Always Have, Always Will, page 12
“Hello. Hi, Jacob. One second.” He takes my hand and leads me into the master bedroom. “I’m putting you on speaker. Caroline is here as well.”
“Hello, Caroline.” Jacob ran a background check on me when Margaux’s first misdeeds were uncovered.
“Hi, Jacob.”
“Norah gave me a quick synopsis of the situation and the new additions to your family. Have there been any direct threats to Billie or Caroline?”
“No, Margaux showed up unannounced at Pinecrest but stopped short of threatening Caroline, aside from sharing she’s having both of us followed. She shared the fact I stayed with Caroline last Monday and left very late, her words, on Tuesday. I would rather have your team here even if nothing goes wrong. Not only was Giovanni Billie’s father, but he’s in the same social circle as my parents. These services will be highly visible, and seats will be coveted despite the occasion.”
“Do you have any concern for your father?”
“No, he’s moved on. Our relationship with him is better.”
“Okay. Has there been a change in your relationship recently?”
My face heats up. I wonder why Jacob cares, and then I realize Margaux is following Auggie and me.
Thankfully, Auggie answers. “Yes.”
“Happy for you both.”
“Thank you,” I manage to respond.
“Blackthorne can provide security for Billie, Caroline, Savannah, and Emme. I’m assuming Cash, Noelle, and the twins won’t be travelling.”
“As far as I know, that’s correct.”
“Please forward the details when you have them. I plan to arrive with my team no later than midday Wednesday.”
“Will do. Thank you.”
We leave the bedroom and join our guests for dinner from Mama and Papa Romano. Heaps and heaps of pasta and garlic bread soothe the soul of the grieving, at least temporarily. Near nine, we head back to Auggie’s townhouse, knowing he needs to leave tomorrow. The only positive part of Giovanni’s passing is I’ll only be away from Auggie for a few days rather than a solid week.
Near noon the following day, Auggie leaves for his assignment at Ocean Cliff. I know he isn’t happy, but for now, it’s what needs to be done. He’ll come back after dinner service on Wednesday to attend the funeral on Thursday with Billie. The only other thing of note is my mother has requested my presence on Tuesday for lunch. Despite my request to push it off, she isn’t budging.
The next morning, I roll out of bed and hurry to the only exam I need to proctor. Unfortunately, I need to request coverage for my exam on Thursday.
“Hi, Kristy. Is Principal Brooks in?” I ask the secretary.
“Sure. I’ll announce you.”
When I enter her office, I’m greeted by a stern look. “What can I do for you, Miss Waterman?”
“I need to attend a funeral on Thursday and need coverage for my exam.”
“I see. What type of exam?”
“It’s an essay exam for English literature. The students need to compare and contrast two of the poets we’ve examined this year.”
She leans over, opening a drawer. “Here is a list. If someone from the list is available, you may attend. If not and you fail to show up for your exam, you’re fired. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Is she serious? It isn’t as if I want to hop on a plane and go to a tropical island. Although the idea of Auggie shirtless in turquoise waters with no one else around sounds like sheer perfection.
“Thank you, Miss Waterman.” Again, I’m dismissed. I hurry to my classroom and start dialing. I’ve made it halfway down the list and have failed to secure a substitute. Finally, almost at the bottom of the list, a guy named Jeremy Jacques agrees to proctor my exam. I send him an email confirming with the dates and times. He replies accepting, stating he’ll handle it. I answer thanking him profusely.
I gather today’s exams and head home to grade them. It’s going to be a long night. As I settle into my car, I check my phone.
Auggie: Have a great day. Love you.
Auggie: I miss you already. xoxo
Me: Good luck to you as well. Heading home to grade. Love you more. xoxo
The drive home takes much longer than it should. I shuck my work clothes and curl up with a stack of essays to grade. Three hours later, I survey my fridge and wish Auggie was here. Takeout for the win. I place the order and grade two more exams while I wait.
