She shook the green linen napkin out in front of her and placed it on her lap. “Orange pekoe tea, please,” she said to a passing waitress.
The younger woman paused. “Anything for you?” she asked, turning to Carly.
“Coffee.”
“Chamomile tea,” Juliette said. She leaned closer to Carly. “Your hands are shaking. The last thing you need is caffeine.”
Carly glanced at the waitress and shrugged.
“Chamomile’s fine.” She wasn’t here for food, just motherly advice and maybe a hug.
The waitress replaced her pad and walked away.
Juliette narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on? You gave in too easily.”
“Why is it everyone thinks I’m a lapdog? I make my own decisions. I even put on a different shade of eyeshadow this morning,” Carly said, defiance in her voice.
“I said you’re too compliant, meaning I’ve never known you to back down from an argument with me in your life.”
Carly sighed. “That’s professional.”
“And you’re damn good at what you do. So while I was making an observation that something’s wrong because you’re not behaving like your confident self, someone else obviously sees you differently.” Juliette leaned back for the waitress to set down their cups, choice of tea and hot water. “Who?”
Carly needed to unburden herself with a desperation she’d never known before. And she trusted Juliette to listen without passing judgment and to offer the comfort she needed. “His name is Mike,” she said softly. “Mike Novack.”
“Peter’s...”
“Brother,” Carly finished for her.
“Good Lord, when you dive in, you really do it with both feet.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” She drew a deep breath. “Jules... I don’t think I can marry Peter,” Carly said in a whisper. Then, to keep busy, she unwrapped the tea bag with shaking hands and let it steep in the steaming water.
Her friend braced her chin in her hands. “Go on. I don’t want to influence you one way or another until I hear what’s going through your mind. Keep talking.”
“It’s hard to explain. It’s like up until now I’ve gone through life in a fog and now the mist has cleared. I feel.”
Juliette nodded. “And it scares the living daylights out of you.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” What Mike did for her, to her and with her, reminded her of everything she’d sworn off early in life. Her father had destroyed her illusions, her perfect family, and worse, another human being. If that was the result of so-called love and passion, Carly could live without it.
But she couldn’t compromise herself to be Peter’s perfect mate. Not anymore. In fact, she couldn’t believe she’d convinced herself it was for the best. She’d observed her mother doing that kind of compliance, and for years, Carly had silently condemned her for it. Yet in an effort to break free of her father’s actions, she’d somehow believed she would be happy with that kind of bland life.
Thanks to Mike’s appearance, she now knew better. In that respect his observations had been on target. “Mike scares me,” she admitted. “But he isn’t what this is about.”
Juliette raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. “Okay, then. Peter’s brother arrives from...”
“Overseas.”
“Overseas. Knocks you off your feet, makes you reconsider marrying Peter, thank the good Lord, but he isn’t what this life-altering decision is about?”
“No.” The excuse sounded lame to Carly, too. But no matter how much Mike Novack affected her, he was not a part of her future. “The man is sexy and sweet, but he’s just passing through my life.”
“What if he’s not? Every person has that perfect mate out there, Carly. What if he’s the one?”
She closed her eyes, wishing it was possible. But instead of happily ever after, all she saw were the pictures Mike had graphically described to her. War zones and traveling, danger and excitement. Those things appealed to Mike. He wasn’t the kind of man who wanted a wife and kids back home, or people to answer to.
And she wasn’t the kind of woman who would accept any less. Once he was gone, he was out of her life forever. They both knew it. “Even if he’s the one, Jules, he’s just not the staying kind of guy.”
* * *
Now that the decision had been made, Carly needed to get it over with as soon as possible. She drew a deep breath and with a trembling hand let herself into Peter’s office.
“Hi.” For his sake, she forced a smile.
“Hello.” He stood, then adjusted his tie. His gaze traveled over her, his brows crinkling with concern. “You look exhausted.”