Phoebe Richards opened the door, stepping back to allow her best friend entrance. She didn't know what was going on but she knew that Carmen needed some girl time and that's exactly why she'd invited her over. In all honesty, when she'd called her after work she was just checking in to see how her day had been but the second she'd heard her voice she knew something was wrong.

"Does Frank know you're going to be late?" Phoebe asked, surprised when Carmen pulled her into a hug. Feeling her nod, she returned the hug and rubbed her back comfortingly then pried herself from her grasp. "What was that about?"

Carmen followed Phoebe into the kitchen, stopping to see what she had in the oven. "Elliott."

"Sadler? Wh…huh? What about him?" Phoebe was beyond confused now. She hadn't heard the name Elliott come out of Carmen's mouth since, well since before they graduated from college.

Carmen sighed and sat at the kitchen table, happily taking the drink she was offered. "Sal came into my office this morning and offered me a promotion working with the M & M's Race team. I accepted it, it's a good opportunity and the money will be great. Little did I know, Elliott drives the M & M's car. We had a meeting with the car owner today and Elliott was there." She looked down at the table, absently picking at the wood. "Phoebes, he was just so…I guess bitter is the only word I can think of. The minute he saw me, he jumped up and left the room. Stupid me, I volunteered to go get him and when we finally spoke it was horrible. He threw Frank in my face. I don't know how I'm going to do this but I can't pass up this job because of our past. I explained everything to Sal and told him we'd get past it but it's going to be hard."

Phoebe stood there with her mouth hanging open. "Um, how does Frank feel about this?" She didn't really have to ask; she knew he was probably going to be livid if he wasn't already.

"He doesn't know about Elliott's involvement yet. I told him about the job and he said he didn't think it was a good idea… Wait a minute. Frank was against it from the moment I told him about it. And he knew who Robert Yates was when I told him who we were meeting with."

"So he knew Elliott was involved and he doesn't want you around him." Phoebe suddenly grew quiet. She'd known Elliott and Frank both since she was little. She and Carmen had been best friends for years. "Um, Car, do you remember how Elliott and Frank were in high school?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I mean they were friends but they definitely competed for things they wanted. Why?"

"And Frank always wanted you," Phoebe added, matter-of-factly.

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Whatever Phoebes. You know that's not the case. I was alone when Elliott took off and we just got closer. He had nothing to do with Elliott leaving. Trust me, I could never compete with those stupid cars."

"What if he doesn't want you to see Elliott again because he doesn't want to lose you? Maybe he knows that Elliott's going to try and get you back and he thinks if you don't go it won't happen."

"Look Phoebe, if Elliott wanted me to begin with he never would've left or he would've at least called me to tell me where he was and that he was okay. I'm not worried about it and if Frank is, that's his problem," she replied defiantly. "So, when do we eat?"

Phoebe laughed. No matter what, Carmen always had an appetite. She watched her friend curiously wondering if she should tell her that everyone knew where Elliott was and had for years. Sure they'd kept it from her but only for her own good. They loved her and Elliott they just didn't want to interfere. If they were meant to be together like everyone thought they were, then they would eventually find their way back to one another. "As soon as Johnny gets home with Gracie," she smiled, speaking of her husband and daughter. "I can't wait until you have kids, Car."

"Oh please don't start that. I don't even think I want kids. I don't have time for it. Frank definitely doesn't. That's what we have Gracie and Katie for," she replied speaking of her niece.

Phoebe knew she was lying. Carmen had always wanted kids. As long as she could remember, she and Elliott had talked about it, even in high school. She remembered them staying up late at night talking about what they'd name their children. Elliott always wanted two little girls. Carmen didn't care what they had as long as they were healthy and happy and theirs.

"Mommy!"

Phoebe looked to the door as her husband came in, putting their six year old on the floor to run to her mom. "Are you ready for dinner, pumpkin?"

Gracie was the picture of perfection. Beautiful blonde ringlets, sparkling green eyes and porcelain skin, she was a living doll and the spitting image of her mother. It nearly broke Phoebe's heart two years before when she'd been diagnosed with Asberger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, but Carmen along with Angie had helped her through it, reminding her that no matter what the doctors said about Gracie she was perfect and smart and beautiful. She was everyone's little girl and she would never want for anything. Luckily she only suffered the mildest of symptoms and with a consistent routine she was showing improvement.

Carmen teared up at the picture in front of her. That should've been she and Elliott and their child but that was never going to happen. *Geesh, where did that come from?* "How about that dinner?" she heard Phoebe call, receiving an excited response from Gracie.

"Yeah, dinner."

---

Elliott stood on the porch ringing the doorbell for what seemed like the millionth time. He didn't know where his parents were but they hadn't said anything about going out tonight and it was late, for them. Maybe they were asleep.