I tip the driver and spread my Thai food on the island. Each tasty morsel makes grading these awful essays a teeny bit better. Near eight I finish the last one, submit my final grades, and climb to my bedroom.
Me: How’s it going there?
Auggie: Thankfully, it’s slow tonight. This kitchen staff is a mess.
Me: I’m sorry. I thought Chef Mattos was renowned.
Auggie: He is. It appears he let too much slide with the staff.
Me: That’s too bad. Call me in the morning. I’ll be at school, but I don’t have any exams.
Auggie: I will. Love you, always have.
Me: Love you, always will.
I snuggle deeper into my bed and fall asleep.
Chapter Twenty Four
Caroline
The next day passes slowly. Once the exam blocks end, I hurry to my car to meet my mother. I’m not looking forward to this lunch at all.
I step inside the restaurant and search for her.
“Good afternoon, do you need a table?” the hostess asks.
“No, thank you. I’m meeting my mother, Phyllis Waterman.”
“Right this way, Miss Waterman. She’s in the private dining room.”
I frown inwardly and meander through the dining room to the rear.
“You’re here,” my mother exclaims. I glance around the room and find it filled with a bunch of her friends.
“Hi, Mother. I thought it was going to be just the two of us.”
“Don’t be rude, Caroline. The ladies have things to share.”
I take in the ladies around the room. Blythe Weatherly who is the chair of the Gala for the Arts. She is Brantley and Magnus’s mother. Odd considering her son’s father-in-law died in the last week. Lorene Tilton who is royalty adjacent, literally. Her sister is married to the Crown Prince of Egypt. There’s one empty chair. I wonder who didn’t show. I dutifully take my seat. Moments later the final chair is filled by Margaux Morgan.
Great, this is going to be loads of fun! I paste on my most gracious smile. Everything is moving along fine during the meal until the ladies begin to explain their true purpose for being present. Marrying me off to Magnus within the year.
I nearly spit my drink across the table. “Excuse me?”
“Caroline, dear, we feel you need some assistance finding a suitable husband,” my mother states.
“I do?”
“I wasn’t aware I was required to get married by a certain date, Mother, or to a certain class of man.” I’m still waiting to see how Margaux fits into all of this.
“Don’t be crass, Caroline. Magnus’s family is wealthy, and he’s willing to marry you to merge our families.”
“Willing to marry me, wow! I didn’t realize I was such an outcast in polite New York elite society. Let me be crystal clear. I have no intention of marrying Magnus or any other man you deem worthy. I will choose my own husband. I don’t need a man to take care of me. I refuse to marry for anything less than everything, regardless of how much or how little money my future husband has. You of all people know how I feel about the sanctity of marriage. I want a partner, not a paper husband.”
“A fairy-tale marriage with happily ever after doesn’t exist, Caroline,” my mother adds.
Interesting considering Nana and Papa had found theirs.
Margaux clears her throat. This should be good. “For your information, Miss Waterman, my son is betrothed to Melody Tilton. Their nuptials to occur in three months. I wanted you to be aware, your status as my son’s perpetual plus-one has an expiration date.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. The Morgan children have all completely cut her off except Auggie. He tolerates her but refuses to share anything about his life.
“Thank you for the update, Ms. Morgan. However, I wonder if Auggie is aware of his engagement to Miss Tilton?”
Her silence is deafening. “I didn’t think so. Have a lovely meal, ladies. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.”
I gather my things and walk back through the dining room. I reach the lobby before Margaux catches up.
“My son will never marry you. You’re not worthy of him.”
“Ms. Morgan, I appreciate your impression you can dictate who Auggie marries. Yet it seems to me you don’t even know where your son is or he already turned Miss Tilton down for a date, let alone a marriage. Have you learned nothing from your previous meddling? Three of your children refuse to speak with you and the fourth is only civil. Please leave me alone.”
“This isn’t over, Miss Waterman. You will never carry the Morgan name.”
