Storm Shells (The Wishes Series #3) (18 page)

Adam’s desertion had been a whispered topic around town since the day he left. Thankfully, his arrest hadn’t made the headlines. I was glad Flynn had shown some discretion. Ordinarily, the gossip would’ve destroyed me, but my mind was on keeping much bigger news a secret. I was fourteen weeks pregnant, and apart from Alex – and possibly Crazy Edna – not a soul knew.

Nicole Lawson was also on the list of people I avoided. Every time I went to the café, she’d bail me up to apologise for being a thieving snake. It hadn’t meant anything to me the first time I heard it. A hundred apologies later, it meant even less.

Alex was unhappy with my decision to keep punishing her. Every time I’d cut her down for trying to make amends, he’d corner me later and chastise me for it. “You could do with a friend right now.”

No one needed a friend like Nicole, least of all me.

Flynn Davis was the last member of my duck and weave list – and the hardest to avoid. I saw him every single day. Sometimes it would be as subtle as a wave across the fence and others it was a full-blown ambush. Once Adam left, he made no secret of the fact that he had designs on me – something I’d suspected since Christmas. Usually I only had to decline dinner invitations. Today’s suggestion was a little more bizarre. He turned up at my door to invite me out for a sail on his grandad’s boat.

“
La Coccinelle
?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yes. She’s beautiful when she’s in full sail.”

“Flynn, my husband restored that boat,” I reminded. “Don’t you find that weird?”

“I can overlook it.” He shrugged. “It’s not like you’re together.”

There was no point denying it. He’d witnessed our spectacular crash and burn first hand.

“Look, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, Flynn, but you’re just not getting it,” I said gently. “I’m not interested.”

Flynn was like a skittish, enthusiastic puppy. Just in case he wasn’t house trained, I never let him into the cottage.

“Charli, some things take time,” he said smiling. “I’ll wait.”

Getting rid of him was easy as shutting the door. “Bye Flynn.”

Most people would’ve been appalled by my rudeness. Not Flynn Davis. “Bye, Charli. See you later,” he called through the closed door.

I peeked through the curtain at him as he strolled back to his house, promising myself that there would be no more letting him down gently. The next time he cracked on to me, I vowed to drop him from a great height.

February 4

Adam

I held off consulting a lawyer for nearly a month. If there was even a slight chance that Charli was having second thoughts, I would’ve called the whole thing off. The problem I faced was that she never had second thoughts. I tried my luck by calling her anyway. I stood on the steps outside my father’s office, braving the icy February weather and an icier Charli.

“Hello?” she answered groggily.

I’d woken her. I checked my watch and worked out the time difference – something I should’ve done before calling.

“Hey, it’s me,” I replied sheepishly.

“Adam, it’s the middle of the night.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be calling me.” Her voice was colder than the air temperature. It made me turn the collar up on my coat.

“Please, just listen for a second,” I pleaded. “Remember the story you told me about the Adelie penguins?”

“Of course,” she said quietly.

“Well, I want to know something. What if the male penguin was a dick?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if he didn’t know how to forage for rocks? Let’s say he was absolutely clueless,” I elaborated. “Would the female give him time to learn or would she kick him straight to the iceberg curb?”

There was silence for a long time. I busied myself by kicking at a spot of gum on the pavement. Finally she spoke.

“She wouldn’t have a nest, Adam,” she replied. “She uses the rocks he gives her to make a nest. She needs them. If he can’t give her what she needs, she has nothing. Why would she wait for him if he can’t give her what she needs?”

“She wouldn’t,” I replied, defeated. “He’d have to let her go. I get it. Charlotte, I’m sorry I woke you up.”

I quickly ended the call; mainly to stop myself from telling her I loved her. I didn’t think she’d appreciate hearing it.

* * *

Ryan had offered to come with me to my father’s office. Moral support wasn’t his motive. He was more interested in hearing the details of the divorce settlement.

“You should retain Billet-doux,” he’d told me. “Then I don’t have to deal with Tinker Bell either.”

He made it too easy for me. “I’m thinking of giving her Nellie’s too,” I replied.

At that point he demanded he be at the meeting. I didn’t care either way. I just wanted it over and done with. He was sitting in the reception area when I stepped out of the elevator.

My father’s PA, whose name I couldn’t remember, sauntered toward us. Ryan straightened in his chair. “Tenille, sweetheart. How are you?”

Tenille. Her name was Tenille.

“Fine, Ryan.” She was having trouble looking at him – probably because her eyelashes were longer than her skirt. “Mr Décarie should be free shortly. Would you like coffee while you wait?”

“No thank you, sweetheart,” he replied, granting her a sordid smile.

I waited until she was out of earshot before speaking. “You slept with her didn’t you?” I muttered from the corner of my mouth.

“Twice,” he confirmed, unrepentant.

I didn’t get a chance to call him out on his whorish ways. Tenille announced that the king was ready to see us.

* * *

Our father barely glanced at us as we walked in. “Hi boys, take a seat.”

We did as we were told. My father pushed a stack of papers across his desk at me.

“Adam, I’ve put together a file for you. Someone from this office will call you in a day or two to sort out the details,” he said, getting straight down to it. “I expect that it will be fairly cut and dried. I want it sewn up quickly.”

“So do I. Why did
you
put a file together?” I was annoyed. I was perfectly capable of working out the details.

My dad locked eyes with me. “There’s no prenuptial agreement. You’ve paved the way for a glut of problems in the future. I want it dealt with properly.”

I was shaking my head before he’d even finished speaking. The notion that Charli would ever make a grab for my family’s money was ludicrous.

