Full Circle (31 page)

“Well, maybe you should. Maybe that’s what’s
eating at you. Because I’m sure she still carries a lot of guilt
over what happened. Then again, I could be wrong about that, but
for all Carol’s faults, she seemed like a pretty conscientious
woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been burdened with her
actions for the past eight years. Giving her the opportunity to
apologize and clear her conscience could go a long way toward
helping you both let go of the past.”

Mark cleaned up the bar and tossed the
remaining peanuts back into the cupboard.

“I’ll think about it. No promises. We’ll
see.”

They started for the exit. “Are you and Karma
sticking around tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to come over for lunch with
Holly and me?”

“Can’t. We’re going furniture shopping.”

Rob nodded. “That’s right. You’re moving into
your new place Friday.”

“Yep. Less than a week.” And his head was in
every shithole known to man instead of focusing on the happiness
that he and the love of his life were finally going to be under the
same roof.

Rob opened the door out of the pool room then
stopped. “You’re on the verge of having it all, Mark. Don’t blow
it.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“Try harder. And while you’re at it, open up
to Karma about what it is you want. If she hasn’t brought up
whatever the two of you talked about a few weeks ago, and it’s that
important to you, then you do it. You bring it up.” Rob nodded in
the direction of the party. “Now, go find your woman and tell her
how much you love her. Better yet, show her.”

That much he could do. Telling and showing
Karma how much he loved her wasn’t the problem. The problem was in
getting out of his own way long enough to do what needed to be done
to cement their future.

Chapter 18

Never give up on something you really want. It's
difficult to wait, but more difficult to regret.

-Xuan Ta

“Knock-knock.”

Karma jumped and nearly dropped the picture
of a young Mark holding a basketball she’d been looking at. She
turned to find Giada standing in the doorway.

His mom smiled warmly and glanced down at the
two small plates she held in her hands. “I brought you a piece of
cake.”

She’d been caught prowling through the house like a
sneaky thief.

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“I see you found Marcus’s room.” She entered
and extended one of the plates and a gold fork toward her as if she
found nothing whatsoever amiss of Karma’s secret snooping.

Karma set down Mark’s picture and took the
plate. “I didn’t mean to snoop. I was just looking for a quiet
place to think.”

“You mean a quiet place to get away from
those stuck-up high-society girls, don’t you, dear?” Giada slipped
a small piece of her own cake into her mouth as if she were eating
a bite of caviar.

Karma’s face heated as she stammered for a
proper response. Had she insulted Mark’s mom without realizing it?
“No, I . . . it’s just that—”

Giada bumped arms with her, smiling. “I
needed to get away from them, too.” She dabbed a cocktail napkin on
her lips. “These parties can be so tedious.”

“But it’s your birthday party.”

Giada scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, but
if I don’t invite everyone—including those I’d rather not—I would
never hear the end of it.” She gestured for Karma to join her as
she sat on the edge of Mark’s childhood bed. “It’s one of the
compromises I’ve had to make to live the life I do.”

It sounded like there was a lesson in there
somewhere.

“I put up with those people because I have
to.” Giada waved her fingers dismissively toward the door. “But
they’re such bores. Not like you.” She wrapped her free arm around
Karma’s and squeezed like they were best friends who’d run off to
tell each other secrets. Then she pulled away and picked up her
fork again. “Have some cake, dear. Let’s eat my birthday cake and
talk about you and Marcus and how wonderful it is you two are
together.”

She stabbed off a piece of cake. “You’re
really happy he’s engaged, aren’t you?”

Giada’s eyes danced as her entire face lit
up. “Ecstatic.”

The orange flavor of the confection exploded
over her taste buds. “Mmm, this is incredible.”

“I know.” Giada winked and took another bite.
“I love orange cake, so I hired this fabulous pastry chef who makes
the tastiest treats to make my birthday cake. He trained in France
and is the best baker in Chicago. If only you lived here, we could
hire him to bake your wedding cake.” She took another bite then
waved her fork back and forth. “But don’t worry. I’ll ask him to
recommend someone in Indianapolis.”

