have you ever tried to talk to your mom about stuff like this?"
"Well, April isn't my real mom. She's my stepmom, and we've never really gotten along like a mother and daughter should. She tries, but it's obvious it's difficult for her, so I'd rather not bother. You know? We're kind of like oil and water, we don't mix."
"Wait a minute. April is your stepmom? How? Since when? Who was your biological mother?"
"My mother's name, at least the woman I considered my mother, was Elizabeth. She was Dad's second wife, but not my biological mom. Elizabeth couldn't get pregnant, so they adopted."
Caroline was seriously confused. "So, is April Remy's mom?"
She shook her head. "Nope, he's adopted, too. Elizabeth died a couple of years after he was born. We don't have the same biological mom, but she and Eddie adopted us both as babies."
Caroline vaguely remembered her dad mentioning Elizabeth, but she didn't know what to say. "Wow. So Remy's never really known any mother besides April?"
"Yep, that's why they're closer than she and I are. I was five when Mom—er, Elizabeth died, so I still kind of remember her."
Things were becoming a little clearer now. "How old were you when April and Eddie got married?"
"Nine." Claire didn't seem too thrilled about April, but Caroline chose not to touch that subject. April had only been married to Eddie for seven years. No wonder she's so jealous. That still didn't give her the right to be hateful to everyone else.
"I will always be here for you. I promise. Now that I have you and Remy in my life, I'm not going to let anything come between us." She gave Claire a long, tight hug. Eager to bond with her more, Caroline would make it a point to spend some girl time with Claire this week. She had a great feeling they would be really close.
After Claire left, Caroline gave her mom a call. Excited to talk to her and tell her about all the new stuff she'd learned. She didn't think her mom knew about Elizabeth. If she did, she probably didn't know Eddie remarried the snake he's with now. Caroline was relieved to hear her mom's voice. She missed her terribly.