Accidental Heartbreak (The Accidental Series, Book 2) (16 page)

Carter, still on the phone with Genevieve,
got up from the couch. He walked through the kitchen, holding the
cordless, waved at the chef and peered out the windows onto the
deck. He saw Shayla at the table, the laptop in front of her. He
looked on for a few minutes, peeping the way she was so full of
life now, comparing that to how he found her in February. He
couldn’t imagine seeing her in such a decrepit state ever again.
Just the thought of it was too much to bear.

He ended the call with Genevieve, ran
upstairs to shower, then took his time getting dressed, making sure
he was well-shaven. He smelled as good as he looked.

After returning his laptop to the family
room, Shayla jogged upstairs, peeped in the closet, looking for a
black dress – one of the items Carter had purchased for her before
they got married. She found it then quickly slipped it over her
small frame. It was a strapless black dress, fell just at her
knees, looked good with the strappy black stilettos she bought a
few weeks ago from Macy’s. After she was done getting dressed, she
stepped in the bathroom, teased her hair and made sure she was
decent. Satisfied, she slowly descended the stairs, and just shy of
tip-toeing, she walked to the kitchen.

“Good evening, Madame,” the chef said to
her. He had on a black apron, looked Italian. His hair was as black
as hers and he had a mustache.

“Hello,” Shayla said, looking for Carter but
he wasn’t in the dining room.

“Here…let me show you to your seat.”

“Ah…okay.” Walking to the table, she noticed
a bouquet of red roses, must have been two dozen, shooting out of
two crystal vases that looked similar to the one she’d broken.
White candles circled the bouquets, giving the dining room the feel
of a romantic restaurant. Soft jazz played in the background.

Carter walked in and said, “Smells good,
Jacques.”

“It’s almost ready, Monsieur.”

“Excellent.” Carter slapped his hands
together. Then he sat down, directly across from Shayla. “You look
nervous.”

“I am.”

“Why? It’s just us…in
our
home…at
our
table about to eat dinner. You should be
comfortable.”

“I know—”

“But?” Carter said.

“You’re a little intimidating.”

“How’s that?”

“You planned this dinner thing—”

“I wanted to do something special for
you.”

“So if I wanted to do something nice for
you, it would have to be something major…like renting an entire
hotel for the night and inviting A-list celebrities.”

Carter studied her. She had all the
qualities a man desired in a woman he wanted to get serious with.
And that’s why he couldn’t quite understand why Jacob, even in the
worst of circumstances, would take his own life when he had a woman
like this.

“You have no comment for that?” Shayla
watched him stare blankly back at her.

“Every day I wake up and see your beautiful
face is something major.”

Carter watched her turn red in the face.

“Okay,” Jacques said, walking over to them
with a basket of bread. “Here’s some bread and butter. I’ll be back
with the wine.”

Shayla watched Carter take a piece of bread,
spread butter on it, put it in a small plate and hand it to
her.

“Try that…Jacques makes the best bread.”

Shayla took a bite. “Mmm, this is good.”

Carter took a bite and nodded.

“How do you know Jacques, by the way?”
Shayla asked him.

“About four years ago, when I got serious
about exercising and working out, I hired him as my personal
chef.”

“Oh.” Shayla tasted the bread again.

Carter took a bite too, observing the way
Shayla’s hair lay over her left shoulder, the form of her right
shoulder clearly visible. He wanted to get up from the table to
kiss her from her collar bone, to her neck and back to her shoulder
again.

Jacques took a bottle of wine from the
counter and poured them the same serving. “I’ll be right back with
the lasagna.”

Jacques walked away and Shayla locked eyes
with Carter.

“So do you want to ask me something?” he
asked her.

Shayla looked at him, confused. “Ask you
what?”

He shrugged. “Thought maybe you wanted to
know how I feel about us being married?”

“Okay,” Shayla said, taking the bait. “How
do you feel?”

“Ummm, hmm,” he hummed.

Shayla frowned.

“I’m just kidding, baby. Man…you should’ve
seen the look on your face just now.”

