Page 19 of Suddenly Single

“Asher, I’m ordering you to leave. Stop this tragedy from getting any worse.”

Instead of parking in the lot of Carter’s building, I parked a block away at the Cary Court shopping center. This way, he wouldn’t see my car and run away. Since it was a Monday afternoon, there weren’t too many people out and about, and hopefully Carter wouldn’t be busy with a customer. When I arrived at his building, I winced.

A worker was removing the name Yates from the sign, and now it was just Camden Interiors.

“What the actual hell?” I knew his business benefitted from my family’s name, so if he’d already taken my name off the sign, he must be determined to end it. My shoulders slumped, and with heavy limbs, I trudged up the concrete steps of the old church.

When I stepped inside, the little bell rang. Carter’s mom Sissy stepped into the showroom, threw her arms open, and hugged me.

“Oh Asher, I’m so sorry about what’s happening. I’ve told Carter repeatedly that he’s making a serious mistake. Why can’t you boys just work things out?” She kissed my cheek and stepped back. Then she glanced behind her and shook her head. “Actually, you’ve come at a terrible time, Asher. Um, we’re um, ah…”

“So it’s a date then!” I heard a familiar voice coming from the back of the store. Sissy grabbed my arm and started dragging me back to the door.

“Wait, wait, I came here to see Carter. What the hell is going on?” I pried her hands off me, then raced to the back of the store where his office was located. A second later, Carter came into view. His mouth opened and shut, then he grinned a toothy smile and rushed forward.

“Please leave.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Carter, I just want to… Oh good, Cort is here.” My friend emerged from his office, his cheeks nearly matching the color of his red hair. Carter’s eyes widened, and his tan skin paled.

“So, I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening at seven.” Cort mumbled, then he pecked Carter on the cheek and ran past me through the exit.

“What, what the hell was that?” I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“It’s none of your business, but if the only way to get you to leave is telling you the truth, so be it.” Carter crossed the room and stood next to Sissy. “Cort asked me on a date, and I’ve accepted.”

Chapter 11

Carter

Asher’s shoulders slumped, and his eyes grew wet. Even though we weren’t married now, that didn’t mean I enjoyed seeing him in pain. But we had to get on with our lives, and I wasn’t spending the rest of mine with someone who’d told me he wished we’d never married.

He opened his mouth, then shut it. Asher slowly turned around and headed toward the door. Heat raced through my body. How dared Asher waltz into my shop, then turn around and leave without… a fight? Was that what I wanted?

“Don’t.” Mom grabbed my arm. “Let him go. Can’t you see he’s in agony?”

“Oh, and how do you think I’m feeling? He comes to my place of business, when I’ve told him I want to be left alone. If he’d never said those hurtful things to me, none of this would be happening. It’s Asher’s fault, and as far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t suffered enough.” I shrugged off Mom’s hand and raced for the door. When I opened it, Asher was halfway down the steps.

“We’re not married, and I can go out with anyone I want.” I called down to him. Asher spun around, and my gut clenched at the sight of him. Tears were streaming down his pink cheeks, and my first instinct was to take him in my arms and kiss them away.

“I don’t know what else I can do to prove my love to you.” Asher put his face in his hands for a long moment, and I noticed Karina’s apprentices staring at us from the parking lot. Actually, quite a few people were watching from the sidewalk too. “I agreed to another marriage, which is what I thought you wanted.” Asher dropped to his knees on the sidewalk and winced. “I’ll get down on my knees and ask again. What else can I do?”

“You’re making a scene.” I muttered, then realized we both were. All of our disagreements and dramas were both our faults, though it was easier to blame him than accept the truth. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be.

Asher cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed, “I love you, Carter Camden! Marry me again!”

“Boys, what’s going on out here?” I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw my hairdresser, Karina. Her heavily made-up eyes squinted at me. “This is terrible for business, Carter.”

“Fuck this shit.” Asher got to his feet, brushing dirt off of his knees. Several older women with curlers and foils in their hair had followed Karina outside, and they gasped at his language. “Mind your own fucking business!” Asher flipped the ladies off, and they all raced back to the salon.

“Asher, sweetie, don’t behave like this on the street.” Karina shook her head at him. She cut everyone’s hair in the Yates clan. Karina took a step toward him, but he held up his hand.

“If you go on a date with Cort, or anyone else, then it is over between us, Carter. I love you, but I’m not a masochist.” He took a few steps down the sidewalk, then turned and laughed. “Fuck that, I already AM a masochist, putting up with this bullshit for years. You and your dramas can go straight to hell.”

Cort’s Porsche pulled up as he was leaving. A window rolled down and with a smile he called out to me, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven!”

When I strolled back into the showroom, Mom grabbed my arm and spun me around. “You are making the biggest mistake of your life.” Her nostrils flared, and I flinched. Mom rarely got angry with me, and now I felt like I was seven years old again, and she was forcing me to clean my room.

“After all the things he said to me, you’re taking his side?” I yanked my arm out of her grasp.

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