“You never leave the house! You’re always there. How are we supposed to live our lives as husband and wife if you’re always hanging around watching us? Or worse, competing with me for his attention. Heather, think. It isn’t a good scenario for either of us. Surely you can’t want that either.”
Heather was truly shocked. She hadn’t seen this coming. She was ashamed to be seen as an inconvenient adult child who still lived at home. Mortified to be in this position. Angry at her father for putting her in this position. Lurking in the back of her mind was the kernel of truth in what Natalie had said. After all, she was a grown woman living with her father.
She had no words. All Heather could do was nod, silently agreeing with her.
Natalie released a sigh of relief, then smiled. “Good. That’s settled, then. I knew we could work things out between us. Just us girls.” She sat forward and clapped her hands together. “Now we can start figuring out where you’re going to live.”
Heather glared at her.
“Well,” Natalie said, looking at her watch. “We should get going if we’re going to make our reservation.”
Heather rose to her feet. “Excuse me, please.” She felt light-headed and feared if she didn’t leave the room she’d faint. Wouldn’t that be the perfect swan song for this debacle? It took all her studied composure to hold her chin high and her back straight as she walked into her bedroom and softly closed the door. She leaned against it for a moment to catch her breath. Tears threatened to choke her and she swallowed them down, trying desperately not to cry. Not to be the little girl she’d just been accused of embodying.
Then she fell onto her bed and let the tears flow.
That was when she smelled the scent of jasmine surrounding her.
CARA STOOD BEHIND her bedroom door, seething. She’d heard every word of the conversation. Or rather, every word that Natalie uttered. Heather had barely made a peep, poor thing.
Cara strode to her mirror with purpose. She brushed her glossy dark hair, pulling it back into a severe chignon. Then she applied some fresh red lipstick. Her black shift dress was simple, but in such times, simplicity spoke of class. She checked her reflection in the mirror: her dark eyes glittered. This was the look she wanted.
“Hello,” Cara said in an imperious tone as she strode into the room. “I’m Cara Rutledge. I own this beach house. You must be Heather’s stepmother.”
Cara was pleased to see the woman visibly cringe at the word stepmother.
Natalie quickly rose and moved forward to take Cara’s extended hand. “Hello, I’m Natalie Wyatt. I didn’t know Heather had company.”
Cara let that slide. Natalie obviously didn’t know that she’d moved back into the beach house. She smiled inwardly, realizing that Heather must be pocketing the rent that Cara was paying her. Smart girl, she thought admiringly.
“Are you one of the Charleston Rutledges?” Natalie asked.
Cara offered an indulgent smile. “Of course.”
Natalie seemed impressed. “Such a wonderful family.”
Cara only tilted her head and smiled politely. She was not going to make this easy on the woman. “You’ve only recently married David Wyatt, isn’t that so?”
“Yes. We were married in May.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Where did you go on your honeymoon?”
“We took a short trip to Montreal. David loves the city,” she added almost apologetically, as though making excuses for the lack of international glamour in their honeymoon destination. “We plan to take a more extended trip in the winter. To Australia.”
“That should be exciting.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there. David just didn’t want to do anything extravagant right off the bat, give me a chance to get settled into our new life.”
“And Heather, of course. For her to get settled into her new life.”
“Of course,” Natalie said with a tempered smile. “He’s such a sweet man.”
“Yes,” Cara agreed. “I only met David briefly, but even in that short time it was clear to me that he’s a good man. A family man, devoted to his daughter.”
Natalie’s face shifted. She looked as if she’d just tasted the lemon in her tea. “He is.”
“And she to him.”
“Yes.”
Cara let a short silence follow. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Heather.”
Natalie straightened her shoulders. “Yes, well, I thought it went quite well,” she said stiffly.
“Did David know that you were coming to talk to Heather today?”
“He’s in Europe,” she replied vaguely, studiously avoiding the question.
“Ah, I see,” Cara said. “I take that as a no.” She paused. “I didn’t think so. I can’t imagine what he’d think of your suggestion to Heather that she not return home.” She emphasized the word home.
Natalie narrowed her perfectly made-up eyes and gave Cara a hard look. “I don’t see where this is any business of yours.”
“Heather is my dear friend,” Cara said in a steely tone. “Everything that concerns her is my business.”
“I disagree,” Natalie said. “This is a family matter, but, more important, it was two adult women coming to an agreement over something that has nothing to do with you.” She turned and went to grab her purse. “And I don’t intend to continue this conversation with you.”
“I don’t have much more to say,” Cara said. She caught Natalie’s gaze and held it—a move she’d used often at executive meetings at Leo Burnett. “I don’t believe in candy-coating my words, either. We both know David Wyatt would be very upset if he was to learn what you did and said here today.” She was satisfied to see unease spark in Natalie’s blue eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to be the one to tell him. But I suggest that you do. So he’ll understand why his daughter is not returning to Charlotte at the end of the month.”
Natalie’s face reflected her confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I happen to agree with you that Heather should not go back to live in your house. It would clearly be a toxic environment, what with you being there. Heather’s made tremendous progress this summer, and I would be very sad to see her slide backward.”
Cara went to the front door. “Now, why don’t you run along?” she said neutrally. “I’ll make up some excuse for Heather. I trust she’ll be relieved to see that you’ve left.” She opened the door and Natalie walked slowly through, clearly perplexed as to what had just transpired. Natalie turned around at the threshold as if about to speak, but Cara cut her off. “Bye-bye, now,” she said with a false smile, and promptly shut the door in the younger woman’s face.
HEATHER HEARD A gentle knocking on her door. She groaned inwardly, inhaling deeply and fanning her face, hoping she didn’t look like she’d been crying. She’d left Natalie sitting alone out there for too long. She couldn’t bear to sit through dinner with her. It was time for her to get up, wipe her face, and have it out with her “stepmother.”
“Heather?”
Heather shifted to her back, confused. That was Cara’s voice. “Come in.”
Cara stepped into the room. She looked very chic with her hair pulled back and bright red lips. Heather smoothed her own hair back from her face and pushed up into a sitting position.
“I know. I should get up,” she said despondently.