“Only because I know you never wanted to get
married.”

“I never said that.”

“Yes you did…said something like you were
committed to your career and never been in a serious
relationship.”

“Okay…”

“And you said you weren’t husband material.
Oh, oh,” Shayla smacked the table, excited she remembered more.
“You said some men can settle down but you weren’t wired like that.
Ring any bells?”

Carter smirked. “You think I still feel that
way?” He took sip of wine and stared at her hard.

She shook her head. “No. I do wonder
though…like what was it about me that made you change your
mind?”

“I fell in love with you. That’s never
happened to me before.”

“And at what point did you fall in love with
me?”

Carter took another swig of wine and cleared
his throat. “I never told you this but when I found you that day,”
he said, taking a moment to keep himself composed, because it was
difficult for him to talk about
that
day. “I got in the
ambulance with you and you gripped my hand and told me not to leave
you. And from that moment, I swore I would never leave you.” He
swallowed hard. “But enough about that. I just want to celebrate
our marriage.”

Shayla watched him smirk and she could sense
a bit of sadness as he recalled a part of the story from that day.
He didn’t talk about it often, she noticed. He never did tell her
everything that had occurred and now she knew why. It was too
painful for him to talk about.

“Are you happy?” he asked her.

She nodded. “I’m very happy. I’m elated. I
never told
you
this, but when we were just friends, I looked
forward so much to you coming home from work so that I could spend
some time with you. I remember feeling excited just to be sitting
near you. Or watching you work. Or hearing your voice over the
phone.”

“Really?”

Shayla nodded. “I still remember the first
time you kissed me. I thought I would crumble to pieces. I could
feel every nerve in my body zip out of control and it’s a wonder I
was able to continue breathing after that.”

Carter sat quietly, taking it all in. He had
every mind to send Jacques away so that he could take Shayla
upstairs and really make her crumble to pieces. Instead, he stared
at her as if seeing her thoughts.

Holding his gaze, Shayla said, “Why are you
so quiet?”

“No reason.”

Shayla blushed and took a sip of wine to
cool herself off from the heat of his eyes. She knew the look
well.

Jacques brought over the lasagna shortly
thereafter, and they ate quietly. The usually outspoken Carter was
quiet, Shayla noticed. He spoke more with his eyes than his
mouth.

Instead of calling Rebecca, Shayla drove by
the flower shop the next afternoon when she knew the place was
closed for lunch. She parked next to Rebecca’s car and walking up
to the door, she tapped on the glass.

Rebecca, who was sitting behind the counter
eating a sandwich, looked up and saw her. The look of happiness and
surprise covered her face. She quickly put down her sandwich, wiped
her mouth and jumped up to unlock the door.

“Hey, girl,” she told Shayla, after pulling
the door open, greeting her with a hug.

“Hey!”

“Come on in so I can lock the door back,”
Rebecca said. “I’ve been super busy today. I need this break.”

Shayla stepped inside, watching Rebecca lock
the door. “I figured you’d be on lunch.”

“Yes. I probably would’ve died of starvation
if I skipped lunch today.”

The women laughed together.

“So how have you been?” Rebecca asked
excitedly.

“Good,” Shayla responded. “I have a bit of
good news.”

“Please tell me you’re moving back to
Charlotte.”

“I’ve already moved back to Charlotte.”

“You did?” Rebecca said, elated.

“Yep, and I have more good news.” Shayla
held her left hand out so Rebecca could see the diamond, sparkling
on her ring finger.

Rebecca’s eyes grew big and she covered her
mouth with her right hand. “Carter?”

“Yep.”

“You’re engaged?” she asked.

“No. We’re married.”

“You’re married!” she shrieked.

“Yes. He asked me a few days after the
convention. Then we flew to Hawaii that weekend and got
married.”

“Wow!” Rebecca stood, walked around the
counter and embraced Shayla. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“When he came to the convention, I knew he
was coming for you. Talk about someone laying their heart on the
line…”

“Yeah. He really meant business.”

Rebecca took a bite of her sandwich and
mumbled, “So when are the babies coming?”

