Page 69 of Convincing Carrie
Carrie and I stared at each other a moment more. I rubbed the back of my neck. She ran a finger over her bottom lip. I’d wanted to keep kissing her so fucking bad. But we needed to switch back into parent mode. Neither of us wanted to confuse Theo.
“Do you, um, need help with bathtime and story time?”
She swallowed hard and looked at the clock on the microwave. “No, I’ve got it. You need to get out of here. You still have to drive back to Atlanta tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll just grab Mr. Dog from the car, then I’ll be on my way.”
Her eyes widened. “God, yes. I can’t believe we almost forgot Mr. Dog. Theo can’t sleep without him.”
“He was so excited to see his mommy he forgot all about him for a while.”
We were lucky to live so close together. Theo had a set of clothes, toiletries, toys—everything really—at both houses. But only the ‘real’ Mr. Dog would do.
“Go start brushing your teeth, bud, and I’ll be there in a minute,” Carrie said. Then she followed me out onto the front porch. “Ooh. Jeez, it’s cold out here.”
I got Mr. Dog then came back to give the stuffed animal to her. She reached to take it from me, but I held onto it for a moment.
Her eyes shot to mine.
“I just want to be clear about something. I’m still in love with you, Carrie. I never stopped being in love with you. I want us to be together again, and I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
She gaped at me. “Thatch, I don’t think…”
“Don’t say anything now. Please. I’m not asking anything of you. Not yet. But I needed you to know that I had multiple reasons for giving up running the company and moving back here.” I stopped and grabbed her hand that was still on Mr. Dog. “I’d do anything for you, Carrie. Anything.”
With that, I turned and walked back to my car. I gave her a brief wave as I pulled out of the driveway. She was still standing there and staring after me, holding Mr. Dog.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Carrie
It had been a few months since Thatcher moved back to Indigo Falls full-time. The new branch of Caldwell Financial had opened to great fanfare and was apparently doing very well. Theo was loving the fact that his daddy never missed any more of his activities.
I had to admit that I loved having him close again, too. Even having my mom and dad in town and Thatcher being here part-time had been difficult as a single mom at times. I didn’t know how single mothers with no family support did it. They were true heroes.
I pulled into my parking spot at the high school, then got Theo out. I checked his backpack one more time even though it was on his back. “What are you doing, Mommy?”
“Today’s library day. I was checking to be sure Daddy remembered to put your book in here.”
“He did.”
“I see that.” I smiled and held his hand. We walked hurriedly to the sidewalk, my heels clicking on the pavement. It was a luxury that the elementary, middle, and high schools were all right together in Indigo Falls. It was much quicker for me to walk Theo to his school rather than suffer through the horrors of the car rider line. I waved goodbye to him as he entered the building,then turned to hurry and get to my morning duty position in the hall outside my classroom.
Today was my birthday, but I hadn’t said anything to Theo yet. He’d get too excited and not be able to concentrate on school if I did. His mind would be on cake and ice cream, not reading or math.
Jon met me as I signed in and walked down the main hall to get to my classroom. It wasn’t long after I’d kissed Thatcher that time in the kitchen that I’d realized I no longer felt butterflies when I saw Jon, and that had been… concerning. I knew I should still have those feelings if I was really into him. I’d broken up with him after a couple of more weeks of that. We’d both been sad. At one time, I’d really imagined a future with Jon. But Theo had never really warmed up to him, and I needed him to love whoever I ended up with. And the truth was, I couldn’t deny that I still had feelings for my ex-husband. And that wasn’t fair to Jon. We’d vowed to stay friends, and I’d meant it. I wasn’t one of those girls who promised that lightly.
I smiled, still feeling a little guilty. He’d taken the breakup hard, and he was such a nice guy. He was great-looking, too. He was tall and built, with dark hair and bright green eyes. He was one of Indigo Falls’ only claims to fame. He was the only athlete from our town to ever make it to the pros. He’d played in the NFL for several seasons before an injury forced him to retire. Then he’d come back home and was immediately hired as a PE teacher and assistant football coach. He’d gotten the head coach position a couple of years ago when the old coach retired.
He’d been a few years ahead of me in school, so I barely remembered him as anything more than a legend everyone talked about. We’d bonded over our mutual love of outdoor activities and had been dating for a little over a year when I ended things.
I’d thought I was in love with him at one point, but looking back on it made me less sure. The sex had been good with him, too, but not as good as with Thatcher. I hadn’t found anyone yet who made me feel like he did. Or made me come as hard as he had.
“Why are you blushing?” Jon grinned at me.
“Um, no reason. I think I’m just a bit warm.” I fanned my face for a minute to prove my point. God. I couldn’t tell him it was because I’d been thinking about how hard my ex-husband had made me come.
In fact, I had been thinking an awful lot about Thatcher lately, and it was kind of messing with my mind. The things he’d said when he’d told me he was moving back to town full-time had stayed with me. I couldn’t lie to myself. I was still very attracted to him. If anything, he’d gotten more handsome over the past few years. Sometimes I found myself staring at him, taking in his trim, muscular body, bright blue eyes, and his blond hair that was slowly graying at the temples. I still dreamed about him at night. I’d never told anyone that, not even Blair. The old saying was right. There really is a thin line between love and hate.
