No, she had to wait for Ethan to contact her.
Belinda head-butted her arm.
“Mrrt?”
“You’re right,” said Carrie. “I should get out.” She was going to lose her mind if she stayed here. She grabbed her purse and her laptop and headed for her car. A nice caffeine hit at the local cafe might clear her head.
Ten minutes later, she slid into a sunny corner booth and inhaled the rich smell of coffee beans in the air. Nothing like an excellent latte to make a person feel better. Though it was taking a long time.
A few minutes after that, she went back to the counter.
“Hello?” she called. “Sherry? Did you forget my order?”
The waitress came out from the back room. “It’s coming. Geez. In a rush today?”
“Sorry, sorry,” said Carrie, returning to her seat. Sherry wasn’t usually so curt.
She pulled out her laptop and got onto the local Wi-Fi. Idly, she did a search on Ethan Nash, feeling like a high school girl with a crush. Then again, she justified it as research. In case someone asked her for a reference, later on.
“Why so glum, sugar-plum?”
Carrie looked up to find Aunt Pansy smiling down on her.
She waved the woman into the seat across from her. “Hey, Aunt Pan. Can I buy you a coffee?”
“Already had it, hon,” said Pansy, sliding into the seat. “But your grandfather’s around here somewhere. You can buy him one.”
“Grandpa Nate is here?” She glanced around herself. She’d been dreading this moment.
“Relax,” said Pansy. “He’s a big marshmallow. Don’t you know that?” She waggled her eyebrows and set a brown paper bag onto the table. “Hungry?”
“Only you could get away with bringing your own donuts into a commercial establishment,” said Carrie, shaking her head.
A couple of women at a nearby table nodded at Pansy. The look they gave Carrie, however, could have frozen Flathead Lake in August.
“Did you see that?” she asked Pansy.
“I did. Whose porridge did you pee in?”
“I can answer that.”
Carrie looked up to see the slim, strong, straight figure of Nathan Jackson stride over to their table.
“Grandpa,” said Carrie, feeling like a child. She got up to give him a kiss, but he held her out at arm’s length, looking her up and down.
“My little Care-Bear,” he said, shaking his head.
“Grandpa, I can explain,” she said, feeling tears at the back of her throat.
“I’m sure you can,” he responded. “But it doesn’t much matter, does it? Your mother’s practically hysterical. It’s all she can talk about and it seems she’s not alone. You’ve surprised me, Carrie.”
His tone made it clear that it wasn’t a good surprise.
“Nathan,” said Pansy sharply. “That’s no way to talk to your granddaughter. Even if the rumors are true, she’s family and Jacksons support Jacksons, don’t they?”
Grandfather closed his eyes, as if in pain, and Carrie felt her heart break. “Sure,” he said, finally. “But some things are bigger than family. You know that as well as I do, Pansy.”
“It was a long time ago, Grandpa,” said Carrie, struggling for her composure. “And those photos helped a lot of women in very difficult times.”
“Were you in a difficult time, Carrie?” His eyes pierced hers. “In that photo with the gauze, dancing in the sunbeams, were you in a difficult time then? It didn’t look that way to me.”
Carrie opened her mouth, but there was nothing to say. She’d never felt as free as she had in that photo, and now, all that was ruined, tarnished, soiled.
“That’s right,” said Pansy, glaring at Nathan. “She looked beautiful. And happy. What’s wrong with you, you old curmudgeon? Who cares what everyone else thinks? Carrie’s got talent, she’s done a great job taking pictures in this town and she’ll go on doing it. But not if you go against her. Don’t you see how much power you have? For God’s sake, Nathan. Have a heart.”
At least three tables were watching them openly now. Carrie wanted to fall through the floor. If there was any question about the rumors floating around, and the general reaction to them, this would answer them all nicely. Even her grandfather was angry at her about them, so it must be true.