Just a Little Hope (21 page)
Read Just a Little Hope Online
Authors: Amy J. Norris
“Can I help you?”
Carter looked around the office and then nodded. “Yes, ma'am. I was hoping to talk to Tori Alberson. She still works here, doesn't she?”
The lady's eyes brightened and she smiled again. “Yes. Tori still works here, but she's taken a couple of weeks off.”
He felt his heart drop to his stomach. “Oh. I didn't realize.”
“Can I take a message for her?”
“No, it's okay. I'll just come back⦔
“Carter?”
He spun around toward the hallway. Pax stood at the door, a questioning look on her face.
“Oh hi, Pax.”
Pax nodded at the receptionist and opened the door wider. “Hey, why don't you come on back to my office? Elisa, hold my calls if you will. Thanks.”
He followed Pax into her office and wandered over to the bookshelves along the far wall.
“Who's at the reception desk?”
“Elisa. She's been dating Michael for the past few months. She's agreed to step in while Tori is away. How have you been?”
He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact, and he picked a book up off the shelf. “I'm okay. I guess you know Tori and I had a disagreement. I didn't know she'd gone on vacation.”
“Well, she wanted to clear her head a bit. Tori's gone to North Carolina to visit her folks.”
He spun around. “Is her dad okay?”
Pax walked over and leaned against the conference room table situated across from the bookshelf. “Yes. He's still responding well to treatments. She thought right now would be a good time to get away and spend some time with them.”
Turning back to the bookshelf, Carter stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I suppose she's right. I think I screwed things up this time.”
He felt a hand on his shoulder nudging him to turn and face Pax. “She's hurt, Carter, and she needs some space. Give her some time. Don't give up hope yet.”
Carter snorted and laughed. “Don't give up hope, huh? I'll try to work on not losing hope I've lost her forever.”
“I know it sounds trite, but be patient. All right?”
“I'm trying. I can promise you that.” But the longer he didn't hear from Tori, the more his hope faded.
****
“How're you feeling, Daddy? Did the treatment wear you out today?”
Tori's father shuffled through the door of their small two-bedroom apartment and landed softly in the recliner. “I'm okay. Just a little tired.”
“How about I warm you up a cup of tea? Sound good?”
Her father reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. “That sounds nice. But don't worry so much. I'm doing well.”
Tori reached up and covered his hand with hers. He was cold all the time now. His hand was like ice, an unfortunate side effect of the treatment. “Let's get this blanket tucked in nice and tight, and I'll get your tea and maybe some of those cookies you like so much.”
She draped the flannel blanket over her father's weak frame. His appetite still wasn't what it should be, and his weight had dropped in the last few weeks. Tori determined she would get a few pounds on him over the few weeks she was there.
Busying herself in the kitchen, Tori tried to focus on the positive. Her dad was responding to the treatment. His first MRI since coming to Duke had shown a remarkable reduction in the tumor, but there was still the chance there were unseen cancer cells. The odds were still against him making a full recovery.
She poured the tea and then squeezed in a couple of teaspoons of honey and put a few cookies on a plate. Tori brought them to the recliner and stopped before she reached the chair. Her dad had already fallen asleep. Tori tilted her head and smiled. The rest would do him good.
She sipped on the warm brew and sat on the sofa. She watched her father's chest move up and down in a gentle rhythm.
When she'd called her folks to say she was coming for a visit, they had seemed delighted. Carter's name had only been mentioned once upon her arrival. She only said he was busy with the end of season games and didn't bring him up again. Apparently, it did the trick for they never asked about him again, either.
But she missed him. Oh, how she missed him.
She knew she needed to contact him and let him know where she was, but she was afraid. And she didn't know why. Part of her wanted to make amends, but the other part of her⦠well, she supposed her pride prevented her from reaching out to him. Before she knew it, tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Tori?”
She'd been so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn't heard her mother returning from a much-needed trip to the grocery store.
Tori wiped her eyes and faced her mother, plastering what she hoped was a bright smile on her face. “Yes, Mom?”
“Sweetie. Come help me put up these groceries if you don't mind.”
Getting up off the couch, she then placed her cup on the counter and proceeded to help put the food and other items where they belonged in the tiny kitchen.
“Now that's settled, come into the bedroom with me, Victoria. I think it's high time you and I have a talk about what's really going on with you and Carter.”
Sighing, Tori only nodded and followed her mother into the bedroom.
Her mom sat back on the bed and patted the space beside her. “Come here, dear, and talk to me.”
She climbed up on the bed and pressed against her mother's side.
“Carter hid something from me. Something I think was important. I got angry, and left and now I'm not sure what to do next.”
“Hmm. Okay. How about a little more detail than that.”
Tori took the next few minutes to explain what had transpired in the previous weeks, and by the end, she was once again in tears.
“I know he didn't mean to hurt me, Mom, but he did. Am I wrong to be angry?”
Her mom threaded her fingers through Tori's curls and rubbed her back in a soothing motion.
“I don't think you were wrong to be angry. You felt betrayed and hurt. I can understand why. I do think you need to give him the benefit of the doubt and try to think about things from his perspective. I imagine childhood cancer is not something he likes to advertise. Perhaps he feels people would look at him differently if they knew. Maybe coddle him or think he was weak or incapable of certain things.”
“I suppose so. But why couldn't he trust me enough to tell me?”
“Think about what you've been going through. The only man you've had in your life just found out he has a life-threatening illness. Carter had to see how hard the diagnosis was on you. I bet he thought it might be more than you could handle if he told you he too had dealt with cancer. Put yourself in his shoes. Don't you want to protect your father from anything detrimental right now? It's not because you don't trust him, but you want to save him from having to deal with it.”
Tori laid her head on her mother's shoulder, reveling in the comfort she provided. “I suppose he was just trying to protect me.”
