Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
With that Mitch walked up to her and pulled her in for a hug. Carly didn’t fight him and instead wrapped her arms around him and held onto him tightly.
“I love you, Carly,” he said.
He kissed her on the head, and then he left.
****
Carly was tempted to not go to work. What was the point, Nate was the boss, and he was just going to manipulate everything, even though she’d never actually seen him inside the bar, ever, not as a manager or the owner.
So, she went to work rather than mope around the apartment, missing Sarah. She did miss Sarah, even though she was still angry and hurt by her. She’d already cried a lot and didn’t think the tears were going to come again.
Dalton walked into the bar, and for the first time in a long while he didn’t look ill or worn out. He looked calm, collected, and in control. He took a seat at the bar and locked his fingers together. “Are you going to spit in my drink?” he asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t do that kind of nonsense.” She shook her head.
“I deserve it, so I wouldn’t hold it against you if you did do that,” he said.
Carly shook her head and poured him a beer, and made sure to slide it across to him without spitting in his drink. There was no way she would do that to him or anyone, not even to a rude customer.
“You paid to be here?” Carly asked.
Dalton chuckled. “Probably, but then I’m the kind of guy that has no problem taking a guy’s money. This isn’t a job to me, Carly,” he said.
“When you’re paid to do it, it’s a job.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I came before, even when money wasn’t on the table. I always figured this was Nate’s way of taking care of us.”
Carly stopped and thought about it. She and Nate, together, had always taken care of them all. Even when she had to stay in the system for an additional year, she’d done everything to help them. Once she got out, they had all lived in a small, rundown apartment, a complete shithole, but they made it work. She couldn’t remember how it had all changed, but slowly they had moved on and moved out to where they were now.
But she and Nate had continued to take care of the whole unit.
“You can’t be angry or hurt at Nate forever.”
“You’re going to tell me how I feel now?” Carly asked.
Dalton shrugged. “I mean, I’m not trying to tell you how to feel, but if you think about it, it does make sense.” His brows went up, and she shook her head.
“None of this makes sense.”
“Nate’s crazy about you, and he didn’t want to ruin your friendship. You guys were young, now you’re not, and he cannot stand to see you with other men. It makes a lot of sense to me, and also he was building this shit up. He was making a name for himself, and until he was strong enough, he couldn’t run the risk of you getting hurt. It’s all kind of romantic, if you put a different perspective on it. You can hate us, Carly, but I know you, and you know our situations, none of us are going to turn down money, even when we don’t need it to do things for the people we love. Regardless of what you say, we do love you.”
Dalton picked up his beer and took a sip. He opened his wallet and took out a couple of bills, including plenty of money for the tip.
“If you think about it, we all take care of each other because that is what family does.” He winked at her, and then got to his feet. “And I just want to say that no point of me coming to see you was forced or paid for. I love you, Carly.”
She watched him go, and now she felt tears spring to her eyes for a whole different reason. Dalton had never told her he loved her. She knew it wasn’t love in the way she felt for Nate, but it was that of family, of a sibling. And she loved him as well.
****
Three Days Later
Carly heard the door opening as she stirred the tomato soup she had cooking for herself. There were not a lot of groceries left in the fridge, and she’d used them all up in her soup. She loved doing this, as she hated food waste of any kind.
Sarah had finally returned home. She had no doubt she’d irritated Mitch to the point that he had finally dropped off the other woman.
She didn’t know if she was ready to see her friend, but she heard her footsteps as she padded into the kitchen.
“I can totally understand if you don’t want me home,” Sarah said. “I can find another place to stay. Maybe rent a place until you can forgive me. Mitch can’t stand me. I apparently spray too much perfume, I don’t clean up after myself, and I’m a lousy cook. He also claims that I fart while I sleep, which I take great offense to.”