Caroline's Seduction (Montgomery Family and Friends) (6 page)

She’d kept a low profile this week.  She had preferred her own company to sort through her jumbled feelings.  Normally she and Abigail would have talked on the phone several times in a week even if it was just to say hello.  She really had been accepted and adopted into the folds of the Montgomery family.  Discussing Kyle however was something she wanted to do in person not over the phone.  Thank goodness the barbeque had been scheduled for this weekend.  Now she could have her face-to-face time with the sisters.  They would listen and offer her support and well-meaning advice that she could accept or ignore with no worries or hard feelings. 

Caroline was greeted at the door by Abigail’s husband Mason.  She followed him into the kitchen and found a place for her pound cake on the table.  She found a large spoon to mix the glazed icing which she quickly poured over the cake.  Then she artfully arranged the slices of fresh gingered peaches around the base of the cake.  She heard footsteps and looked up to see Abigail enter the room.       

Abigail hugged her best friend.  “I’m glad you’re early.  It gives us time to catch up.  You’ve been awfully quiet since the new school year started,” Abigail accused.  “No one is giving you a hard time are they?  If there’s anything I need Mason to check into just let me know,” Abigail offered. 

Caroline made a lame attempt at a smile.  She knew it was time to come clean with Abigail.  She took a deep breath and prepared herself for confession.  “I’m being haunted by a ghost from the past, that’s all.  It wouldn’t really be work related except as it turns out his daughter is in one of my classes.”

“I hope it’s not Sarah Wakefield,” Abigail half joked.  Because Jay invited her to the barbeque, so I called and extended an invitation to her father Kyle….” Abigail trailed off and her eyes widened until the green of her irises seemed to be taking over her entire face.

“Kyle Wakefield is your Kyle isn’t he?” She demanded with hands on her hips and a narrow stare focused on Caroline. 

Caroline couldn’t believe her bad luck.  Now her inner sanctum of the Montgomery family was being invaded by Kyle too.  First work and now family!  Was there any part of her life she could keep uncontaminated by his sudden appearance back into her life?   “He’s not my anything, at least he hasn’t been for over four years now,” Caroline bitterly reminded her friend.

“Oh no,” Abigail groaned.  “I didn’t make the connection.  He accepted my invitation.  He’s going to be here Caroline.”

Caroline shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t matter, but she had a feeling she wasn’t fooling her best friend.  “It’s not your fault.  I should have mentioned it to you sooner, but this wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have over the phone or within earshot of a room full of parents.”

Abigail nodded her agreement.  “He does know you’re living here and that you’re his daughter’s teacher right,” Abigail asked.

“He knows.  He saw me on Parent Night.”

“Really,” the excitement in Abigail’s voice was evident.  “Anything you need to tell me about that?” Abigail insisted.

Caroline thought for a minute and then gave her friend the first genuine smile of the afternoon.  “Oh yeah, he’s still a jerk!  Don’t get any ideas about matchmaking.  It would take a lot to help me forget the pain he put me through.  I’m not likely to want a repeat.  I’ve never considered myself a glutton for punishment.”

“Have I ever mentioned how much alike you and Annabel are?”

Caroline burst out laughing.  There were much worse people in this world to be compared to than Annabel Montgomery Chambers.  Unlike Annabel and Jonathan however she didn’t think there was a happily-ever-after waiting for her and Kyle.  “Several times,” Caroline reminded her friend.  “I mean it Abigail.  You’re the closest thing to a sister I’ve got, but please just stay out of it,” Caroline begged.  “Trust me when I say no good would come out of you being a matchmaker, at least where Kyle and I are concerned.”

“All right,” Abigail agreed.

“Good!  I’ve really had enough dumped on me lately.  I can’t take anymore surprises.” The doorbell rang and several voices filled the foyer of Mason and Abigail’s magnificent house.

“It sounds like everybody’s arrived at the same time.  Isn’t that the way it always is when one’s hosting a get together.  I guess we’ll let this conversation drop for now, but I expect to see you outside mingling with everyone else and not hiding in the kitchen.  Mason and I have a big announcement to make and you won’t want to miss it!” 

Caroline wanted to question her friend further.  It was nice to have something to concentrate on other than Kyle Wakefield.

Abigail evaded her however by grabbing a large dish of baked beans and heading for the back door.  “Bring your delicious pound cake.  All the food is outside on tables by the new water garden we’ve been working on.”

