Carla spent the next two days saying goodbye. The researchers were surprised by her early departure, but when she told them Jackson had authorized it because he wasn’t able to supervise any more of the assignment, they understood. Still, there were a fair amount of protests against her leaving, which brought fresh pain to her heart every time it happened. She’d forged some unexpected but lasting friendships.
She stopped by Jackson’s room several times to check on him and to help Amy, but each time she was there, Jackson slept. Maybe it was for the best. A sign, perhaps, that her time with him was well and truly over. She called her mother the day before she was scheduled to leave to let her know she’d be returning early.
“I don’t understand why you’re finished early, Carla. What went wrong?”
“Nothing went wrong. In fact, I’m getting the highest possible recommendation from Jack — er, Mr. Rivard, the director of the facility.”
“Try SAS, Betheny. I’m sure you can get me a direct to Copenhagen. Listen, honey, I’m still not convinced it’s a good idea for you to return early, despite what the director says. What’s the firm going to say? They’ll wonder what you’re doing back at work.”
As if she hadn’t thought of that herself. “It’s been taken care of, Mom. The paperwork explains everything.”
“A little snakebite seems like a pretty flimsy excuse for a career-making assignment to be cut short. Someone needs to be talked to. Should I get involved? Betheny, what was that morning flight time?”
What the fuck! Carla stabbed the mute button on her phone, too angry to immediately respond. Something she’d regret later might come spewing out. Instead, she took a deep breath while she grabbed for the bag of chips on the desk. While trying to be helpful, her mother was actually way out of line on so many levels. Carla chomped down on a handful of chips, not caring that she stalled in responding to her mother’s question. She needed a moment.
“Carla? Have him picked up in a limo, Betheny. He’s never going to sign with the Celtics if he thinks they’re stingy with cash. Carla, are you there?”
She swallowed her mouthful of salty fortification and unmuted the phone. “I’m here.”
“You know, another idea is for Bryce to speak with someone there.”
“Bryce?”
Indifferent to Carla’s outrage, her mother calmly replied, “Why not? He’s stuck there until the roads clear and he already told me he’s been speaking to one of the key research directors about conducting six sigma quality improvement. Apparently she’s very impressed. I’m sure he’d have some influence over the decision to terminate your assignment prematurely.”
Carla shook her head. No more. She’d wanted to have this conversation in person, but too late now. She’d already broken her news to Bryce; now she needed to deal with her mother. She just couldn’t go on allowing her life to be led by her parents. To allow their hopes, and their aspirations to serve as hers. She was her own person, flaws and all, and she would live her life as she wanted. She would be Carla Saunders instead of Linda and Robert Saunders’s daughter.
Her face lit with a hope-filled smile. “Actually, Mom, everything Bryce has told you is complete bullshit.”
“Carla!”
She wanted to shock her mother, and it felt as good as she’d imagined. “That’s right, Mom. Bullshit. As in a pack of lies. Bryce hasn’t spoken to any key research director, I can assure you.”
“Well…what…” Linda Saunders was actually speechless.
“Let me ask you this.” Carla rose from her bed and began pacing the room, consumed with so much energy she could no longer sit still. “Did Bryce happen to mention the name of this ‘key director’?”
“Yes, he did.”
“And was it Kelly Grassle, by any chance?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. I’ve been meaning to do a search on her but haven’t found the time.”
“Don’t bother.”
“Why not? Doesn’t she work there?”
For once Carla had her mother’s undivided attention. She didn’t talk to Betheny at the same time, firming up her schedule or making airline reservations. Linda Saunders focused entirely on her daughter.
“She works here all right — as an entry level researcher. She’s about as far from a director here as I am.”
Silence on the line as her mother digested the information.
“He lied to you because he wanted to impress you,” Carla continued. “Like always. That’s what Bryce does. He’ll say or do absolutely anything to get in yours and Dad’s good graces. And it seems like it’s worked.”
