Caro was glad he said it low enough so the other men at the table wouldn’t hear him.
“I’m not letting anyone get under my dress,” she said defiantly. She kept her eyes on Rosemarie, still on stage with Leo. Leo was whispering something into her ear and Rosemarie bent over laughing. She touched Leo’s wrist. Roses and Leo were so gentle with each other, so kind. Trey had no idea that gentleness and kindness were Caro’s type, not height and money. She put her chin in her hand and blinked back tears, touched the pearl necklace Trey had given her, rolled it between her fingers. What did it matter if he gave her something like that if he treated her like shit?
“Not even me?” Trey said softly, putting his hand on her knee.
“Not when you’re being mean to me, no.”
“Stop it. You’re beautiful tonight. Don’t look for a way to ruin it.”
“You’re the one, not me. Did you have a bad day or something?” she asked, looking at him again. She wiped her tear away. The guys who were sitting at the table with them got up and left the tent. Rosemarie started singing a Taylor Swift song, which Caro knew was going to make her cry even more. Every Taylor Swift song made her cry. Three years ago, RACK had gone to see her in concert up in New York. They’d screamed-sung the words and cried so much that night. They’d gone back to Kasey’s place in Brooklyn and slept tangled together in Kasey’s huge bed with little puffs of confetti still in their hair, the four of them spilling onto the floor next to the wide windows and gorgeous view of the blinking, colored lights of the city.
In the tent, Ada and Kasey hugged on the dance floor. Grayson and Silas were next to them, being goofy as always. Caro wanted to go over there with them, wanted to hug little Taylor again and swish around with her girlfriends, but she was stuck to that chair and she was tired. Last night she’d stayed up late putting the finishing touches on the wedding cake and cupcakes. She hadn’t left the bakery until 2 a.m., and the girls had breakfast at Plum Eats before heading to the Plum house to get ready for everything. It’d been a really good day up until now.
That was how most of her days went. Things could be really good until Trey showed up.
They’d only been married for about six months. How in the hell was she supposed to do this for the rest of her life?
“Caroline,” Trey said with the tone she was all too familiar with now. The tone she didn’t hear until they returned from their honeymoon. It’d happened for the first time when she accidentally let the garbage leak out onto the kitchen floor. He yelled at her. “Caroline. Fuck! Why do you act so stupid? I don’t have time to clean this up. Come here!” She felt like she had to pee; she thought she’d go on herself. She was so scared, her first reaction was to run. To leave that house forever, to go back to her grandma’s trailer and hide.
She couldn’t do that.
It was too late and she’d be too embarrassed and this was what she’d wanted. Right? Right. She had to stay. She had to. Maybe Trey didn’t realize how he sounded or how scary he could be. He didn’t understand what women needed. He didn’t have a sister, and his mom had an iron heart.
He’d never known tenderness.
He’d never had it shown to him growing up.
How could a man learn to give away something he never had?
“I’m gonna go dance with Kase since she’s leaving Monday,” Caro said, standing.
“Okay. Then we’ll head out,” Trey said, leaning back and drinking his water. Trey was bone-dry tonight and Caro’s legs got light and wobbly as she walked, thinking about what was surely going to happen again when they got home.
2004
12
Caroline and Beau were sitting outside the diner sharing a cigarette. She’d already told him about prom and what a dud Will Brody turned out to be.
“Something’s wrong with that whole family, Muffin Mix. That boy ain’t right. I thought you knew that! I thought maybe that was why you wanted to go with him!” Beau said.
“Beau, why in the hell would I want to go to prom with a boy who ain’t right in the head? Why? Please tell me why!” Caro said, smacking his arm. “I hate you; I truly do.” She laughed with him and took the cigarette back. She French inhaled flawlessly and he bragged about it, told her that he taught her everything she knew.
“Speaking of teaching, you’re sure it’s pastry school in Adora Springs for you? You’re not tempted to run off and leave Goldie in the dust?” Beau asked.
“I don’t know how I’ll be able to afford it. My parents…well, you know they’re no help. My grandma has some money, but it’s not enough. And she’s done too much for me anyway,” Caroline said.
“What about a loan? I’m assuming pastry schools have financial aid and all that?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I keep playing wait and see, hoping I have a fairy godmother out there or someone who’s gonna float down and tell me exactly what to do and how to do it,” she said.
“If anyone was ever gonna have a fairy godmother, it’d be you. I’d bet on it.” Beau’s witchy hazel eyes sparkled in the sunset light. Caro pictured herself writing about his eyes in the margins of her baking journal. She was putting together a new recipe for Beau Bramford Pie. Something with supergooey dark chocolate and marshmallow cream. Cayenne pepper and chili flakes on top.
She was so hungry. For Beau, for dinner.
“I’m starving,” she said, getting up.
“If you want me to make you a grilled cheese, just ask. Don’t be all passive-aggressive about it.”
“Beau, will you pretty please make me a grilled cheese?” She held up her hand to high-five him. He slapped it.
“Yes, ma’am.”
*
That night, Kasey and her trying-not-to-cry face appeared at Caro’s bedroom window. Caro slid the glass up.
“I can stay tonight?” Kasey asked.
“Of course, but girl, come around to the front door. You don’t have to sneak,” Caro said. She walked out of her bedroom, past her grandma on the couch knitting and watching the news with a pencil behind her ear. “Kasey’s spending the night.”
“All right, Ladybug,” Mimi said. “Do y’all have homework or is that done now since school’s almost over anyway?” she asked. RACK had a bad case of senioritis, but Caro had been studying for finals even when she half-assed it, and Kasey actually liked doing extra math homework, which never ceased to blow Caro’s mind.
“A little studying. We’ll do it—I promise. Right after I make this pie,” Caro said.
Mimi nodded and took the cloth measuring tape from around her neck, held it against the yarn, counted her stitches.
“Hi, Miss Mimi,” Kasey said when she walked in.
“Hi, Kasey Jo. That dumbass being a dumbass again?” Mimi asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kasey said softly.
“Well, I love your mama and I wish she knew she deserves better. Remember I got that shotgun back there if you ever need to use it,” Mimi said, looking at Kasey over her glasses.
“Yes, ma’am,” Kasey said again.
The girls got to work in the kitchen. Caro pulled the pie crust she’d made earlier out of the freezer and told Kasey to get a knife so she could chop pecans.