I almost bite my tongue, but instead let her have it. “You mean like you don’t anymore. I mean, not really anyway. Between the two of us, only one has a shot of being called Mrs. Morgan, and it’s not you.”
Margaux reaches back and slaps me across the face. “How dare you insult me in front of a room full of people.”
“How dare I? I have repeatedly asked you to leave me alone and you refuse.” I pull out my phone and dial Lt. Cruz. He’s Auggie’s safety net. He gave me his number after Billie’s accident. He’s also a friend of Sam’s and worked with Blackthorne while they were protecting Savannah. Did Auggie have feelings for me back then too? It was over three years ago. I push my inner thoughts away for now. Margaux walks away in a huff back to the private dining room.
“Lt. Cruz speaking.”
“Good afternoon, this is Caroline Waterman. I was assaulted by Margaux Morgan.”
“Where are you?” I relay the details to him and take a seat near the front windows and wait for him to arrive. I consider calling Auggie but decide to wait until after I speak with Lt. Cruz. It doesn’t take long for him to arrive. Unfortunately, the number of photographers has significantly increased.
“Caroline. Nice to see you again. I’m sorry it isn’t under better circumstances. Is Ms. Morgan still here?” Lt. Cruz asks.
“You as well. She went back to the private dining room.”
“Please detain Ms. Morgan until I finish here with Miss Waterman,” Lt. Cruz directs Officer Newell who arrived with him. He hurries to the rear of the restaurant.
“Caroline, please tell me what happened?” I detail the incident. The hostess and two other patrons who were in the lobby also give Cruz statements mirroring mine. “Thank you. I’m going to arrest Ms. Morgan. Would you like to leave before I do so?”
“Yes, I would. Thank you for coming so quickly, Cruz.”
“You’re welcome. Just doing my job. Please inform Auggie soon. The last thing he needs is to see the photos if there are any.”
“There are. The flashbulbs were going crazy while we were arguing.”
“I’ll make note to handle the photographers as well,” Lt. Cruz assures me.
“Thank you.” I leave through the front door and hurry to my car. Once inside the tears burst from my eyes. Through my tears I drive home, grab Auggie’s hoodie from my front closet, and walk straight to my bedroom. If anything, wearing his clothes will help me feel less alone. Once I compose myself again, I call him, leaving a voice mail. I know dinner service is about to start, but it’s Tuesday. I might get lucky.
Chapter Twenty Five
August
Ocean Cliff is a disaster. I’m not one to judge a colleague, but Chef Mattos lost control of his staff and they were walking all over him. Not one person has clocked in on time since I arrived on Monday. Frankly, I don’t know if any of these workers can be rehabilitated. Their ordering system is a mess and riddled with inconsistencies. I’m not even sure Chef Mattos was entirely to blame. This area is a tourist area. The patrons are mostly seasonal. True there are year-round residents, but the staff isn’t equipped to handle a summer rush, which equates to a full dining room from open to close.
The first candidate for the head chef position didn’t even make it through dinner service on Monday. She was so flustered with the lack of preparation from the sous chef, she left at the midway point, leaving me to finish service myself. Ironically, it wasn’t busy at all.
The staff isn’t working well together tonight either, but the second candidate is getting more out of them. Collette Bridger was a classmate of mine at the culinary institute. She was third in our class and took a prestigious job in Los Angeles. However, family concerns brought her back to the East Coast. We went on a few dates during our first year, but we determined fairly quickly we weren’t right for one another.
“What do you think, Chef Bridger?” I’ve explained the situation and if she’s inclined to accept the position, she can staff her kitchen as she deems appropriate. She wants to give the current employees at least a week before axing any of them. In my opinion, there are at least two who may make it with additional training.
“Well, Chef Morgan.” We laugh. “The location is great. It meets my needs, except for the items we discussed earlier. Would my request be amenable to you regarding the staff?”
