Goodbye Earl(51)
“Ada, stop. You didn’t do anything,” Caro said. Her voice sounded far away, like a whisper in a cave. She wasn’t crying; she was stone. She was somewhere up by the ceiling fans of the restaurant, looking down on RACK. She didn’t know how she got up there, but she wanted to stay.
“That’s the point! I should’ve done something! I should’ve noticed the turtlenecks and your long sleeves and how unhappy you are when you’re with him. I should’ve noticed that whenever he comes around, you’re sad that you have to leave with him. My head’s been all over the place with work and the kids and my mom—” Ada stopped.
“Why? Is she okay?” Caro asked, still somewhere up by the ceiling. She loved Holly Plum; Holly had her faults like anyone, but she’d been like a mom to Caroline while she was growing up and even now. She’d spent countless hours working in the bakery with Holly and had learned so much from her. Caro hated thinking of anything happening to her. That thought started to sink her back down to the table. She picked her wineglass up again and drank.
“She’ll be…fine. I guess. She just needs to get some better doctors for her pain. It’s a long story and I’ll fill you in later. Right now, we have to remain focused on getting you out of this. First, you need to come stay with me,” Ada said.
“Or me,” Rosemarie offered.
“Or you can stay at the farmhouse. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Maybe this is it. You can stay as long as you need to,” Kasey said, rooting through her bag. She got out a key and put it on the table in front of Caroline.
“Whatever you want,” Ada said.
“You’re leaving in the morning. You don’t have time to—” Caro said to Kasey.
“No. I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re okay,” Kasey said sternly.
“Girl, why are you acting like we aren’t who we are? If that son of a bitch ever touches you again, my God!” Rosemarie said.
Why are you acting like we aren’t who we are?
Why was Caroline acting like she wasn’t who she was?
If she tried, she could remember who she used to be before Trey. She was a frail, shaking shadow of that woman now. How had that happened in six short months? Six short months that felt like six long decades of darkness.
Caro tried to put her wineglass on the table, but it slipped.
When it crashed to the floor, she lost it. She finally covered her face and cried, apologizing to Ada for breaking her beautiful glass. She apologized to Kasey for being snappy with her in the bathroom at the Plums’. She apologized to Rosemarie for acting like nothing was wrong. She was crying so much and so hard she got panicky, thinking she’d never stop. The back of her head hurt from where Trey had slammed it against the wall. He’d been so mad about the night before. How she hadn’t been in the mood for sex after the wedding, but he hadn’t taken no for an answer, and when she cried afterward, he told her she made him feel like a rapist and there were plenty of women in that town he could fuck who wouldn’t cry afterward. He was constantly turning easy women down. They’d beg for it. They’d be grateful.
Her body ached. There were more bruises hidden under her clothes that the girls couldn’t see and tender spots inside of her—painful, forever invisible.
Ada picked up the pitcher and poured a glass of ice water and lemons for Caroline. She took small sips and caught her breath, began telling them everything.
*
For years she’d dated mostly losers in town. Guys she knew she didn’t love but who seemed good enough to pass the time with. Guys whose main personality traits were that they had a workout routine and always flipped a middle finger in the pictures they uploaded to social media. But Jay from the bakery wasn’t a loser; he’d been nice and they stayed friends afterward. Caro had even made the cake for his wedding.
Leo’s best friend, Samuel, had been kind too. He asked Caro if she wanted to come with him to Amsterdam when he left for a museum job over there. Caro went and stayed with him for a few weeks and came home brokenhearted after they’d talked about it, both of them realizing their relationship was ending. She’d been so sad and tenderhearted when Trey popped up in her life not long after that.
Maxwell Mason Foxberry III had come to her rescue. Caro had loved fairy tales her whole life, and finally she was getting her own. It was a fairy-tale dream that a man with so much money would want to heal her broken heart, sweep her off her feet, treat her with such care and attention.
Trey was kind and gentle with her in the beginning, both physically and emotionally. So generous too. He bought her a huge ruby ring and earrings to match. He gave her his credit card and told her to get whatever she wanted. They flew to California together, road-tripped back home. They went on a trip to Europe, and he proposed to her in the summer wind on their balcony in Paris, and after the wedding, they honeymooned in Aruba.
It was there that everything had changed.
Once Caroline was his wife, Trey became controlling. Hypercritical. Verbally abusive. The last night of their honeymoon, he’d grabbed her face and squeezed when she wasn’t looking at him as he was talking. Caro’s eyes filled with tears and fear flashed through her body like lightning, sparking every part. She was thousands of miles away from everyone she’d ever known, and no one had ever touched her like that. She’d never gotten one spanking growing up, not one smack. Mimi didn’t take no mess, but she’d been as gentle as a butterfly with Caroline.