Finding Carrie (14 page)

“You kept me from Nancy Taylor; you knew how important it was to me to meet her. David made the arrangements, and you didn’t like that, so you told me that she didn’t have any interest in meeting me after all. How could you do that? And what about Isaac Walsch? You knew how much I wanted him to play the part in my book trailer, and you didn’t even call him, did you?” she asked. Isaac looked on this scene with pure puzzlement because he was the Isaac Walsch that she was talking about and Nancy Taylor was a friend of his family’s.

“Carrie, no I did not. They really didn’t want to meet you—” he tried to say.

“Liar!” she screamed with her arms held out. “I guess you didn’t count on the fact that I would find out, did you? I had invited Nancy Taylor to come to my ball, and she responded by saying that she wished me well and hoped to get another chance at meeting me. So I called her—oh yeah I did—and she told me that you told her that I wasn’t available at that time. And you’d told me that she had no interest in meeting me! I will not take your lies any longer. You’re fired! Get out while you still can,” she said and then went back to her stool to drink her drink. She looked up at Isaac, who was looking at her with a puzzled look on his face. “I’m sorry for the display I just made,” she said as her bodyguards escorted the man out of the restaurant.

“No, that is quite all right, but I couldn’t help but overhear,” he started to say.

“Yeah, I know,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“But I’m Isaac Walsch,” he said. As she processed the words, she looked at him, really looked at him.

“You are, aren’t you?” she responded, her eyes wide. She suddenly got embarrassed. “I’m sorry again,” she said and tilted her head to the side to ask a question. “Did you happen to get a call from a Mark Black, asking if you were interested in playing a part in a book trailer, by chance?” She was hoping he would say no.

“Actually, I didn’t. I’m Isaac,” he introduced himself again, this time more formally as he reached out his hand.

“I’m Carrie Shay. I’m a writer. I write under the name C.A. Shay,” she said, shaking his hand with a smile her face. “I wanted you to play a part in my book trailer. I played my female character. I saw you in a book trailer for another author, and I wanted to play it with you, but instead I had to kiss some… Whatever that was that Mark hired.” She shook her head, disgusted at the thought.

“Well, he didn’t call. I would have done it too,” Isaac said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Carrie, you’re going to have to go back to the ballroom. You still have a lot to do,” David said.

“David, would you be my manager now? I know that you already do enough for me, but I trust you,” Carrie said.

“Sure, what would be the difference,” he said. She smiled and turned back to Isaac. She didn’t want to leave him, but she knew she had to.

“This,” Carrie said, putting her arm around the man’s shoulder, “is my everything man, my personal assistant, my agent, and now my manager and my best friend,” she told Isaac. “This is David
Andrews
.”
Isaac shook his hand and nodded
.

“Oh, I’m having a ball tonight. If you don’t have anything planned, you should come. I am premiering the book trailer tonight. At least you can see what you missed. David, give him one of the papers,” she said, nudging David in the arm. “Here, use this to get in. Don’t tell me if you can come or not. I don’t want to know. If I see you there, it will make my day.” She and David got off the stools and walked to the door. Carrie stopped at the door and looked back at Isaac, who was watching her. She smiled one last time and went out the door. Isaac looked down at the paper and smiled then put the paper in his pocket.

“And that is how we met. Right here, in this very spot—well, I was over there,” he said, pointing to the other side of the bar.

“Did you go?” Carrie asked. He looked at her and smiled.

“Of course I did. I remember when you walked out on the stage you were wearing a purple dress, and you hair was swept up much like it is now. You took my breath away. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you at that moment,” he said, studying her.

“Purple dress,” she said. Looking up, she turned to Isaac. “There is a picture of me in a purple dress in the hall near the girls’ room,” she said as she looked up at him. He smiled and nodded.

“Yes, there is. I took that picture that night. I thought that if you didn’t want to see me again, then I would take a picture of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life,” he said. He watched the color go up in her cheeks. He stroked his fingers down her cheek. And she caught his hand.

“You really think so?” she asked, holding his hand on her face.

“Absolutely, I love you, Carrie. And as the world keeps turning, that will never change,” he said, taking his hand and wrapping it around hers so he could bring it up to his mouth. The feel of his lips on her hand was both warm and soothing, and it sent tingles up her arm. “Are you ready to meet the rest of the crew?” he asked as he gestured to the table. She frowned, her hand slipping out of his, and swung around to look at the group sitting at the table.

“I guess it’s now or never,” she said as she stood up.

“If this is too overwhelming, we can leave,” he said as her hand came up. It reminded him of the day he met her. He smiled.

“No, no, I want to remember. Let’s try,” she said, jumping down and going over to the table. Isaac followed. Halfway to the table, she stopped abruptly. Isaac didn’t see her stop, and he ran into her. She swung around to look up at him. “Why is it that I asked for something red?” he looked down at her and smiled.

“You only drink things that are red,” he replied.

“I noticed the red stuff in the refrigerator and at lunch today. Amy ordered for me. She ordered me a strawberry lemonade. Why is it that I only drink things red?” she asked.

“It is something that you have always done. Even your mother told me that when you were a child you would only drank things that are red. I really don’t have an explanation for you,” he said regretfully. He wished he had an answer for her, but when he asked her the same question when they first met, she didn’t know either. She didn’t say anything; she just turned around and went to the table, Isaac right behind her.