“But we don’t even know when the wedding will
be, yet.”

“Yes, but you will.” She patted Karma’s leg
reassuringly.

Karma took a few more bites of her cake,
glancing around the room at all the pictures, trophies, and
trinkets lining the shelves. There was one of Mark with a woman who
had blond hair. He looked a bit older than he’d been in the
basketball picture. Still young, though. Eyes not as
wise . . . or jaded. Happy.

“When was that picture taken?”

Giada followed her gaze then pursed her lips
as she glanced away. “About nine years ago.”

Karma stood and set down her plate,
inspecting the picture more closely. “Is this Carol?”

Giada stood and placed her plate next to
Karma’s on the desk. “Yes,” she said so softly she was barely
audible. “You know about Caroline?” Was that disappointment in her
voice?

Karma nodded. “What can you tell me about
her?”

Maybe if she learned something about Carol,
she could figure out how to break her spell on Mark. Unlikely, but
right now, anything was worth a shot.

“Well . . . Caroline was the
daughter I never had,” Giada said wistfully. But a note of distress
fell over her words. “She still is, despite what happened.”

Karma wasn’t sure what to make of that
statement. How do you think of the woman who jilted your son as a
daughter?

Her confusion must have shown, because Giada
offered her a patient smile and patted her hand. “She was an
orphan, dear.”

Ooohhh.

Giada glanced away as if staring into the
past. “Her mother died when she was four. Then her father passed
away five years later. Only nine years old, and she’d lost both her
parents.”

“Oh my God.” Karma looked back toward the
picture of Carol and Mark on the shelf. She was finally beginning
to understand Carol a little bit better, even if this wasn’t what
she’d expected.

Giada guided her toward the couch. “She ended
up moving to Milwaukee to live with an aunt,” Giada said as they
settled on the leather cushions. “But she’d been very close to her
father, especially after her mom died. She missed him terribly and
fell into an awful depression after his death, from what her aunt
told us. So, understandably, she started seeing a therapist twice a
week to help her sort out her feelings and adjust to her new
circumstances.”

Giada dipped her head to one side. “I guess
she mentioned a few times in her sessions that she enjoyed dancing,
which gave her therapist the idea to try classes as a means to give
Caroline focus again. So her aunt signed her up for lessons.” Giada
smiled. “And to hear her aunt tell it, she was a natural, taking to
the Latin ballroom dances instantly.”

Giada sighed, and fond recollection filled
her eyes. “Her aunt told me dance gave Caroline purpose again, and
she worked hard to earn money to take more lessons. She cut the
neighbors’ lawns in the summer, shoveled snow in the winter, sold
lemonade, washed cars, worked in horrible fast-food restaurants.”
Giada let out a soft laugh. “Every cent went toward dance
lessons.

“And she was good. What Adler and I call a
natural talent. We discovered her at a junior competition when she
was sixteen. Just a sophomore in high school, and already a star.
She ended up winning that competition, and Adler and I introduced
ourselves. We wanted her to come and dance for us after high
school. We already knew she would make a valuable addition to our
company, and we knew we could make her even better.”

Karma remained quiet, listening intently. She
wasn’t sure she liked humanizing Carol. It was so much easier to
remain detached and pissed off at her when she was two-dimensional.
But she’d wanted to learn more about the woman. She was getting
what she’d asked for.

“For two years, Adler and I kept in touch
with her. We went to her competitions, took her and her aunt to
dinner, got to know them, and . . .
well . . . her story touched us, especially me. I’d
always wanted a daughter, but it just wasn’t in the cards for Adler
and me.” She sighed wistfully. “After she graduated high school,
her aunt agreed she should come to Chicago to study with us. I
promised her I would take care of Caroline as if she were my own.
And I meant it.”

She turned her gaze back to the photograph.
“And then she met my Marcus.” She pressed her lips together. “He
fell so hard so fast. He was still in business college, but he
worked at the studio, too, teaching, helping out. He was the first
dance partner we paired Caroline with, and they began dating
immediately.

