With her bike helmet in hand, Carrie headed to his condo. She paused when she heard voices on the other side of his door. She didn’t recognize whomever it was with Eric. What she did discern was that his visitor was upset. His voice was raised and agitated, and he seemed to be pacing the room, because the volume grew louder then faded.
She hesitated before knocking, unsure she should interrupt.
Eric answered the door and looked relieved when he saw her.
“Should I come back later?” she whispered.
“Is that Carrie?” Eric’s visitor called out.
Eric turned to answer his friend, bringing Carrie into the room with him. “Carrie, meet my friend Michael.”
“We’ve briefly met,” she said, recognizing Michael from the time he signed in to visit Eric.
Michael smiled and nodded at her. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Carrie. Now that we’ve met officially, I understand why Eric willingly left this condo. Good work. I was beginning to think my friend had turned into a vampire.”
Carrie smiled. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”
“It’s fine,” Michael said, and seemed to recognize he was holding up their biking adventure.
Eric didn’t seem eager to leave, though. “Michael was just telling me about the Seahawks game. It seems his mother and stepfather showed up at Heath’s along with Julia.”
“Aunt Julia was there?” Carrie was surprised. She hadn’t gotten wind of this development, and suspected her cousins hadn’t, either.
The grin on Michael’s face disappeared. “Julia is your aunt?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. “I don’t believe this.” He slapped his hands against his sides in frustration “There’s no escaping this family. I suppose your aunt is the one who got you this cushy job as concierge—”
“Hold on a minute,” Eric said, cutting off his friend. “Nobody got Carrie this job, she earned it, and as for it being cushy, I’d like to see you fill in for her for a day and then tell me how easy it is.”
Michael’s eyes widened, as if Eric’s defense of her shocked him.
“And as for escaping this family,” Eric continued, “you’d be a better man to accept that you’re part of it.”
Michael’s returning laugh lacked humor. “I don’t suppose you’ve met Carrie’s evil cousins?”
“As a matter of fact, I have.”
“My cousins aren’t evil,” Carrie inserted, eager to defend Hillary and Marie. She was about to say more, but Eric stopped her.
Instead, he continued talking to his friend. “You came here this afternoon because your mother asked you to give Julia a chance. You made it sound like it was the worst thing in the world.
“What’s the matter with you, Michael? Is it so important to hang on to your resentment that you are unable to move forward? Your dad loves Julia. If you’d ever seen the two of them together, you’d recognize it yourself. You want my advice, then fine, I’ll give it to you. Get your head out of your ass, my friend, and man up.”
Carrie’s mouth gaped open. She’d never heard Eric talk like this or say as much at one time.
Michael appeared equally stunned.
“Furthermore,” Eric added, “if you make me choose between our friendship and my relationship with Carrie, you’ll find yourself on the losing end.”
Michael’s stunned look quickly moved to shock. “You can’t mean that. We’ve been friends since grade school. Do you mean to say—”
“Yes.”
Michael placed both hands on top of his head, as if he had trouble believing what he was hearing.
“Michael—”
Michael stopped her from continuing by stretching out his arm. “I need to think this through. Eric, you’re my best friend and a good judge of character. But this is a lot.”
Eric slipped his arm around Carrie’s waist. “You know what you need to do,” he told Michael.
Michael nodded. “I guess I do.”
He left almost immediately. As soon as the door closed, Carrie turned into Eric’s arms and kissed him long and hard. Eric kissed her back, and holy cow! They’d shared several kisses by this time. Nothing, however, had been this deep, or probing, or telling. Eric genuinely cared for her. And she for him. Their relationship had just moved to a deeper level, and Carrie couldn’t be more pleased.
Chapter 29
Julia feared the ambush tactic wouldn’t work with Hillary and Marie. The situation with them and their father was more complex than the antagonism between Julia and Michael and Adam.