Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Today’s the day, right Mommy?” Charley walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face. “We get to see Jon and look around his big house!”

“That’s right, darling.” I smiled and nodded. “But first you have to eat breakfast.”

I managed to keep a smile on my face when I was around Charley, even if I was dealing with a lot of internal conflict. I struggled to talk to my mother unless it was necessary. I wasn’t upset with her for falling in love with Aidan Devereaux, but I did feel like she should have told me when we first came to Carson Cove. I could have literally ran into my father on the street and never realized it—or my aunt. There was also a slight bitterness over the fact that I never got the chance to see him. I wasn’t sure if I would have actually tried, but I might have—if I had known before he was arrested for all the awful things he conspired to do with Alexis. The past couldn’t be changed, so I did my best to put those thoughts out of my mind, but they lingered even when I didn’t want them to be there.

“Okay, all done!” Charley pushed her plate away after eating breakfast in what seemed like record time.

“Go get the shower ready.” I motioned to the hallway. “I’ll be in there soon…”

“Don’t take too long!” Charley hopped up and ran towards the bathroom.

“She really seems to like Jon.” My mother raised her eyebrows and looked at me once Charley was gone.

“Yeah…” I nodded. “I do to…”

“She’s been telling people at preschool that you have a boyfriend.” My mother hid a smirk behind her coffee cup.

“Great…” I sighed.

At least preschoolers won’t know who he is—or that he was my boss.

I officially resigned from Alcott Inc. after the emergency hearing. I was back on the hunt for a job and hoping to hear from another company soon. I considered taking a couple of shifts at Moretti’s just to make sure we didn’t go broke before I did, but I decided against it. I had to believe that one of the other companies would call soon and focus as much positive energy on that as I could muster.

“Mommy, the water is going to get cold if you don’t hurry up!” Charley peeked her head out of the bathroom.

“I’ll be right there…” I finished my coffee and started to stand.

Despite everything going on in my head, I was excited to spend the day with Jon—especially since Charley was going to be able to come as well. I had only been able to visit him for a few hours each day since the hearing. The rest of my time was tied up in my hunt for a job, working on the custody case with Addison, and getting lost in my own thoughts when I had a chance to do so. The latter is probably what I would have done with my entire Saturday if I wasn’t going to Jon’s house, so the distraction was a welcome one. I had to find a way to forget who my father was and bury the secret inside of me where it would never see the light of day. That was the only way I could truly move forward with my life.

“Do you want me to help you pick out some clothes?” I followed Charley into her bedroom after we showered and brushed our teeth.

“Nope!” She shook her head back and forth. “I already know what I’m going to wear!”

“Okay.” I nodded and stared at my closet.

I put on a t-shirt and jeans, then went to the bathroom so I could fix my hair while Charley got dressed. She walked into the bathroom a few minutes later and tried to help, which really just delayed our departure, but she enjoyed pretending to be a grown-up. After we were finished getting ready, we said goodbye to my mom and walked outside to the car. I had gotten used to having a guy from Craven Security follow me wherever I went, but I was glad that Charley didn’t realize we had a bodyguard.

“I want to ride in the front seat!” Charley grabbed the door.

“Oh no,” I chuckled under my breath and shook my head. “Not until you’re a lot older, young lady.”

“Fine…” she grumbled and walked around to the other side of the car.

You won’t be young and innocent forever. Enjoy it while you can…

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jon

“Gina, just email Anderson Wholesale and tell them it was a mistake that we’ll fix on Monday,” I sighed into the phone. “It isn’t something we can fix over the weekend—no, I’m not coming into the office today. You shouldn’t be there either…”

“I had some work to catch up on.” Her voice echoed on the other end of the line. “I didn’t realize it was going to turn into an emergency situation.”

“It’s not an emergency.” I shook my head back and forth. “This will be easy to sort out—it’s just an error with a purchase order. It happens…”

“You used to always come into the office when there was a situation—even on the weekend.” She sounded slightly annoyed, but I could tell she was trying to hide it.

“I’ve got plans today. It’s not something I can cancel…” I almost told her the truth but decided against it. “Plus, I’m still recovering.”