Her mother’s voice was laced with skepticism. “I have a hard time believing I’ve been so easily duped.”
“Bryce is smart. He’s devious and driven, he’s a master of deception, and he’ll do what it takes to get what he wants. And what he wants is to be part of our family. He doesn’t care about me, but he does care about being associated with our family. He views it as glamorous. From where he comes from, maybe it is. But I can tell you this: I’m not going to marry him. I don’t even want to see him again. Ever. I’ll make my own choice about who I marry, Mom, and it’s not going to be Bryce.”
It felt fantastic to say it, as if an ox yoke had been lifted from her shoulders and she was finally free of the horrendous weight and restriction that had been with her for so long.
“I’d never want you to marry someone you don’t want, Carla. I just, it seemed like Bryce was so perfect for you.”
“Maybe that’s because…” She sucked in a breath. C’mon, say it. “Because you never actually took time to get to know him. He’s your best friend’s son, so you assumed that’s good enough.”
Crickets. Her mother didn’t say a word, but Carla knew she was there. She heard the gentle puffs of her breathing, certainly, but more than that, she felt her presence. For once in her life, Linda Saunders wasn’t dividing her attention between multiple conversations. Instead of talking, she was finally listening. For Carla, winning a gold medal couldn’t be a sweeter victory.
“Good enough is never good enough for any of my kids,” Linda finally said, a waver in her voice. “Including you. Especially you. It’s possible that I—” She let out a heavy sigh, then her voice took on an edge. “That I’m harder on you because you’re a woman. I’ve pushed you because I know how damn hard it is for us to make it in this world if you don’t have a set of balls strapped between your legs.”
Carla simultaneously choked and laughed, gasping as a crumb of potato chips shot from her mouth. “Wow. I never knew you felt that way.”
“If you didn’t, that’s my fault. I love you, Carla. You’re my only daughter. I want what’s best for you, not what’s good enough.”
The room wavered through her suddenly misty eyes. “I love you, too, Mom.”
She spoke to her mother for several more minutes, their relationship taking a crucial step forward as Carla slowly but surely convinced her of the truth about Bryce. Carla had stood up for herself and she’d sensed her mother was proud.
She had dinner in the caf, purposely eating late in order to avoid the painful goodbyes so much a part of her routine for the past couple days. She knew she had no choice, but leaving this place, and the people, felt so wrong. In just a short time, Rivard Research had become like home. She let out a sigh and realized she needed to get some air. She’d let the soul of the bayou ease her broken heart.
The storm took with it the oppressive humidity, leaving in its wake dry, clear air, perfumed with the heady scent of magnolia blossoms. Twilight edged closer, and all around her she could hear the symphony of birds settling in for the night. Above her head tiny dots of starlight, like pin pricks, began to fill the sky. She chose a path and began walking, destination unknown. She only knew she needed time to think.
She rounded the bend and began walking north, toward the snake enclosure. Funny how she felt a need to check on the snakes. She wasn’t a scientist, or a researcher. She didn’t even know what she should be checking. But it felt important to reassure herself the cobras were okay after the storm. It felt right.
She stopped walking, stuck in her tracks as if she’d stepped into glue. Checking on the cobras felt right ? Had she lost her mind?
She frowned and resumed walking, kicking pebbles along the way. Up to now she’d defined herself by what she was doing. Climbing the career ladder, competing knowingly or not against her successful siblings and parents, trying to find her place in life. But all that ignored the person she was inside. The curious, kindhearted, passionate Carla. The one who cared about friends and family, about people and nature, and about her work.
Ah, yes, but there was the rub. What kind of work? What did she want to do? She finally had to accept that corporate life wasn’t what she wanted. It didn’t feed her soul like the research facility did. It was absolutely, astoundingly crazy, but she couldn’t deny the truth. She liked it here. She liked the bayou. And, of course, she really liked Jackson.
