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CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

carter

I’m in the kitchen, pouring cups of coffee for the three Doll sisters, their aunt, and two men I can’t remember the names of.

I think they’re Arden’s uncles. I’m not too sure.

My exhaustion is catching up to me. Spending all night staring down at her and making sure she is okay is more taxing than playing three straight games of hockey.

I run a hand over my face, loading the tray like I’ve seen Serena do a hundred times this week.

The girl doesn’t stop. It’s very clear that she ran this household while Arden was away.

She turned into the caretaker for her dad, Anya, and their home.

I’m trying to let her catch her breath here. I’m trying to take care of them.

The dynamic between the Doll sisters becomes clearer and clearer each day.

Even with Anya. From one person who reacts to most emotional situations with anger to another, I understand that she’s not really pissed off at Arden.

She’s just heartbroken. She’s devastated.

Life hasn’t ever been fair, so neither will she.

Anya was also very young when they lost their mother.

Arden has been her mother figure for longer than she had one at this point.

It’s easy to resent a parental figure when you think they’ve let you down, when you feel like they weren’t there when you needed them.

I wish the youngest Doll would realize the irony of that.

“No, that doesn’t make sense,” Arden argues. I hike the tray up and waltz back into the living room, past her as she paces over the carpet between the doorway and the living room, where everyone else is seated. “Doll. D-O-L-L. Check again.”

I smile gently at Serena, who gives me a look of relief as one of her uncles tells the same story about her dad for the third time this morning. It’s their way of grieving, too. But the sisters are exhausted and they just want to exist for a second. Without an audience.

I drop the tray on the coffee table and the men immediately jump for it. I resist the urge to slap their hands away until the girls go first.

“Okay, but what you aren’t understanding is that I’ve been taking care of these bills since he got sick,” Arden bites out. “I am well aware of how much we owe. You’re missing multiple numbers in front of that zero. Followed by one million more zeros.”

My back goes rigid. I pause, only momentarily, before I manage to slowly pull myself upright. I feel eyes burning into my face, so on instinct, I follow that feeling.

Anya is seated on the couch in sweatpants and an oversized sweater. Her knees are pulled up to her chest, blue eyes shooting me a very clear look from under her hood.

That’s a look that tells me she somehow knows exactly what that phone call is about and exactly why I look like someone just kicked me in the ass.

“I’m sorry, I hate to be this person,” Arden says, dropping her hand against her leg. She lets out a long breath. “But please forward me to your manager.”

I tear my eyes from Anya and glance over my shoulder. Arden is facing the kitchen, her hand now in her hair, gazing down the hallway with a distant look in her eye. I swallow, risking a look down at the littlest Doll again. She crosses her arms on top of her knees and cocks a brow.

It’s like she’s saying: How are you going to get out of this one, Forkerro?

“That’s impossible,” Arden says, voice rising. “No. That’s incorrect. I’m telling you that’s not ri — wait, what ? What was that name? Say it again.”

The air sizzles and whooshes in my ears, but I keep my back to her. I might have done something that is about to come back to haunt me. Big time.

Anya, sensing my cowardice, looks back at her sister for me, gauging her reaction. When she slowly drags her eyes back to me, she winces a bit.

Not good.

“No,” Arden says quietly, sounding utterly defeated. I suck in a breath and slowly turn and face her. Only Anya and I are clued into what’s happening. Arden’s brown eyes are locked on my face, eyes full of anger and unshed tears. “No, the name rings a bell. Thank you.”

She drops the phone to her side and stares at me.

It’s because you needed help.

I was never going to end this arrangement without doing this, Red. You know that. I was hoping to address this earlier, but then everything came crashing down and it didn’t feel like the right time. I was never going to let you or your sisters drown. This was always going to happen.

I made a promise to Stinky the first night I met him that I’d keep you safe.

“You paid off all his medical bills?” she asks me.

Anya lowers her chin to rest on her crossed arms, watching me carefully.

Serena’s head whips around, cutting off the conversation with her family. She holds up a hand to make her uncle stop talking. “ What? ”

Arden’s lip wobbles. She raises that phone like a weapon, pointing it at me. “Did you pay off my dad’s bills, Carter?”

I clear my throat, ignoring the curious eyes. “Yeah.”

Arden’s eyes close in a wince. I don’t understand the reaction.

I don’t know how to navigate it. It’s a tweak on our original deal, that’s all.

Instead of just paying off the incoming bills, I paid them all.

I did it the day I saw that folder in her drawer.

All of the payments she’s made since, though small, have been rerouted right back into her account, and she hasn’t noticed because, for once, she hasn’t been stressed out about it.

“No, you didn’t,” Serena whispers.

“You weren’t supposed to do that,” Arden tells me, her voice cracking.

I shrug, still too far away from her, but I can’t move to bridge the distance. I’m scared of that look on her face. “Well, I did. I wanted to.”

“Oh, wow,” their aunt gasps.

“I need a minute,” Arden says, wiping her face. She shakes her head, darting up the stairs to her bedroom.