They walked outside and Caroline stopped to take a deep breath.  “Wow!  You guys finally finished the pond and water garden.  It’s gorgeous, Abigail.  It’s so beautiful here.  I almost envy you.  You’ve got it all,” Caroline wistfully stated.  “A gorgeous and successful husband who loves you, two wonderful kids, a fantastic family, and your own backyard paradise, what more could a person ask for?” Secretly Caroline’s heart ached.  She’d give anything to have a man look at her the way Mason did Abigail. 

Abigail beamed at her friend.  “Well it looks like everyone is here and you’re about to find out the answer to that question,” Abigail mysteriously promised.

Caroline gave her friend a hard look.  She was trying to decipher the meaning of that statement.  Before she could ask for more details Mason walked up.  He took the beans from his wife and suggested that since everyone had already arrived they should go ahead and make their announcement. 

Kyle had almost refused Abigail Blake’s invitation to the barbeque.  Sarah’s pleading had changed his mind.  Now he was wishing he hadn’t caved to those big brown eyes so like his own.  He knew the exact moment when Caroline joined everyone outside on the cobblestone patio.  The skin on the back of his neck prickled in awareness.  The air hummed with an electric current that had been absent before her presence.  He watched her intense conversation with a blond he guessed was Abigail Montgomery Blake the hostess.  Abigail was beautiful, but Kyle only spared her a glance.  His eyes returned almost immediately to Caroline.  He’d always loved the way the sun turned her hair into burnished strands of gold, bronze and copper.  Kyle’s perusal of Caroline was interrupted by another guest at the Barbeque.   

“Hello.  I’m Jonathan Chambers,” the man offered his hand in greeting. 

Kyle shook hands.  “I’m Kyle Wakefield.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Jonathan agreed.  “Well I know you’re not a friend of Annabel’s.  So that leaves Aubrey, Matthew, Abigail, or Mason.”

“My daughter is actually friends with Jay.  He invited Sarah and Abigail was kind enough to extend an invitation to me as well,” Kyle explained.  He looked away from Jonathan and followed Caroline’s progress around the patio.  She was talking to three blond women who he knew could only be the Montgomery sisters.   He had to actually make an effort to breathe.  Maybe it was the fact she was a redhead amongst so many blondes, because all four women were stunning in their own right, but Caroline absolutely took his breath away.

Jonathan cleared his throat to get Kyle’s attention.  “I don’t want to insult you since we’ve only just met, but I would reconsider.  She is emotionally unavailable.  She’s been living here for a little over a year, and she still only seems comfortable with my family.” 

“What happened to her,” Kyle wondered out loud. 

Jonathan mistook Kyle’s thought for an actual question.  “I think only Abigail knows all the details, but from what my wife Annabel and I can gather a man she dated in college broke her heart.  I guess he must have really done a job on her, because according to Annabel, Caroline doesn’t believe in love anymore.” 

Kyle was shocked into silence.  This man was implying that Caroline’s cold and brittle shell was his fault?  She had been a breath of fresh air when he’d known her before, all trusting soft and warm.  Nothing like the emotionless vacuum she lived in now.  Her passion had been insatiable.  When he first met her she seemed to light up whatever room she occupied.  She was still a beautiful woman, but her inner light seemed to have burned out. 

“Excuse me,” he said to Jonathan.  I want to introduce myself to the hostess and thank her for the invitation.  Her husband answered the door when I arrived and I have yet to meet Abigail.”  Before he could approach Abigail to introduce himself, Mason approached the two women.  Caroline nodded her head and left to stand with an older woman on the other side of the patio. 

  Caroline went to stand next to Joyce Montgomery who just happened to be about as far from Kyle as it was possible to get at the intimate gathering of family and friends.  That suited Caroline just fine.  The more distance she put between herself, Kyle, and the past, the better off she would be.  She greeted the Montgomery matriarch with a warm hug.  She felt Kyle’s brown eyes follow her every move, but she ignored him.  Lucky for her it wasn’t long before Mason and Abigail stole the show.

Mason with his arm possessively wrapped around his wife led her to the middle of the circle of family and friends.  “About this time last year Abigail and I agreed to turn our friendship into something deeper and embarked on a marriage that has been everything a man could hope for and more.”  He glanced over at Joyce and Caroline, who’d been joined by his brother Brian, Aubrey, Matthew, Annabel, and Jonathan.  “I married into a wonderful family full of love and passion.”  He looked around and made eye contact with each family member including Caroline.  “Abigail and I are proud to announce that we’re going to be adding to that family!”