“Really, Rebecca?”

Rebecca giggled. “What? That’s a legitimate
question.”

Kids. Why hadn’t the subject come up before
they were married? Shayla was sure she wanted a few, but Carter, on
the other hand, stated casually a while back that he didn’t want
any. “Well, I’m not sure if we’re having kids, but that’s something
we’d have to discuss.”

“Okay, let’s discuss it,” Rebecca
quipped.

“No, not with you, silly.” Shayla
laughed.

“I know. I just think y’all will have the
cutest little babies.”

“Aw. Thank you,” Shayla said beaming.

“So how is it being married? You like
it?”

“I love it. Marriage is awesome when you
find the right person.”

Rebecca nodded. “You’re settled in and
everything?”

“Yep.”

Shayla glanced around the shop. “How’s
everything here?”

Rebecca wiped her mouth again. “Well, the
girl I hired to replace you quit a few days ago.”

“Why?”

“She was nuts…even with gloves on, she acted
like she couldn’t touch dirt.”

They both laughed.

“Well, I’m not doing anything. I could pop
in to help you out a few days.”

Rebecca smirked. “Says the woman who just
married Carter Williams…you never have to work another day in your
life.”

“I would like to have a career, eventually,
but I got a feeling Carter doesn’t want me to work.”

“If he doesn’t want children, what are you
supposed to do all day if you without a job?”

“That’s a good question.”

“But on the other hand, some men are old
fashioned like that. They want to take care of their woman.”

“But doesn’t that make the woman seem needy
and dependent?”

“Only if you look at it that way, but from
his perspective, it makes him feel like a provider. When a man
feels like he can’t provide for his family, he feels like a
failure.”

Shayla nodded. That was one of the reasons
why she assumed Jacob committed suicide. He’d lost his job,
couldn’t find one and couldn’t provide for her without
employment.

“I say, let him do the husbandly thing and
take care of you.”

Shayla was in a trance, thinking about Jacob
and his depression. She hadn’t heard Rebecca’s follow-up
comment.

“Shayla?”

She blinked a few times, then looked at
Rebecca. “Huh? I’m sorry. I was in another world just now.”

“I said, let him take care of you if that’s
what he wants.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“So anyway, what you got planned for
tonight? Maybe we can do dinner?”

“Um…I gotta check with Carter. He’s always
planning something for us. Let me talk to him and I’ll get back to
ya.”

“All right then, Mrs. Williams.”

Shayla smiled. It felt weird hearing Rebecca
call her that. “All right. I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Okay. You can stop by anytime, and call
me.”

“I will.”

The women hugged again and Shayla walked out
of the door, hearing the familiar chime of the bell.

On the drive home, Shayla called Jacqueline
to inform her that she would be stopping by at some point today.
Said she had some news to tell her. Jacqueline invited her to come
by around four, and Shayla agreed that was a good time to meet. It
would give her time to take a nap before she headed over there.

Back at home, she got comfortable on the
couch, rested for a while, but was awakened by her cell phone
vibrating across the coffee table. She picked it up, saw Carter’s
picture on her home screen and smiled.

“Hey, baby,” she answered in a seductive
slumber.

“You just woke up,” Carter said. “I can
always recognize that sexy, sleepy voice of yours.”

Shayla smiled. “Yeah. I just woke up. What
time is it?”

Carter checked the time by looking in the
bottom right corner of his computer screen. “It’s a little after
three.”

She yawned and stretched her arms high.
“What are you doing?”

“About to go into a meeting. I should be out
of here on time today if you want to do something later.”

“Okay, that’s cool. I should be back by the
time you get off work.”

“Back from where?”

“Jackie’s. I’m heading over there in a few.
I’m dying to show her my ring and tell her that we’re married
now.”

Carter grew quiet. The thought of her going
alone and telling Jacqueline about their marriage was unsettling.
Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been fine. But Jacqueline
knew too much, and he needed to ensure that his aunt didn’t slip up
and say anything about Jacob. “How about you call her back and tell
her you’ll be there at six-thirty then I can join you?”