“Carrie, this is Matt, Kyle, Amy, Dave, Chrissie, your brother Chris, and your sister-in-law Missy,” Isaac said as he pointed to each of the people sitting at the table.

“I’m Sabrina,” Sabrina said laughing.

“Yeah, and I’m Sierra,” she said, laughing also. Isaac looked at each girl and smiled.

“Very funny, girls,” he said. Carrie went and sat in one of the empty chairs. Isaac sat next to her. She sat with her elbows up on the table, and she rested her head on her hands as she was looking at Matt and Kyle.

“How do I know you?” she asked.

“We met in high school, and we have been friends ever since. You introduced me to Kyle,” Matt said.

“Yeah, and I was friends with Isaac like forever, and when I met you for the first time, you told me about Matt. You brought him with you on one of your trips to see Isaac. It was love at first sight.” Kyle said the last part to Matt. Carrie smiled at the two. She turned to Amy and Dave.

“What about you two? I know how I met Amy, but how about you, Dave?” Carrie said.

“Well, I was friends with Kyle and Isaac for, like, ever,” he said, mimicking Kyle and smiling. “You had invited Amy to one of our outings together and, like Matt and Kyle, it was love at first sight. Now we are we’re getting married,” he said, nuzzling Amy’s neck.

“Oh, that’s great. When are you getting married?” Carrie asked. They looked at her, and she sunk down in her chair. “I don’t remember anything, I’m sorry.”

“Oh that’s okay. Halloween, we are getting married on Halloween,” Amy said.

“Oh yeah, me and Isaac got married on Christmas Eve,” she said, pointing and looking at Isaac. “At least that is what Isaac told me.”

“Yes, I know. I was in your wedding, darling,” Amy said.

“Oh,” Carrie said and then looked at her brother and sister-in-law. “So what about you two? Did Isaac and I have something to do with your marriage?” she asked.

“Oh no, we were high school sweethearts, and we were good friends,” Missy said.

“Oh, I see. Why do you live in New York?” Carrie asked.

“I was transferred here about a year ago,” Chris said.

“Are we close?” Carrie asked.

“Yes, why would you ask that?” he asked, straightening up in his chair and leaning forward on the table.

“I don’t know. It’s just that when I met you, you just seemed…” she broke off, and Chris remembered what he had said at the hospital.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It was just the fact that you were hurt. You’re my sister, and I didn’t want to see you like that,” he explained. That was all that was said about that. The waitress came and took everyone’s order. They sat and talked some more. Carrie was curious about Chrissie. She was being real quiet, sitting by herself at the end of the table.

“I’m Carrie,” she said with her hand up to greet her.

“I’m Chrissie Evens,” she replied and shook her hand.

“How do I know you?” Carrie asked.

“Well, I’m a doctor at the emergency room. I’m Dr. Christina Evens,” Chrissie said. “We met at the hospital because you have a knack of getting hurt. So I gave you my cell phone number so you wouldn’t have to go to the hospital all the time. We just became friends.”

“Oh, I see. Were you the one to fix me up at the wedding? Isaac said I scraped my arm on a nail,” she said, holding her arm up so Chrissie could see it.

“Yes, I was,” Chrissie said.

“So, what are your colors? Are you going for Halloween colors? Are you wearing white?” Missy asked Amy.

“Yes, we are going to use brown, black, and orange, and yes, I’m wearing white. It is traditional,” Amy said.

“What!” Carrie said, almost screaming, “White is traditional? I didn’t wear white. I wore a yellowish color.” She turned and grabbed Isaac by the arm her eyes wide. “I didn’t; is that bad? Is something going to happen?” She was upset, it was clear to everyone. Amy reached over to place her hand on Carrie’s.

“You wore off-white, and it is okay.” Amy tried to soothe her. Isaac took Carrie’s hand off his arm and held it.

“It’s okay, nothing is going to happen. You’re not a traditional woman, and I love you for that. You were the most beautiful person to me, and I wouldn’t want you to be in any way different,” he said. He raised her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss in the exact center of her palm. He had only done that twice now, but she was beginning to like it.

“Nothing is going to happen,” she said, shaking her head.

“No,” he said. He looked up to the dance floor, then back to Carrie, his eyes wide with excitement. “Would you like to dance with me?” Isaac asked. She bent her head down and to the side.

“Is that something that we do?” she asked, hiding her face from the others.

“Oh yes, any chance we get.” They both got up at the same time. They walked over to the dance floor. Carrie couldn’t take her eyes off Isaac as he led her to the floor. He dropped her hand so he could put some money in the jukebox and paid for two songs. The first song was a fast one. He grabbed her hands and swung her around. She was laughing and having a good time. He swung her around and pulled her backward in his arms. “I love your smile,” he said in her ear. Then he swung her around and back into his arms again. This time she was facing him. She was locked in his arms with her arms on his chest. She looked up at him with a huge smile on her face, and she was laughing. “And I love your laugh.” He bent down and kissed her on her forehead.

“You really do love me, don’t you?” she asked as the second song came on. It was a slow song. She placed one hand over his shoulder and kept the other one over his heart. Then she wrapped her other hand around his neck. She never took her eyes off him.

“I absolutely do,” he said. She stopped moving, and she stepped up on her tippy toes. She kissed him for the first time on her own since the attack. She brushed her lips over his and leaned back to see his reaction, settling back on her heels.

“Well, it has been a long time since you have done that,” he said with a smile. Then he leaned back down, took her mouth with his, and kissed her long and slow. She was beginning to fall for this man.