“Charli couldn’t care less about money.”

My dad leaned back. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on his desk.

“Son, you cannot predict what will happen in the future. There is an extraordinary amount of money at stake, and as it stands your wife could make a claim for a substantial amount of it.”

I didn’t know how to win this argument. I looked to my brother for help.

“Charli wouldn’t go after money, Dad,” Ryan defended. “Glitter isn’t expensive.”

“I’m very fond of Charli,” insisted my father. “I’m truly sorry things haven’t worked out. But it’s time to put an end to the unfortunate episode and move on. You have a busy year ahead.”

He spoke as if my union with Charli was nothing more than a blip on my radar. I felt sorry for him, and then felt lucky for knowing better. I remembered the five-minute rule. Five minutes of something amazing would forever trump a lifetime of nothing special.

February 15

Charli

I went for a long walk that morning, ending up so far down the coast that I ran out of beach. At the base of the cliffs I took the trail up to the road, ending up in the car park opposite the café.

“Hello, my first born,” crooned Alex from behind the counter. “How are you feeling?”

“Hi. Shattered. I walked here.”

“All that way?” Even he sounded impressed.

I walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Can you please drive me home?”

“I can’t right now. I’m the only one here.”

I batted my eyes and pouted a little, to no avail, so I pulled out a stool at the counter and settled in for the morning.

Nicole walked through the front door a few minutes later, and looked horrified to see me. I liked that I had that affect on her.

“Hi,” she said timidly.

“Hey, Nic,” replied Alex.

I purposefully said nothing, making her even more nervous.

“Ah, I just collected the mail from the post office,” said Nicole, waving a stack of envelopes in Alex’s direction. “Sorry I took so long. There was a queue.”

“Were you worried that he’d think you’d done a runner?”

“Charli,” chided Alex, taking the mail.

I felt no remorse. If she was embarrassed, it was because she deserved to be. Finally, her eyes drifted upward. “Are you always going to hate me, Charli?”

I’d almost forgotten how brash Nicole could be. It was impossible not to be impressed.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Alex thumbed through the mail, eventually handing me a big white envelope addressed to Charlotte Décarie. Ryan had struck again.

“Nic, do you think you could drive Charli back to the cottage?” he asked. That was my punishment for being a bitch to her.

I glared at him, then across at Nicole. He looked fed up. She looked petrified. “Sure,” she replied, sounding like it was the last thing on earth she wanted to do.

“Great.” I tucked my mail under my arm. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The distance from the café to the cottage was short by car – no more than five minutes. Neither of us said a word. I grabbed my mail and clambered out of her car as soon as it stopped. Nicole didn’t take the opportunity to make a quick getaway. Instead, she turned off the ignition. I didn’t slow to ask why. I kept walking to the house.

“Aren’t you lonely, Charli?” she called.

I stopped and slowly turned back. Nicole stood leaning on the open door. “What are you talking about?” I asked roughly. “Why are you even talking at all?”

“Be honest,” she pressed. “Both of us have ended up back in the Cove because things didn’t work out. Neither of us would ever have come back here otherwise. I’m really lonely here, Charli. I just wondered if you felt the same.”

I’d realised weeks ago that life in Pipers Cove was going to be undeniably quiet. Refuting it was pointless, so I avoided the question altogether. “What do you want from me, Nic?” I asked angrily. “I’m not going to invite you in for coffee and tell you all my troubles.”

“Yeah, well, you probably should cut back on caffeine while you’re pregnant anyway.”

I gasped, stunned. “Who told you?”

“I can see it, stupid.” She tried a twisted laugh. “If it’s supposed to be a secret, you might want to invest in some Spanx.”

“You can’t see a thing!” I yelled, putting my hand to my stomach. “Who told you?”

“Settle down. I overheard you talking to Alex. I’m happy for you. Why are you keeping it a secret?”

“It’s no one’s business,” I said sourly. “Including yours.”

I stepped onto the porch. Nicole called out again as I jammed the key in the lock.

“Charli, where’s Adam?”

I practically yelled my snippy response. “I don’t know, Nicole. Where’s Ethan?”

“Invite me in and I’ll tell you everything,” she offered. “You know you want to hear it.”

I should’ve ordered her off the property. But I couldn’t. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I’d been dying to hear her story since I’d found out she was back in town.

* * *

We sat drinking tea at the dining table. Neither of us seemed particularly comfortable with the grown-up setting. Back in the day, our deep and meaningful conversations generally took place in her cluttered bedroom while we listened to loud music and ate copious amounts of chocolate. It was a lifetime ago.

“So? What happened?” I asked.

“What do you want to know?”

“Hmm, let’s see.” I drew out the words theatrically. “I’d like to know what possessed you to betray your lifelong best friend for the sake of a bit of money and a loser boyfriend.”

Nicole shook her head, making her brown ponytail swish behind her. “It was never about the money.”

“So it was about Ethan. Was he worth it, Nicole?”

Her lips pressed into a tight line as she stared into her mug.

“My punishment for betraying you was dished out early, Charli.” Her voice faltered as she fought back tears. “Being with Ethan was a nightmare.”

I didn’t want her to cry. I wanted her to be unrepentant and proud of her criminal ways. It would have made hating so much easier to do.

“Tell me what happened,” I pushed.

“Well, the beginning was pretty great. He filled the void of losing my best friend to the American tourist.” She smiled crookedly and I scowled, refusing to let her put any of the blame on me. “He said all the right things and promised the earth. I tried to keep it casual but I guess he suckered me in.”