The crowd broke out in applause and smiles from all corners.  Caroline glanced toward Kyle.  His brown eyes met her blue eyes straight on and didn’t waver.  The thought of Kyle and babies in the same breath was enough to knock her back to that dark place of four years ago.  She needed to get out of there and away from Kyle as soon as possible.  She waited her turn to hug and congratulate Abigail.  “I’m really happy for you and Mason.  Both of you are fantastic parents.  This baby is going to be so lucky to be a member of such a wonderful family.”  She gave Abigail an apologetic look.  “I’ve got to go,” she rushed out.  “I’ll call you later before the weekend is over!”

Caroline knew that the Montgomery women and Kyle watched her hurried exit.  It didn’t matter.  The only thing that mattered right then was reliving her personal hell in private.  Caroline managed to make it back to her apartment before she broke down.  Even though it was August in northern Florida, she was chilled to the bone.  She changed into a sweat suit and curled into her grandmother’s antique rocking chair.  Then she cried.  She cried over the loss of a child that might have been, the loss of a one-sided love she couldn’t seem to forget, and the cruel twist of fate that had brought him back into her life after all these years. 

******

Caroline looked at the clock on her classroom wall.  It was after six-o’clock.  She’d spent the past three hours setting up tomorrow’s lab for the biology honors classes.  It made for a long day and it was well past time to go home.  On her way to the faculty parking lot, Caroline walked past the student loading zone.     She noted a lone silhouette and stopped when she realized it was Sarah.

“Sarah,” she called to get the girl’s attention without startling her.  “It’s after six.  I can’t believe you’re still here.”  Caroline walked over to the curb where Sarah was standing in the vacant parking area.

“Hi Ms. Johnson, I know what you mean.  Volleyball practice ended over thirty minutes ago.  I can’t believe my dad’s so late.”  The girl stopped suddenly and gave Caroline a guilty look.

“It’s all right Sarah.  He’s your dad.  Of course you have to mention him occasionally.  I got over it and him a long time ago.”  Caroline told the fib with a straight face.  There was no need to make her student feel uncomfortable.  Sarah couldn’t help who her father was.  Also maybe if she said it enough times it would eventually become true.

Caroline didn’t like the thought of a teenager especially a female being in the parking lot alone this late.  “I was on my way home, but there’s no hurry.  I think I’ll just sit here with you.  That is if it’s all right with you?”

“Sure,” the girl looked hesitant.  “If you don’t mind waiting, I’d be grateful.  I can’t believe you’re still here at school this late.”

Caroline shrugged.  “Normally I’m not, but I had a lab to set up.  Some take longer than others to prepare.”  She changed gears.  She didn’t want to talk about Kyle, but she didn’t really have much choice.  “Have you tried calling your dad?” 

Sarah gave her a guilty look.  “I spent the time between the end of last period and the start of volleyball practice talking to my best friend back in Georgia.”  She held up her useless phone.  “My battery died.”

Caroline nodded.  It was a typical teenage occurrence.  She’d seen it happen several times in the four years she’d been teaching.   “Maybe your dad forgot he was supposed to pick you up this evening,” she suggested.

“Impossible.  It’s just the two of us.  I’m not old enough to drive and I don’t know anyone else on the team well enough to carpool.  He knows he has to pick me up from school everyday.”

Caroline didn’t know why she was defending Kyle, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.  “Well your dad is a busy man.  Maybe time just got away from him.”  Caroline dug through her purse and pulled out her phone.  She offered it to her student.  “Why don’t you use my phone?”

“Would you call him for me?  Please,” the girl implored.  She wasn’t stupid.  Her dad was going to be angry when he found out about her phone’s dead battery.

Sarah’s eyes looked so much like her dad’s that Caroline felt a sharp stab to her heart.  She couldn’t help but wonder if her child would have had those gorgeous brown eyes too.  She looked down at the phone she’d offered.  “What’s his number?”  Caroline couldn’t believe she was doing this, but she couldn’t leave the girl alone in the parking lot.  Who knows where Kyle was and it would be dark eventually.  Not safe, not safe at all.