Unraveled (Holding On Book 3) (16 page)

Jesse’s eyes lit up at her answer. “Does that mean you love me, too?” he asked huskily.

Her heart slammed against her chest. She thought she did. She wanted to say the words but they got trapped, clogging her throat. She expected Jesse to pull back from her. Instead, he did the opposite. The hand that had been resting on her hip slid behind her, pulling her in close.

“It’s okay,” he said soothingly. “I know you still have some reservations about us. I haven’t really earned your trust in the past. I want to earn it now. All you have to do is let me. So w
ould you just open up and let me love you? Let me love you the way I need to love you. The way you deserve to be loved?” he pleaded.

She nodded and that was all the answer he needed. He leaned over and kissed her again. Unlike before, these kisses weren’t hungry and all-encompassing. They were light, heartfelt, and full of promise.

13

Carly
cast an accusatory glare at the clothes stacked on her bed. She had no idea how she was going to get them all back in her suitcase. It was New Year’s Eve day and the past week had been the busiest over break so far. She’d shared the holidays with Jesse’s family. They had been far more receptive of her than she’d expected.

She’d even been swallowed up in a hug from his sister. She had whispered in Carly’s ear, “It’s about time you make my brother happy. You won’t regret it.”

She had wanted him to share the holidays with her family too. However, after tossing around the idea for a few days, they’d agreed that it was probably in everyone’s best interest if they waited. Carly apologetically explained to him that Margo would likely ruin the holiday for everyone. That wouldn’t be fair to Quinn and her family. Margo would ruin it with her haughty attitude and snide comments. Neither Jesse nor Carly wanted that. So they’d settled for Christmas with his family. After some prodding, Quinn and Luke had agreed to spend New Year’s Eve with them. It would be their first night away from the twins.

Quinn had asked Margo and Pete to watch the kids for the evening so they could all have dinner together at Jesse’s. Carly knew that was Quinn’s subtle way of telling her mom that she approved of her sister’s relationship.
She wanted her mom to know that she accepted Jesse and Carly.

But now, Carly needed to get some packing done. She would be leaving for school
this weekend. The day before Christmas, she’d gotten a disappointing text from Melissa. She told her that the housing she’d been looking into had fallen through. Carly had resigned herself to the fact that she would have to get a job when she got back. She only hoped that she could find one this time of year. It was doubtful, with the after holiday-slump that most business experienced. She pushed that worry away for another time.

Right now, she had other things to contend with. Like how she was going to pack her suitcase. The new items she’d gotten for gifts were the culprits that were causing her some problems with space.

When her phone rang, she answered it absentmindedly.

“I made a mistake.”

For a split instant, she didn’t recognize the voice. It was a voice she’d more or less given up on hearing again.

“Nolan,” she said dryly. She tossed the sweater she was holding back onto the stack as she began to pace her room. Nearly three weeks had gone by since he did her the biggest favor of her life: Called off the engagement. She briefly wondered if she should be feeling a little more than she was feeling at the moment. The only emotions she could pull together were feelings of frustration and disgust.

“I made a mistake, Carly,” he said again.

“Yes, you sure did,” Carly told him.

“I miss you. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry, babe. I was nervous. You understand that, don’t you?” Nolan asked. “I’m sorry it took me so long to call you back. I just needed some time to think things through. I didn’t think I could deal with hearing the sound of your voice.”

He sounded heartbroken.
Carly was sure his tone was meant to be endearing but it grated on her. She rolled her eyes at him.

“Sure. I understand,” she said cordially. “Now tell me when I can expect a check from your parents?”

“Come on Carly, don’t be that way. I miss you so bad I can barely stand it.”

“Nolan,” she said calmly. “Whatever it is that you’re trying to do here, I don’t have time for it.  So just tell me when I can expect the check.”

Ignoring her, he continued on. “Okay. I get it. You’re pissed. You have every right to be mad at me. But I know we can talk this out. You can’t be ready to give up on us.”

“There’s nothing to talk out,” she said, trying to keep the conversation simple. She briefly considered telling him she’d moved on. She decided against it because it really wasn’t any of his business. Also, she wanted to remain focused on the real issue. “
Wait, we do have one thing to talk about. I want my parents’ money. Come on, Nolan! You can’t keep avoiding me like this! It was a lot of money.”

“I miss you, babe. I get that you need a little more time t
o simmer down,” he coaxed.

“I don’t need time to simmer down!” sh
e grated out. “I need my parents’ money back. So stop being such a jackass!”

“Sounds to me like you do need to simmer down,” he countered. “You
need some space. I’m going to give it to you. But you’ll be hearing from me, real soon.”

He disconnected before Carly could protest. She was left staring at the phone, sputtering in disbelief.

“What the hell was that?!” she asked the phone in her hand. She raked her other hand through her hair. He could not possibly be serious! He missed her?! Well, too damn bad. He’d broken her heart
twice
. It was no surprise to her when she realized she didn’t miss
him
at all.

If it weren’t for the money, she’d be happy to never hear from him again. In fact, that made her even more determined to get the money back. Once that tie was severed, he could be out of her life for good.

~*~*~

“Oh
my gosh, you two,” Quinn said with a laugh. “Don’t think that Luke and I haven’t noticed you making flirty eyes with each other across the table.”

