Page 159 of Never Forever

“Oh my God. The three of you think you did all this for me. When all I wanted…” she took a deep, hiccupping breath. “This is my fault.”

What?

“Carrie,” I said, looking at my co-conspirators for support, but they looked as confused as I felt. “It’s not.”

But she shook me off and looked at her mother. “I kept him a secret from you because I knew you didn’t approve. When I should have been telling the world how lucky I was to have Matt Sullivan love me. I should have made it clear how important he was. You thought I wanted to act more than I wanted Matt!”

“Carrie,” I whispered, touching her arm. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not!” she cried. “It’s not okay. Because you’re right. Of course, I would have stayed. Don’t you think you deserve someone who would pick you over her career? Someone who would choose you? Stand by you when you were going through that? Someone who would scream it from the rooftops?”

“You don’t have to…” I looked around but we weren’t loud enough to overtake the actors on stage.

“What? Be so loud? Make a scene? Why? Because you need to control everything? Because you’re the only one who can make decisions for us? Because you thought you knew best? Knew what I wanted? Oh, let me tell you, asshole. I haven’t even begun to make a scene.”

With that, Carrie stormed off in the direction of the stage and the three of us could only stand there and watch her leave, her arms flailing as if she was still fighting.

It was like watching that train leave all over again, my heart getting pulled out of my chest with every step she took away from me.

I turned and glared at my Dad.

“She needed to know the truth. I was just trying to help,” he whispered.

“This is helping?” I cried. “I was making it work. I was-”

“Excuse me,” Carrie said. She hadn’t just been walking off steam. She’d climbed up on the stage and stopped the whole damn show. A microphone was now in her hand.

Every single citizen of Calico Cove in attendance had their phones up, filming her.

“What is she doing?” Dad asked, panicked.

“What she would have done if we’d given her the chance,” Cecelia said. “We should have known, Matt. Both of us. There was never telling Carrie what to do.” She smiled sadly and tugged on my arm. “Come on. Let’s let her have her moment.”

“I’m not sure if you know me,” Carrie said to the crowd.

“You’re Carrie Piedmont,” someone in the audience shouted, and she smiled.

“Yep. I grew up on the island over there,” she pointed to the harbor. “With my mom and Gran and my sister. You’ve all heard about the curse, right? Every generation will be born a woman and…”

She paused and held out the microphone.

“Will fall in love with disappointing men,” someone shouted back.

“That’s right,” Carrie said.

I stepped out into the light cast by the stage lights, and she looked at me. Just another disappointing man in her life. One who broke her heart and forced her to leave. When all I should have done was ask what she wanted.

“What some of you might not know is that I have loved Matt Sullivan since high school.”

“Oh, we know!” Madame Za shouted.

“And look, my dad was plenty disappointing,” Carrie said. “My grandfather was worse. But Matt….”

Everyone held their breath and I stood there and took it. Their sideways glances. All her rage. But I kept my eyes on her and I braced myself for whatever she was going to say.

I will not leave. Say what you want, but I love you and I will not leave.

“Matt Sullivan breaks the curse,” Carrie said.

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