“I won’t lie,” Giada continued, “part of me
wanted to see if matching him to such a talented partner would push
his own dancing to a new level and convince him to give
professional competition a shot, but it became apparent that
Carol’s talent was even greater than his, and while Marcus was
clearly interested in dancing with her because of their
relationship, his heart just wasn’t in competing. It wasn’t fair to
either of them for us to keep forcing them to be partners.

“That’s when we found Antonio. He was
extremely talented, and we paired him with Carol. It was magic.”
She lifted her shoulders and flicked her eyes upward. “The two of
them together made the perfect partnership.” She angled her head
toward Karma and lifted her elegant eyebrows. “I just never knew
how perfect until it was too late.”

Giada blinked and lowered her gaze, pausing
introspectively. “You know, I think her father’s death was one of
the reasons for what happened between her and Marcus. She’d been
lost when they met. She hadn’t had a strong male figure in her life
for nine years and latched onto him. He’s always been steady.
Solid. With a strong personality. He was her first serious
boyfriend, and in hindsight, I think she saw him as a replacement
for her father. Someone she could admire, look up to, even
idolize.” She shook her head. “But that’s not what creates
everlasting love. There has to be more to it than that. Yes,
admiration and all the rest play a part, but it can’t be all
one-sided and starry-eyed. There has to be a genuine
connection . . . an honest give and take. Between
Marcus and Caroline, he did all the giving, and she did all the
taking. Not because she was selfish, but because she didn’t know
how to give back to him. That wasn’t the type of relationship they
had. He was more a savior than anything. A man who briefly grounded
her again. That was his purpose in her life. To show her that
people come and go . . . that it’s normal to
experience love and loss . . . that it’s nothing to
fear.”

Giada let out a heavy exhale, stood, and
crossed to the picture of Mark and Carol. She picked it up, and her
expression tightened as she stared at it. “Marcus and Caroline were
only meant to be stops along the way for each other. They were
never one another’s destination. I realized that after their
relationship ended.”

Karma remained seated, not knowing what to
say. So she remained silent.

Giada lifted her gaze and grinned
affectionately at her. “You’re the destination, dear. The same way
Antonio was the destination for Carol.” Her eyes twinkled. “Marcus
is different with you. Better. Happier. Complete. The moment I saw
him today, I sensed it. He’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him, and I
know you’re the reason.”

Karma’s face heated as she smiled. “He’s done
the same for me. I’ve never been this happy.”

“I can tell, dear. It warms my heart to see
the way you look at my son.” Giada winked at her then glanced at
the picture of Mark and Carol again. “You know, some have asked me
why I never kicked Caroline out of our studio for what she did.”
Giada turned to face her again. “But how do you kick out someone
you love as a daughter—someone who’s already been kicked around
enough in life, and who you promised to take care of—and still show
devotion to your son?” She set the picture down and brushed her
fingers down the glass as if she were caressing both Mark’s and
Carol’s faces. “She hurt Marcus, but I still love her. I still want
what’s best for her. And I still want what’s best for Marcus.”

She returned to the couch and settled beside
her again. “Marcus loved Caroline, and she
did
love him, at
least for a while. In her own way. But they were too young. Neither
really knew what they wanted. But the way she ended things left
Marcus badly wounded.” Sadness filled her eyes. “For a while, I
thought I’d lost my son. He was no longer the Marcus I raised but
this angry, withdrawn stranger, leaving and coming home at all
hours. But after a while, my Marcus began to come back to us. But
he never fully returned to who he’d been before. There was always a
darkness hovering over him, even when he was smiling.”

Karma thought about the shadows that
occasionally crossed Mark’s face. “I’ve seen it. That darkness, I
mean.”

“So you know how concerning it can be.”

“Yes.”

Giada took her hand. “Back then, I never knew
what would set him off. The most unexpected subjects affected him
badly. I can’t say he got angry or upset. He just
became . . . well . . . ambivalent.
As if he’d shut off that part of his heart.”