Page 46 of Rock Hard
Chapter Nineteen
Alice pushed the meataround on her plate. The in-flight meal was excellently prepared yet completely unappetizing. When the attendant came by, she gave up and asked her to take it away.
Had she done the right thing in leaving Carly to face Rex on her own? She hadn’t had a chance to talk to Rex about Carly’s solo trek to the STEM finals, so she didn’t really know where his head was at concerningthat... or anything else for that matter.
Finding him asleep in the suite this morning had been unexpected. Alice had thought her text telling him that Carly was safe would have eased his mind enough for him to go on with his own business. Apparently not. Never in a million years would she have expected that, one, Rex would put forth the effort to figure out where they were, and two, that he would drop everything to fly out in the middle of the night. Such atypical behavior fell well outside the realm of Rex’s usual self-centered bubble.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. When Rex first learned that Carly was his daughter, he blew off a photo shoot and flew out personally to pick her up, so there was some precedent there. As his personal assistant, Alice had gone with him then. In those days, Rex had demanded that she always be by his side.
Rex’s current PA hadn’t accompanied him to Phoenix, though, and Alice couldn’t help wondering why. In relaying the events of that night in Chicago, Chuck had implied that Rex was angry with the woman for not informing him that Carly was missing. Was there trouble in that little corner of paradise? Or had he left her behind to see to things until he could return?
Not that it mattered. Whatever the reason, Alice was glad for it. The last thing she needed was another confrontation with that bitch tigress.
Her inner lioness growled at the thought of the other woman, and Alice went back to pondering Rex’s motivation for flying out to the conference. The fact that he had come himself instead of sending someone else meant something; she just wasn’t sure what. Best case scenario: Carly’s disappearance had shaken him up enough for him to realize that being a father meant more than simply financial support. Worst case scenario: Rex’s alpha male pride had taken a hit, and he needed to make an example of Carly’s blatant disobedience.
She certainly hoped it was the former—that Rex had been thinking more about what was good for his daughter than what benefitted him.
The North American National STEM finals were really important to Carly; important enough that she had felt compelled to do whatever it took to get there ... which begged another question. Now that he was there, would Rex stick around for the big awards presentation tomorrow, or would he demand that Carly go back with him? Not knowing was driving her nuts.
She had texted Carly from the airport to see how things were going, but she hadn’t received a reply before she was forced to board and switch to airplane mode.
If she had stayed in Phoenix, she would know, she thought irritably. Maybe instead of running away to avoid dealing with Rex, which was basically what she had done, she should have just moved to another hotel or something. At least then she could have been there, running interference if necessary, cheering Carly on tomorrow ...
“Stop feeling guilty, Alice.” Johnny’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“What makes you think I’m feeling guilty?”
“Because I knowyou. You made the right decision.”
“Did I?” She blurted out the question, putting a voice to the uncertain thoughts that had been plaguing her from the moment they had walked out of that resort.
Carly had been understanding when Alice had explained the situation. Not all the details, of course. However, there had been no mistaking the disappointment in the young girl’s eyes when Alice had told her she and Johnny were flying out.
“Tomorrow is going to be a really big day for her! I should be there.” Alice shook her head. “My issues are with her father, not her.”
Johnny exhaled heavily and looked away, a sure sign that he was holding back.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“I know you, too, remember? It’s not nothing. Tell me.”
He shook his head. “You won’t like it.”
“When has that ever stopped you?”
“Fair enough.” He smiled briefly then grew serious again. “You need to let go, Alice. I know you care about Carly, but you’re not her mother. You walked away—don’t scowl at me like that. I know you had your reasons, but you did.”
“Carly understands why I did what I did,” Alice said defensively. “She was the one who told me I should go.”
“She’s fourteen, babe. I know she’s brilliant, but she’s still a kid. She doesn’t want to disappoint you, so she told you what she thought you wanted to hear. Do you really think she wanted you to leave?”
Stunned, Alice opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
“When you really care about someone, you say things you don’t mean simply because you want that person to be happy. Remember when we were kids and there was that couple that wanted to foster me? When I told you about it, you pretended to be happy for me. You told me I should go. But you didn’t mean it.”
Alice nodded slowly. “I remember.”