“Yes. Gordon gave me the ability to do whatever is necessary, so if you want to evaluate them yourself under my supervision,” I say with air quotes, “fine with me. You know as well as I do every chef wants their kitchen a certain way. Nothing wrong with it, but it wouldn’t be prudent for me to keep someone who you feel won’t work long-term with you.”
“That works. Let me get back. We should chat more later.”
“Sure. I’m going to try to make progress with the food ordering system.” I leave and head into the office. There are piles of receipts, purchase orders, and invoices stacked around the room. From what I can tell, there is no rational organizational plan at all.
I grab my phone from the desk and note a voice mail from Caroline.
“Hi, Auggie. Can you call me when you get this even if it’s after service?”
Her voice is shaky and off. My gut starts churning. There’s no way this is good. I dial immediately. “Caro, is everything all right?”
“No.”
“Please tell me.”
She explains her discussion with Principal Brooks, Melody Tilton’s date invitation was a setup, lunch with the ladies including Phyllis trying to marry her off to Magnus, and my mother’s assault. I have nothing against Magnus. He’s a great guy, but Caroline is my future, not his.
“Where are you now?”
“Home.”
Concern rushes through me. “Did Cruz say he would send a unit to watch your house?”
“No, he arrested Margaux. I left before he did it.”
“Do you want me to call Jacob?” Containing my anger is getting more difficult the longer I consider everything that went down today and my mother would do this to Caroline and to me. Clearly, she learned nothing from attempting to force Billie to marry Thorsten Thomas, pretending to be a neighbor of Noelle’s client to get information about Cash’s career change and thwart their relationship, and even paying off my niece’s mother to hide her true parentage. It makes me wonder if she is up to something else.
“No, they’ll be here tomorrow. As much as I despise her, she’s still your mother.”
“I’ll call him when we’re done talking to update him about these developments.”
“Thanks. It’s just͕… I don’t understand why my mother feels it necessary to increase her social status by marrying me off to Magnus. I never knew she felt that way. I’m a disappointment because, at the ripe old age of twenty-five, I’m still single. I was under the impression I was enough. I don’t need a husband to make her life easier or, in her words, merge our families to create a wealthier one. Maybe I’m wrong, perhaps my parents’ marriage isn’t what I thought. Regardless of how I feel about her staying, it appears what I thought was based on love is a business deal much like Warren and Margaux.”
“You are more than enough exactly as you are.”
“Until a few hours ago, I would have agreed with you.”
My chest aches for her and the damage Phyllis caused today. I’ll remind her daily if that’s what it takes. “What is your schedule tomorrow?”
“I have to go to school, but I don’t have any exams. I plan to go to Cash’s so I’m not alone after class.”
“I truly hoped my mother learned her lesson after my siblings cut her off. I’m very sorry. I would give anything to be there with you now.” I need to curl around her and make this go away, or at least try to comfort her. Damn Gordon and this banishment.
“I know, Auggie. I’m sure you need to get back to service.”
“Actually, I don’t. Do you remember Collette for culinary school?”
“Yeah, you went on a few dates early on and decided you weren’t right for each other.”
“Yup, her. Well, she was Gordon’s second candidate. She’s running dinner service. The issue was a bit Mattos but mostly his support staff. He lost their respect, and they walked all over him. Collette asked for a week to evaluate them. I canceled Gordon’s third selection.”
“That’s promising.”
“It is. Collette will do well here once she has an appropriate staff.”
“Good. I need to get ready for tomorrow. Can I stay at your townhouse after the services?”
“Cuore mio, I would prefer never to sleep without you beside me ever again.”
“Me too. I missed waking up with you the last few days.”
“Same here. I love you, always have. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I love you, always will. Good night, Auggie.”
She ends the call, and it takes monumental control not to throw my phone against the wall. I’m concerned for what else Margaux is up to. As promised, I call Jacob and update him about today’s events and Caroline’s schedule for tomorrow. It wouldn’t surprise me if he sends someone to Pinecrest when they arrive in the city.
