Page 30 of Between Now and Always

When I get to twelve, I’m going to do something really special to celebrate. Maybe, another tattoo.

I run my fingers over the one on my ribs “Between Now and Always, I will Love him.”

I got it on the first anniversary of my Year One - the birthday that Carter bestowed on me.

I was desperate with pain and longing and I just wanted to be with him. I spent the whole day praying he’d call and knowing he wouldn’t. When Dina called, I asked her if she could drive me to Austin, she hadn’t asked why. She’d just come.

My heart squeezes at the thought of Dina. She’s the only person I’ve called. She hasn’t answered her phone. She hasn’t returned my calls. I check her Facebook every once in a while and see her posting pictures of whatever she’s eating so, I know she’s alive.

I know leaving the way I did without saying goodbye was callous and I guess that’s why she’s mad at me. I hope she’ll forgive me one day and call me back.

I’ve only talked to Phil once, on Cameron’s birthday two months ago. He didn’t ask where I was. All he said was, “Having fun? Living free?” And I responded with a simple “yes.”

He’d made good on his promise and has yet to call me. I figure no news is good news. But, I’m antsy and anxious to know what, if anything, he’s learned about my father and Duke.

I follow Fiona on social media and so I know Cameron’s doing great.

Duke was cut loose by my father and his after the debacle at our wedding. His family’s social media accounts don’t mention him. All mentions of his name were removed, without ceremony, from the Wolfe Construction website. I have no idea where he’s living.

I play Between Now and Heartbreak on repeat while I get dressed and even though I’m putting on the black uniform they issued this morning, I feel like the most special person in the world when I hurry down the steps and hear a woman walk by singing “A girl with stars in her eyes and fire in her blood.”

* * *

It’s after one o’clock in the morning when I leave the event I worked and I’m checking my account balance before I order my Uber.

Homeby Phillip Phillips starts to play suddenly and my backpack starts to vibrate.

It’s the ringtone I assigned to Phil’s number.

His “I’ll only call in case of emergency,“ replays like an incantation in my head.

Panic makes me clumsy when I dig to the bottom of my backpack for the phone. I drop it twice before I finally manage to pull it out. I sit, afraid my legs won’t support me and hit the green accept button.

Road noise - the loud rumble of tires turning fast on asphalt fills my ear.

“Phil, what’s wrong? “I ask without waiting for him to speak,

“I found the will. It’s all a lie. The money is yours, it’s all yours. The whole fucking thing was a lie.” The anguish in his voice is scathing. I don’t understand what he’s talking about or who he’s angry with.

“What was a lie?” I ask. Fear creeps into my heart before he even answers.

“Imean, the day you turned twenty-one, you became the richest woman in Texas,” he says distraught.

“Me? How?” I gasp.

“The myth about the Wolfe brothers is a lie his father started. It wasn’t eight brothers. It was seven brothers and one sister.Shestarted Wolfe construction by herself.Shemade this family rich. And then, they tried to steal it from her by hiring someone to pretend to love her. She almost married him, but found out the plan. She disinherited him, and wrote that will. That money can’t be inherited by any who’s not a woman and who marries before she’s 21. Or dies before she’s 25. Either of those things happen, and the money stays in the family coffers for the use of the business. You’re the first daughter in the four generations of Wolfe women whohasn’tmarried before 21.”

I stop in my tracks.

“Phil…what does that mean?”

He’s silent, and for a full minute the only reason I know he’s there is the road noise that fills the silence.

“Don’t even think about coming back here. Not until you hear he’s dead or in jail. I mean it. The only way he can get that money is to hurt you. Lay low. I love you.” And then, he hangs up.

Uninvited and Troubled.

CARTER

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