Page 85 of The Charade

He sighed again and smoothed one hand down the crown of my head, down my hair, and back up until he cradled the nape of my neck in his hands. He coaxed my face to look up at him. He looked deeply into my eyes, then his gaze traveled to my lips. "I should probably go home," he whispered, the regret in his voice clear as a summer day. He met my eyes again, and after releasing another long breath and squeezing me closer, he mumbled, "This is so hard."

"I know," I said quietly. And then, to keep myself from wanting to kiss him since our faces were only inches away, I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck to hug him tighter.

He wrapped his arms around my waist again and pulled me with him as he leaned against the stone wall.

We stood like that for another long moment, and it felt like my heart was trying to beat its way into his chest. But then Carter straightened up and slid his hands away from my back and to my hips, signaling that he was really going to leave now.

I released my arms from behind his neck and made myself take a step back, forcing some space between us again.

"Good night, Ava," he said, tucking some hair behind my ear—and even though it was just a simple touch, it still sent sparks racing across my scalp.

"Good night, Carter," I said.

He stepped out of the alcove, actually about to leave me for real. After opening his umbrella and holding it over his head, he turned back toward me one last time. With a shrug, he said, "Just think—you may have finally found your dad after all these years. It's what you've always wanted, right?"

He didn't wait for me to respond, though. He just started down the steps and headed to his truck whose engine was still running. And as I watched him, I couldn't help but think that the universe was really cruel. Because it turned out that finding what I always thought I wanted was making me give up what I actually did want: Carter.

34

Ava

Elyseand I tried video-calling our mom, but it immediately went to voicemail.

"Try again," I told my sister. The charity ball should have ended by now, and unless she had suddenly morphed into the early bird that she'd never been before, she should be awake.

Elyse pressed the button to call our mom again, but just like before, we only got her voicemail.

Was she avoiding us?

I grabbed my phone from where I'd dropped it on my bed when I came in and called her from there. But just like the previous two calls from Elyse's phone, this one ended with my mom's voicemail as well.

"Do you think she's still at the ball?" Elyse asked when I tried calling a fourth time with the same result.

"I don't know," I said. And since I was feeling majorly bitter at the moment, I added, "She's probably already heard from Carter's dad or something and is scrambling for what to do now that her secret is out."

"Probably." Elyse sat on her bed with a sigh.

I was considering calling Mom a fifth time, but just as I was about to press the button to dial her number a text came through from her.

Mom:Sorry. Can't talk right now.

Can't talk, my eye.

"Did she just message you?" Elyse asked, noticing I was typing a response back to our mother.

"Yep." I enunciated the p at the end of the word with a pop.

Elyse came over to sit by me so she could watch the conversation I was having with our mom.

Me:Since you seem to be busy, I'm just going to cut to the chase. Has our dad been hiding in Eden Falls this whole time?

I sent the message through, my heart pounding in my temples. My text went fromdeliveredtoread, and Elyse and I just waited…

And waited…

And waited for her to respond.

I held my breath as the conversation dots showed on her side of the messaging screen.

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