She didn’t know what it meant, or what the future held, but when she thought of him her heart did a dance, telling her everything she needed to know. She wanted to stay here. She wanted to give up the corporate life and turn her focus on helping Jackson in his mission to find the cure for MS. She wasn’t a scientist but whether he liked to admit it or not, Jackson’s research facility was a business, and a business needed to be run. She could help him with that, in so many ways. Everything about the idea felt right to her. She hoped it did to him, too.
She approached the clearing before the enclosure, so eager to get back and speak with Jackson she nearly started to run. The trees were thick here, the live oaks above and around her like a tent, blocking out the sky and dimming the light. She could hear the croak of frogs as night descended, and the distinct cries of barrel owls. Then she heard another sound that stopped her cold: a moan of passion.
She stood frozen, unmoving, not wanting to make a single sound until she knew from where the sound came. She looked around her. She didn’t see anything, so she wondered where—
In the distance, a couple was having sex, wrapped in each other’s arms and too caught up in what they were doing to have seen or heard Carla. The woman’s top was pulled down around her waist and she wore no bra, allowing her lover to feast away on her exposed nipples. She moaned as he did so, thrusting her fingers in his hair.
Carla gingerly stepped behind a tree, taking care not to make a sound. She thought to walk the other way and approach the enclosure from a different direction, allowing them privacy. But then her eye caught something on the ground beside them, some kind of white, cylinder-shaped object.
She stuck her head out, leaning forward as much as possible while still affording herself the protection of the tree. She focused hard on the object, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light. When she finally realized what it was, it took monumental restraint not to burst into laughter. The identification of the white fountain soda cup also gave her the identity of its owner. Bryce. Silent as a ghost, she slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
The couple changed positions and Bryce stood with his back braced against a tree. His companion, whose dyed blonde hair looked remarkably similar to Kelly Grassle’s, kneeled before him with his cock in her mouth. She pleasured him with admirable enthusiasm, using her lips and tongue all along his length while her fingers caressed his balls.
“That’s it,” Bryce moaned. “Suck me, baby.”
He fisted his hands into her hair, guiding her head, and Kelly eagerly took him in. She moaned around his cock as she worked his balls, and Bryce’s head dropped back against the tree.
“Deeper,” he growled, thrusting his hips forward. Kelly responded, her lips sliding all along his length. With one hand she continued to stroke his balls while she slipped the other hand behind him. Carla couldn’t see exactly what she did, but when Bryce jerked forward and cried out as Kelly appeared to caress his ass, she had a pretty good guess as to what was going on. She made her decision to step out from behind the tree.
Strolling toward them, she took no precautions to muffle the sound of her footsteps. She stepped on a tree twig, and the couple before her froze.
“Hey, Bryce. What’s going on?”
“Carla?!” With lightning-fast speed — who knew Bryce could move that quickly — he shoved Kelly off of him and jerked up his pants.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was on my way to check on the cobras,” Carla answered, her voice as mild and unaffected as if they were discussing the weather. “How about you?”
“I…ah…”
“Actually, I could see what you were doing. No need to elaborate.” She turned her attention to Bryce’s companion. “Hi, Kelly.”
To her credit, Kelly had the decency to look mortified. Not only was she caught in flagrante delicto, but she did it with another woman’s boyfriend. Or so she thought.
“Listen, Bryce,” Carla continued, ignoring Kelly, “when you go home tonight — and by the way, I don’t care if you have to walk every step but you will be leaving tonight — feel free to mention to my parents that you’ve decided you need some space, and then feel free to never call me or them again. Ever.”
“Carla, listen to me—”
“Actually, I’ve done all the listening to you I’m ever going to do. Now it’s time for you to listen to me.” She held up her phone, waving it before him.
“What I just told you is a non-negotiable requirement for me not to post and e-mail to everyone you know — including my parents — the video I just made of you and Kelly. If you say anything to them other than what I told you, or if you try to visit them on the sly and I find out about it, this feature presentation goes viral. Period.”
For once in his life, Bryce had nothing to say.