“Building trust is one of the most important parts of having a relationship. Carter not telling you about his past illness feels like he's deceived you in some way. Are you sure he would've never told you? Perhaps it's the way you found out that's more hurtful?”
“Yes. I guess I didn't think about it from his perspective. And the more we talk about it, it would've been difficult for him to find the right time to tell me. I'll contact him as soon as I get back home. Thinking of him makes me sad, but the thought of not seeing him again makes me sad as well.”
Her mom put her arms around her, and Tori tucked her head in under her mother's chin. “Give it some time, dear. Just give it some time⦠and don't give up hope on it working out.”
After being gone for two weeks, Tori knew her fridge and pantry might need to be restocked. She stopped at the grocery store near her apartment complex and ran in for a few items. As she perused the various bread choices, she heard a masculine voice behind her.
“Tori? How are you doing?”
Her face brightened when, swiveling around, she saw Carter's friend Eric, standing behind her.
“Hi, Eric! How are you?”
He hugged her and laughed. “I'm good. I'm headed to a teammate's house for a little post-season celebration party and needed to pick up a few things to take.”
“That's right! I saw you all officially clinched the playoffs. Congratulations! This has to be exciting for you.”
“It is. Kind of a dream come true you might say. I've missed seeing you at the ballpark. I thought you might have come to the last few games.”
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she stuttered in response. “Yes, well⦠I've been to North Carolina to visit my parents. You remember they're staying there while my dad takes treatment.”
“Of course. I forgot. How is he doing?”
“As well as can be expected. Weak and not too hungry, but so far the treatments are keeping the cancer at bay.”
“Great. That's really great news. Say, if you aren't doing anything, why don't you come to the party with me? It's not a team only event. Lots of the guys are bringing friends. I think Pax and Seb will be there.”
She fumbled with the cart and sighed. “Oh, I don't think so. I wasn't invited.”
“Well, I'm inviting you. I don't know if you've talked to Carter since you got back.”
Caught off guard by hearing Carter's name she glanced away for a moment. “No⦠I haven't talked to Carter yet.”
“Come on with me. It's at Durango's place. Not too far from here. It will do you good to take your mind of your folks' situation. Carter'll be happy to see you there.”
“I don't know, Ericâ¦.”
He gave her a puppy dog-face and she couldn't help but laugh. “Oh, why not? Like you said, it might be nice to get my mind off of things.”
“Wonderful! Why don't you leave your car here, and you can ride over with me. You don't have anything that needs to be refrigerated, do you?”
Tori peered over into her shopping cart and grinned. “Nope. I guess I hadn't made it that far yet.”
“Great! Let's check out and go see what kind of party Durango throws. We might need to get some earplugs.”
She laughed again. Spending some time with Eric would most assuredly brighten up her evening. Plus, she hoped she'd run into Carter so she could apologize in person and ask him to give her a second chance.
****
Carter tried to concentrate on his driving, but his most recent conversation with Dani played over and over in his mind. After he sent her to a nearby hotel, she'd stayed several days racking up an outrageous bill before leaving in the middle of the night without paying. The hotel manager contacted him with the not so unexpected news, and Carter had hurried over as soon as possible to take care of her outstanding charges. The mini-bar purchases alone had been more than the cost of one night's stay.
Never ashamed of anything, Dani called earlier in the afternoon to report she was in Chicago. Dax had found her and apologized profusely for his previous behavior, and Dani being Dani had taken him back with open arms. No amount of arguing with her would change her mind, and she'd hung up when Carter reminded her of all the heartbreak Dax caused her in the past.
Carter thought the slow-building headache he'd awakened with would be a full-blown migraine before the end of the night. If his heartache over the break from Tori wasn't enough, dealing with his delinquent sister was about to send him over the edge.
After calming down from the phone call, he'd sat in his dark apartment for a couple of hours trying to regain some control on his anger and pray. It was then he'd decided he needed to get out of the apartment and go to Durango's party. A change of scenery would do him good.
He drove through the quiet streets toward Rangy's home. The Latino shortstop didn't live too far from Seb. Carter figured he and Pax would be in attendance. If Linc Holmes and his wife could get a baby sitter for their twins, they'd probably be there, too. Carter thought he'd heard Eric mention he was planning to stop by as well.
Driving up to the house, Carter slowed down to pull into an empty slot on the street near the driveway. He recognized several of his teammates' vehicles lining the streets and started to get out of the car when up ahead he saw Eric getting out of his car. He'd brought a date. Carter was happy for his friend. He deserved to meet someone nice. In a second, Carter's happiness switched to shock when he saw who stepped out of the passenger seat and offered Eric a smile. He'd know her red hair anywhere.
Carter watched them as they walked to Durango's front door, Eric's hand pressed to the small of Tori's back. Apparently, there was more going on while Tori was in North Carolina than Carter realized, although he couldn't for the life of him figure out when Eric would've contacted her. Eric had been busy with the last few games of the year. He never hinted he'd been speaking to Tori. Carter was flabbergasted.
Throwing the car into drive, he sped out down the street, his desire to spend time with his friends now overtaken by the sorrow of Eric and Tori's betrayal.
Sitting at her dining room table, Tori stared at her phone, trying to decide if she should call or text Carter. After her initial sadness over not seeing him at the party, Tori discussed the situation with Eric, who only reinforced the fact it was time to talk to Carter again. She just didn't know what to say.
Texting seem to be the coward's way out. She bit the bullet and dialed his number. It rang a couple of times and then abruptly went to voicemail. She started to leave a message but stopped, choosing instead to text him a quick note.
“Hi, Carter. I know it's been a couple of weeks. I was hoping we could get together to talk. Let me know when is a good time for you.”