My shoulders fall, and surprisingly, I choose to look at Anya for an answer. I don’t know why. I don’t know what I want or need from her. Maybe I see a bit of myself in her, like I expect her to understand how to navigate her sister when our impulsiveness hurts her feelings.

“Pride,” she tells me quietly. “She’s full of it.”

“Carter,” Serena says softly. I glance at her, my chest aching at the tears in her eyes. “Carter, no. We can’t accept that. We can’t.”

“It was done months ago,” I tell them. The second we agreed to this, the debts were paid. “I just didn’t let her know. I didn’t…”

Want her to reject it.

Serena nods, understanding.

“I really wanted to do this for you guys, alright? Can we make peace with that?”

I address the room, but I’m looking at the Doll sisters, and that’s it. Their opinions and approval are the only ones I care about.

Anya glances at Serena for an opinion.

Serena wipes her eyes with the pads of her fingers. “Thank you. She doesn’t let anyone take care of her… Thank you .”

My heart aches. I thought she was thanking me for paying off the debt, but no. Serena is thanking me for looking after her sister. For taking care of her. She’s thanking me for removing the burden from Arden’s shoulders that has sat there for years and years—one they could never help her with.

“You’re welcome,” I say. I gesture toward the stairs, and every single person in the room nods, telling me to go.

When I crack open the door to Arden’s bedroom, she’s jamming clothes into her suitcase with wild hair and tears pouring down her face. I hesitantly step into the room, closing the door shut behind me, but she doesn’t give me a second glance.

“Red.”

“Do not speak to me right now.”

I sigh, approaching anyway. I don’t know why she’s packing. We still have a full day before we leave. I reach down and place my hand on top of hers to stop her. She freezes, breathing heavily, unable to look at me .

“I should have told you.”

“You shouldn’t have done it!” she erupts, whirling on me. I see her heartbreak in her eyes and I know it’s about much more than paying those bills. It’s her mom. It’s her dad. It’s these past few days. “We never agreed to that!”

“I know,” I say softly, turning her hand in mine.

She’s shaking so violently that I want to scoop her up, but I know she won’t let me right now.

I thread my fingers through hers instead.

“But it was the plan since the moment you saved my ass, Arden. It was just easier to get you to accept help when it was on a smaller scale.”

“I’m not a fucking charity case, and I don’t like that you manipulated me because you think that I am.”

I see the lethal warning in her eyes. How badly that stings her. How she thinks that I saw her as a damsel in distress who needed rescuing. Not the case. Never has been.

“I know you aren’t,” I say, brushing my thumb against her hand.

“You’re the most resilient, independent woman I have ever met.

If you’re anything, you’re a winning lottery ticket.

I was the charity case. I needed you to save me , and you did.

Those bills have been paid off since the very first day you handed me your monthly totals. ”

Her eyes widen. “Since before we…”

“Way before,” I confirm, dipping my chin. The sex had nothing to do with it. “I was always going to do it.”

“It’s too much,” she whispers, dark eyes searching mine as tears fall. She gasps a little bit, and her free hand goes to her chest. “I can’t. I can’t accept it.”

“It’s already done,” I tell her calmly. I reach up to cup her face. “Just breathe, Arden. You’re debt-free in this regard, alright? Please, just be okay with it.”

She shakes her head in my hands, her face crumbling. A big, heavy sob breaks through her. She falls forward, her arms scrambling for me, and I hoist her into my lap. She wraps herself around me, crying those big, heavy cries that she has kept in for way too long.

She can breathe a bit easier without this debt over her head.

I tried to pay for the funeral expenses too, but was shot down.

Her, her sisters, and her dad’s siblings all chipped in.

The card I bought and put in the box will help a bit.

I knew I couldn’t stuff it full of cash or Arden would kill me, but I gave them two thousand dollars to help.

She glared at me for that, too. It’s no wonder she freaked out about this.

I strongly debated paying off her school loans for weeks. I saw the paperwork in her drawer and the interest made my stomach churn. But that’s a battle for another day. We agreed to her dad’s medical care, and now, all of her money won’t have to be funnelled there. She’ll have more freedom.

I run my hand down her back. “Don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m furious,” she mumbles into my neck, sniffling. “I’ll never be able to?—”

“You already repaid me by saving my job and my reputation,” I remind her, because again, she needs to see this as a transaction and not a handout. She doesn’t owe me shit. “I have money, okay? What I needed was a holy grail and you walked right into my life with that halo above your head.”

“It’s not the same.”

“It is,” I tell her calmly. “There are more important things than money, Red. You’ve repaid me tenfold already. It’s okay if you don’t like it, just don’t hate me for it.”

“I wish I could,” she mumbles. “Hate you.”

I breathe a laugh. “Good to hear.”

She pulls back, face wet with tears, hair a mess, and lips all puffy. She cups my face in her hands, chin wobbling.

“I’m extremely angry with you,” she whispers, and I nod with understanding. “But I’ll accept this if you let me be mad about it for a while. Okay?”

I crack a soft smile. “Okay.”

Her tear-filled eyes search mine. “I want to kiss you so badly right now, but I’m a mess.”

“Ah,” I say, reaching up to bury my hand in her hair. “Give me every part of that mess.”