However, Joe was her soul mate. The man she was destined to be with, the man she made a beautiful family with. With each year that had passed them by, their love grew, the doubts that she had once had, had been erased. Still, when she lost her son, she couldn’t help but wonder if Jake’s death was God’s version of Karma. She never told her husband instead, she sought counsel with her priest. She never wanted Joe to feel the guilt that she had when they lost their youngest son, but still she couldn’t help but wonder if her and Joe’s union had a hand in Jake’s destiny. A mother’s love is tricky that way, always second guessing the decisions of the past, and how they play a hand in your children’s future.
“When Luke and I went fishing, he confided in me.” He sighed. “I wanted to tell him about my brother, but I thought that story was better left for you to tell.” He paused for a moment. “Cara is torn between her feelings for Luke and her past with Jake. She’s also worried about what we’re going to think. I tried to tell Luke that isn’t an issue, but something tells me it’s not Luke, who needs the reassurance, but instead it’s Cara.”
Deb swallowed and looked back at her son and the girl she had come to love as a daughter. She watched as Cara pushed past Luke and started to step out of the pool. Her son hung his head in defeat. Deb looked back at her husband.
“Those kids need some healing, just like you and I once did.” Joe shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe their story will be even greater than ours.”
Deb found her smile at those words and gazed lovingly at her soul mate. “I don’t know about that, we have a pretty amazing story.”
“That we do, dear. That we do.” Joe winked at his bride of thirty-five years, hoping for another thirty-five years of their story.
*
Cara fastened the towel around her and glanced back at Luke. “Well buddy, I’ll see you around.”
“Where are you going?” Luke said, not liking the distance that they shared.
Cara shrugged her shoulders, wishing they weren’t in paradise anymore. She could busy herself back home pretending that Luke didn’t just wreck any resolve she had come to, but in paradise, not so much.
“Cara, this is what you wanted isn’t it?” Luke asked because he felt like he was gutting himself, under the impression this is what she needed. It was going to kill him to retreat back to the casualness that seemed lost to him, but he’d suck it up and deal if it’s what she wanted.
“I’ll see you later, Luke.” She said fleetingly and forced herself to walk away. She lifted her head and saw Deb and Joe leaning back against their lounge chairs watching her and Luke’s entire exchange. She groaned and flipped her sunglasses down and waved slightly before disappearing in the other direction. Paradise sucked when your head wasn’t into it. Or maybe when your head wasn’t, but your heart was.
Chapter Twenty Five
Cara swiveled in her chair, chewing on the cap of her pen, staring out the window into the parking lot. It was a slow day at Riverdale Ink, but then again, Friday’s usually didn’t pick up until the night hours anyway. They had been back from Cabo over a week and the instant the plane’s wheels touched down on New York soil, Cara ran from Luke and the conflicted feelings he provoked in her. The last few days of their vacation, after Luke politely, of course, gave her the “let’s be friends’ kiss off, had been painful to say the least. New Year’s Eve was the worse of the trip. What she had once envisioned as a romantic night for her and Luke, turned into both of them awkwardly kissing Ava’s cheeks at the stroke of midnight. When she wasn’t avoiding him, they were pretending everything was okay in front of Ava. When Deb and Joe were around they were just buddies shooting the shit. She hated it. She hated all of it, the whole fa?ade they were putting on. It was beginning to dawn on her that she was the reason for all of it too, which was even more disturbing.
Jake hadn’t visited her dreams again. He was probably pissed at her too. She snarled, at least she had Benny to keep her company. Her swiveling came to halt when Pete’s tattooed hand grabbed the back of the chair and his other hand came around her to present a manila envelope.
“You’re making me dizzy, Cara.” He said, turning the chair around so she could face him.
“Sorry.” She offered and looked at the envelope before cocking one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him. “What’s this?”
“The bills for the week and the invoices, Luke said this is your job now.” He said as he dropped the envelope into her lap and crossed his arms against his chest.
“Oh, did he? When did you speak to Luke?” She asked curiously.
“He called to cancel our weekly meeting. Apparently you’re not just a pretty face at Riverdale Ink.” He said, holding back the smirk when her eyes narrowed at him. “Big boss Man, says you’ll be taking care of all the paperwork, making you Big Boss Lady.”
She wouldn’t be getting her weekly phone call from Luke, telling her that he deposited the profits in her checking account anymore. The calls she once dreaded had become something she looked forward to each week. She stopped ignoring the calls once she came back home from Lakeview, looking forward to the light banter they would share.
“Hello? Earth to Big Boss Lady. Is it the name? Would you rather be called just Cara?” Pete asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.