He pushed the button again, finally hearing the mumbling on the other side of the door. "Hold your horses," a grumpy Bell Sadler uttered opening the door. "Peanut? What are you doing here? It's after nine." She hurriedly pulled him into the house checking his forehead for a temperature.

He shook off her hand and walked towards the couch. "I'm fine, mom, I just need to lay down."

"If you were fine you wouldn't have driven four and a half hours to lay down on your momma's couch. So, what's wrong?" Bell asked gently sitting next to her son on the couch.

Elliott took a deep breath and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling momentarily before closing his eyes. "I saw Carmen today."

Bell sat up straighter, not expecting to hear that. As a matter of fact, her family as well as Carmen's had gone out of their way to make sure that neither Elliott nor Carmen were mentioned in the others company. It was just too hard on them, and the families as well. For as long as she could remember, they'd known that Elliott and Carmen would get married, have children and grow old together. Unfortunately things changed and now her son was alone and Carmen was in a relationship that was nothing but a farce.

She knew Carmen claimed to love Frank but she was lying to everyone including herself. And she wasn't the same girl she was 10 years ago. She wasn't happy or satisfied with her life. "I take that it didn't go well?"

He scoffed. "You could say that. She tried to act like everything was my fault. And on top of that, Hermie so kindly put a copy of her engagement announcement on my desk at work. Needless to say I was so angry when I saw her that I wasn't entirely myself, nor have I been at all today."

"What did you say to her Elliott?"

He shrugged. "I don't know mom. Just threw Frank back in her face. She readily threw back the fact that I left her so this is just…"

"Oh, honey. You can't really blame her baby. There was never any closure for either of you. Maybe thins will get better. I mean what are the odds that you're going to see her again. She's in Charlotte, it's a big city and you're in Mooresville, I would think avoiding each other wouldn't be a problem. After all you've done it for at least 5 years now."

"We're working together now ma."

Suddenly hot, Bell grabbed a magazine off of the coffee table and began fanning herself. "Oh dear."

"Yeah, you can say that again," he turned on his side and lay down. "Look, I'm just gonna go to sleep mom. I've had a bad day and apparently things aren't going to get better any time soon."

She kissed his forehead. "Everything will work out honey. Maybe this is a sign that you guys are going to work things out. You never know."

"Night." His voice was barely audible but she just nodded and turned off the lights returning to bed. He knew things were too far-gone to work out. He'd tried years ago to call her and he'd never heard another thing. She'd always told him that his racing was dangerous and that he was going to get hurt but she'd always supported him. All he could think of was that leaving to race had been the last straw and she couldn't lose him to something that could take him away from her permanently.

---

Carmen closed the door quietly behind her, locking the deadbolt and sliding the chain onto the door. She put her keys in her purse, placing it on the dining room table as she kicked off her shoes and padded towards the bedroom.

"Where the hell have you been?" Frank's voice called out of the darkened living room, startling her.

She put her hand over her heart, trying to calm herself. "Jesus Frank, you scared the hell out of me. I was at Phoebe and Johnny's."

"Yeah sure." He flipped on the lamp next to the couch and she could see the half empty bottle of bourbon on the table next to him. "You couldn't call to tell me that? I've been waiting on you for hours."

Carmen glanced at the clock it was only 10:00. It's not like she was sneaking in at 4 in the morning. "I've got a cell phone. If you were that worried you should've called me," she replied crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, you're the one that told me you were going to be home late that you had a meeting with Donovan. Do you just expect me to sit here all alone on a Friday night while you're out kissing corporate ass so you can work more than you do already?"

"Don't start that with me, CJ."

She jaw tightened as she tried to reign in her temper. "Don't call me CJ for the millionth time. And I'll start whatever the hell I want to with you, Frank. I'm not a child and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. I'm 28 years old, you're not going to tell me how to live my life, or who I can spend time with. If I want to go to Phoebe's I will. As for you, I figured your little game out. I'm leaving in 3 weeks for Daytona and I'll be gone for 2 weeks. I strongly suggest you straighten your ass up before then or I'm not coming back here when I return."

He vaulted towards her, grabbing her arms tightly as he pulled her against him. "Is that a threat?"

She rose to her full height looking him square in the eye. "It's a promise, now let go of me."

He loosened his grip but didn't let go, causing Carmen to counter his hold and escape his grasp. She stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it. She grabbed her overnight bag and packed some clothes and toiletries that she'd need for a couple of days then started towards the front door.

Frank grabbed her as she started out the front door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going home. You take a few days to cool off and don't bother trying to call me because I'm not going to answer if it's you."

"You're just a whore," he slurred. "All it took was one little word and Elliott's got you wrapped around his dick again, you filthy whore."

She couldn't control her anger and reared back hitting him square in the jaw. "Go fuck yourself Frank," she said, oddly satisfied with the crunch of her fist against his jaw. With that she slammed the door and left, on the road back to Emporia.

-next-