“Can’t help it,” Jesse said with a smirk.

They were just finishing up dinner. It had been decided that a quiet evening in was preferable to everyone. All of the restaurants and bars in Lanford would undoubtedly be packed for the evening. Jesse had offered to make everyone dinner so that they could actually sit back and enjoy a meal. Without being rushed and without dealing with a huge crowd.

“That was so good,” Carly said as she dabbed at her mouth with a napkin.

Jesse had prepared penne and chicken with a vodka cream sauce. It was completely out of Carly’s realm of ability and it had been amazing. She had managed to put together a salad and slice some French bread from the bakery to complement the meal.

“It was
delicious,” Quinn agreed.

“Yeah, thanks Jesse,” Luke said. “I’m glad you had us over.”

“It’s been fun,” Quinn added on.

“Oh
, no you don’t!” Carly interjected. She knew her sister well enough to realize she was paving the way for a graceful exit. “It’s still early. I’m sure Mom and Dad are doing just fine. You and Luke need to sit back and relax. It’s been three weeks and this is the first time the two of you have been able to leave the house at the same time.”

Quinn crinkled up her face but she smiled. “You’re right. They would call if they needed us.”

Both sisters knew this was true. If Margo was having difficulty with the babies, or even Carter, she would not be shy about sharing that.

“Besides,” Jesse said, “we have dessert.”

“I made cheesecake,” Carly admitted almost apologetically.

“I’m sure it’s fabulous,” Quinn said reassuringly. She was well-aware of her sister’s insecurities. Her skills in the kitchen topped that list.

Carly stood to retrieve the dessert. She glanced at Luke in surprise when he bounced to his feet.

“I’ll help,” he offered.

She opened her mouth to decline but quickly realized Luke must have an ulterior motive. Though her kitchen skills were lacking, she was certainly capable of dishing up four plates of cheesecake.

They each loaded up with dinner dishes, clearing the table of what they could before they went into the kitchen. After everything was placed near the sink, Luke began to rinse. Carly pulled the cheesecake from the fridge. The entire time, she kept a surreptitious eye on Luke, wondering what he was up to.

Her mood had been all over the place this evening. She was excited to spend the time with her sister and brother-in-law. Even more so because while they stayed in, it was still a double date of sorts. And that, a double date, was another first for her and Jesse.

At the same time, her mood periodically swung back to frustrated and even a bit bitter. How dare Nolan do that?! Call and act as though he had every right to say he missed her? All she wanted was the money, damnit! She needed it to get her mother off her back. Margo had let the issue drop for a few days over the holidays but she’d brought it up again multiple times t
his past week.

Carly really couldn’t blame her but it just gave her one more thing to worry about.

She realized she was scowling, knife in hand, staring at the dessert when Luke’s voice cut through the air.

“Carly, you don’t have anything to worry about,” he soothed.

She turned to him in surprise. She sure did have things to worry about. However, she realized that Luke could have no idea about the phone call she’d received earlier. He had to be talking about something else.

“Am I worried?” she asked, keeping her tone light.

He gave her a knowing look
as he sidled up to the counter next to her. “Don’t be mad at Quinn. But when you and Jesse started things up again, she told me that you still have some doubts about him.”

Oh
, she realized, that’s
what he’s talking about
. For a brief moment, she thought she should correct him. She should tell him that wasn’t what was bothering her at all. However, she knew he wouldn’t believe her unless she confided in him and told him what
was
wrong. And she just couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Instead, she let him keep talking.

“You know I’d never lie to you, right?” he asked.

Carly narrowed her eyes at Luke but she couldn’t force away her smile. “Luke McGrath, are you about to give me relationship advice?”

He made a ‘
get serious’
face at her. “I’m going to tell you what I told Quinn. You know I stayed at Jesse’s house for awhile, right?”

She knew he had stayed with Jesse for over a year when he’d first moved back to Lanford. She nodded, a small smirk on her face because she knew Luke
was
going to give her relationship advice. Just like she’d done for him once.

“Let me just tell you this…When he broke things off with Betsy, I’m pretty sure he had it in his head that he was going to try to make things right with you. When you came home and surprised everyone with your engagement?” Luke made a pained face.
“That night at Shady’s, when he saw you? I think it about killed him. He was unbearable to live with after that. I started spending a whole lot more time over at Quinn’s.”

“Luke,” she tried to interject.

“I mean it, Carly. The man was wrecked. I kind of know how he felt. I mean, I let Quinn get away and it was one of the biggest regrets of my life. I got my second chance. Now Jesse has his too. And I know the situations are nowhere near the same. But trust me Carly, I think he wants to make things work with you just as bad as I wanted to make things work with Quinn.”

She didn’t know what to say
. The look on Luke’s face was completely sincere. Luke’s brother Jake had been Jesse’s best friend. But now that Jake was gone, Luke and Jesse had gotten a lot closer. Carly figured Luke probably knew Jesse as well as anyone at this point.

If Luke really believed Jesse felt that way, then Carly thought she should take him at his word.
Unknown to him, she hadn’t really
needed
his pep talk. Since it was out there, she appreciated it all the same.