HUGE HOUSE HATES: Chapter 24

The journey to Maggie’s is a blur. I don’t remember leaving the Carlton house or turning the car around. I don’t remember making the decision to flee to my friend’s home, but I obviously do at some point because I find myself pulling into her driveway with tear-streaked cheeks and no idea what I’m doing.

Maggie’s sitting on the front porch with Dale playing at her feet. There’s a laptop open in front of her and a big jug of iced tea on the table next to it. She’s the picture of contentment, and it makes my throat burn because I’m never going to have what she has. My life has just been one disappointment after another. Every time I let my heart connect with another, I get hurt. First my dad, then my stupid ex, Travis, then the Carltons. After everything I told them, I can’t believe they’d invite Kyle back into the house while my back is turned.

I believed they were better, but they were just like their dad. Out to take whatever they want without a care for who they stab in the back along the way.

Maggie rises from her seat as soon as she sees me. “Cora, what are you doing here? Are you okay?”

“No,” I say, bursting into tears again as I slam shut the door to my car.

“Hey,” she says, jogging toward me and then throwing her arms around me in a tight embrace. “Hey…what’s going on, honey?”

“It’s all gone wrong,” I say. “Everything’s gone wrong. I’m so stupid.”

She soothes me with long slow strokes of her palm. “You’re not stupid, honey. Not at all.” Pulling back, she gazes into my watery eyes and rests a soft hand against my cheek. “Why don’t you come and sit down, and then you can tell me everything? We’ll get this sorted out between us; I promise.”

“It can’t be sorted,” I say, even as I let her lead me to the white cane loveseat and pour me a glass of iced tea. I can only sip a little before my stomach roils.

Maggie rests her hand on my knee and squeezes. “You know, there have been times in my life when I thought everything was lost, and somehow, I managed to find myself again. Just tell me what’s gotten you so emotional, and I’ll try to help.”

With a deep, shaky breath, I hang my head. “I trusted them, Maggie, even though every instinct told me not to get involved. I tried to walk away after the barbecue we had here. I tried to tell them that it was crazy, even though we’d all seen how happy you guys were. I just knew I couldn’t trust them.”

“Couldn’t trust who, honey?”

“The Carltons. The assholes who told me I just had to take a leap with them and see where this thing can go.”

“Why are they assholes? You guys seemed great at the gallery. Fire, even. When we spoke on the phone, you were uncertain about what to do because of your mom, not because of them.”

“We were…we were great,” I say, my voice breaking around the last word.

“So what happened?”

I tell her about the article and Alden giving the paper an interview without consulting me, and then I tell her about Kyle and how they’ve let him back into their lives. “It was all just a game to them,” I say. “They were just playing with me. Like that girl who I caught them fucking on my bed. I was just something to use. I thought they cared about me. I thought what we had meant something to them, but they don’t care about me at all.”

“Oh, sweetie. That all sounds horrible,” Maggie says softly, squeezing my knee as I use my other hand to wipe my tears away. She leaves me space to take a few deep and fortifying breaths before she slumps back into her seat.

Dale gives me a strange look as though he’s never seen an adult cry before, and I give him a watery smile. The last thing I want to do is freak out a child.

“Have you spoken to them about any of this?” she asks.

“What’s there to speak about? You want me to ask them why they think socializing with the guy who molested me is a good idea? Or why giving quotes to the press that exposes me to everyone is not cool? Shouldn’t that be something they just understand without being told?”

“Yes,” Maggie says. “Absolutely. If that’s what happened, then they absolutely are in the wrong and should have known better.”

“You sound like you think that isn’t what happened,” I huff. “I know what I saw and read.”

“I know,” Maggie says. “But you know, sometimes we see and read things that aren’t the whole truth. The Carlton brothers don’t seem like heartless assholes. I mean, I’ve only met them twice, but both times I could see that they care for you. They just don’t seem like the kind of men who would tell you one thing and do another. It’s hard to pretend to love someone. The way they are with you…it looked genuine.”

“It’s just another one of their pranks,” I say. “They lured me in, but they were playing a long game. They started off by throwing parties and fucking girls on my bed, and when that didn’t work, they worked out that they could seduce me and break me that way.”

“Oh my God, Cora. That sounds so awful.” Maggie rests her hands on her thighs and lets out a long sigh. “I really hope it’s not true, honey. I really do.”

“It is. I just know it.” Burying my head in my hands, I let out another sob, and Maggie rubs my back again, making soft humming noises that she probably uses when Dale is distressed

“Cathy’s a bitch,” she says eventually, and I snort with a manic burst of laughter at the change in topic.

“She really is.”

“This is it for me, honey,” she says. “I mean, I know we’ve all forgiven so much over the years, and when we were kids, it seemed like the right thing to do, but I just can’t keep reconciling what I know to be true about her with a pretense at friendship. She’s only ever out for herself. Even Justin asks me why the hell I’m still in touch with her, and you know how he was with Cathy before I got pregnant. He was obsessed with her.”

“And then she showed her true colors.”

“Yes. And he chose to see those true colors. Me and you, we’ve been ignoring them for years.”

“We sure have.”

“Well, I for one am going to give her a piece of my mind, and I don’t give a fuck if she pleads ignorance or apologizes. I’m done, and I’m going to tell her so.”

I turn to stare at my friend, whose mouth is set into a determined line. Maggie’s forgiven Cathy the most, but if she’s at the end of the line, then I owe it to her to follow the same path.

“Okay. I guess I’m going to do the same,” I say.

“If that’s what you want.” Maggie gives me one reassuring nod. “Now, back to these Carlton boys. What are you going to do?”

“I can’t go back there,” I say softly. “Not today. I feel too emotionally wrecked. I feel too betrayed. I know I’m not going to be able to say what I need to say without bursting into tears.”

“You don’t have to go back today, honey. Or even tomorrow. Just take as much time as you need, and when you feel ready, I can even come back with you.”

“But I don’t have anywhere else to stay,” I say. “That was the whole reason I moved in with them in the first place.”

“Stay here, you crazy woman.”

“But you have a houseful,” I protest.

“Exactly. One more body isn’t going to make a difference. Do you know how much food gets left over every day? And Gordon, Logan, and Daryl are away. Honestly, I’ll be mad if you say no. What’s the point in inheriting a giant house if you can’t give your friends a roof when they need one?”

“The trouble is, I don’t know what I’m going to do. If I can’t stay with the Carltons long-term, I’m out of options.”

“Let’s cross that bridge when it comes,” she says softly. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I have a feeling everything’s going to work out.”

“Crazy is an understatement,” I say. I wish my stupid heart could hold on to the hope that she might be right, however unlikely the prospect might be. But I’ve been burned too many times before.

Men are liars. They’re only out for their own gain. They use and then spit you out when they’re done having fun. The quicker I accept that and move on, the better.

The only person I can rely on is me. And Maggie. She’s a true friend, and I’ve never been more in need of one of those than I am today.