Chapter 17 Charlie #2
"So we're both working during our vacation," Holly said when Charlie finished. She laughed, but it was edged with exasperation. "Neither of us can leave work alone for even a few days, can we?"
Charlie was quiet for a moment, watching Trinity and Maddy on the carousel. Their faces were bright with joy, completely unselfconscious in their happiness. When was the last time she'd felt that free?
She turned back to Holly. "This isn't work."
Holly frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What we're doing for the inn. It's not work. Not really." Charlie looked at her older sister.
"We're literally doing our jobs," Holly pointed out. "You're doing legal work, I'm doing restoration work."
"But we're not doing it because we have to," Charlie said slowly, working through the realization as she spoke.
"We're doing it because we want to. Because in just a few days, we've come to care deeply about this place.
About this magical inn and the family that runs it.
" Her voice grew more certain. "So it's not work.
We're helping out. We're being part of something.
Contributing to something that matters." She paused.
"When's the last time work felt like that for you? "
Holly was quiet, processing. Finally, she nodded slowly. "You're right. Every piece I've restored for Julie Jane over the years, I felt connected to. Like they were calling to me somehow. Now I know why." Her voice softened. "They were waiting to come home. And I was preparing them."
They turned as Trinity and Maddy came walking back, laughing and talking over each other about the carousel and debating which ride to try next.
"That was so fun! Can we go on the Ferris wheel?" Trinity asked, her face flushed with excitement.
Charlie and Holly stood, smiling at their enthusiasm. Holly glanced at Charlie, then at Trinity, really seeing the happiness on her granddaughter's face.
"Have you ever seen her this happy?" Charlie asked quietly.
Holly shook her head, her eyes glistening slightly. "Not since before Gabe deployed. Not since before..." She didn't finish, but Charlie understood. Not since before the divorce, before the world turned upside down.
"Even Trinity is doing something for the inn," Charlie pointed out. "Helping Jane with the ballroom. Making friends. Finding purpose. We all needed this place. Maybe more than we knew."
Holly nodded, squeezing Charlie's hand. "Maybe the inn needed us too."
They spent another hour at the fair. Charlie and Holly rode the Ferris wheel with the girls.
The four of them squeezed into one carriage, laughing as it swung gently at the top with a view of the historic city spread below them.
They played games at the booths, Trinity winning a stuffed reindeer that she immediately declared would go to Jane for the ballroom.
As they finally headed back to the car, cotton candy in hand and faces flushed from the cold and excitement, Charlie felt something settle in her chest. The guilt about working during vacation was gone, replaced by certainty that she was exactly where she needed to be, doing exactly what she needed to do.
Even if it terrified her. Even if Logan Miller and his impossible electric touch complicated everything. Even if she had no idea what happened next.
The drive back to the inn was filled with the girls' chatter about their plans for the ballroom.
Holly asked questions, offering suggestions, clearly already mentally cataloging which pieces in the inn would work best for the space.
Charlie listened, letting the conversation wash over her, feeling more settled than she had all day.
Until they pulled into the inn's parking lot, and her heart rate picked up again.
Logan was here somewhere. In this building. And at some point, she was going to have to face him.
Face what had happened between them in that hallway.
They climbed out of the car, and the girls raced ahead toward the entrance, eager to get started on their decorating project. Holly and Charlie followed at a more leisurely pace, both of them comfortable in the silence.
The inn's lobby was quiet when they entered, afternoon sun slanting through the tall windows and painting everything in shades of gold. Julie stood behind the front desk, her face lighting up when she saw them.
"Did you have a lovely time in the city?" she asked warmly.
"We did," Holly assured her. "It's beautiful this time of year."
Julie's gaze shifted to Charlie. "Oh, Charlie, Isabella was looking for you earlier. She has a tin of cookies for you. Something about you needing proper fuel for all that work you’ve been doing." Her eyes twinkled with knowing amusement.
Charlie felt heat creep up her neck. How much did Julie know? "I'll go find her. Thank you."
Holly, Trinity, and Maddy headed toward the stairs.
“Gran, we’re going to change and go to the ballroom,” Trinity informed Holly.
“Okay, have fun, be careful,” Holly called after them as they rushed up the stairs.
"I have to change too and get to work," Holly said to Charlie. “Are you going to be okay?”
Charlie nodded, "Of course. I have to meet up with Logan about the you know what." The mention of his name made her cheeks feel warmer as images of their previous encounter swirled into her mind again.
Holly gave Charlie a LOOK. One eyebrow raised, a knowing smile playing at her lips, the universal expression of an older sister who knew exactly what was going on.
Charlie countered the look with a warning expression of her own. Don't say it. Don't even think it.
Holly's smile widened, but she didn't say anything. Just continued up the stairs in the girls’ wake, leaving Charlie standing in the lobby with her cheeks burning.
Charlie turned and walked toward the kitchen, trying to ignore the flutter of nerves in her stomach. Her mind was already wandering to Logan. Where was he? Would it be awkward after what happened in the hallway?
She pulled out her phone as it buzzed with a message.
Text from Jack: "Set up meeting with bank manager for tomorrow morning, 10 am. Can you attend?"
Charlie was answering the message, already typing a response, when she walked straight into something solid.
No, not something. Someone.
A wall of muscle. Strong arms immediately wrapped around her, steadying her before she could fall. Charlie looked up, already knowing who it was.
Logan.
His hands gripped her arms. Her palms pressed flat against his chest. She could feel his heart beating beneath her fingers, racing as fast as her own.
Their eyes met.
That same electric jolt from before shot through her, stealing her breath.
They froze, standing there in the hallway, neither moving, neither breathing.
Logan's hands tightened on her arms slightly, like he was anchoring himself. Charlie's fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt.
Then reality crashed back, and they awkwardly untangled themselves, stepping apart quickly.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Charlie stammered, her voice coming out higher than normal.
"No, my fault, I should have been paying attention," Logan said at the same time, his own voice rough.
They stepped back, giving each other a wide berth, both flustered and not quite meeting each other's eyes.
"I was just..." Charlie gestured vaguely toward the kitchen. "Isabella has cookies."
"Right. Cookies. Good." Logan nodded too enthusiastically. “I’m going… I’m going this way.” He pointed the way Charlie had just come from.
They started to move past each other, careful not to touch, both heading in opposite directions.
Charlie took a few steps away, her heart pounding so hard she was sure Logan could hear it. Her phone was still clutched in her hand, Jack's message still on the screen, but she couldn't focus on it.
Something made her stop.
She didn't know what. Some invisible force pulling at her, refusing to let her keep walking away.
Charlie turned around.
Logan had turned too.
They stood there in the hallway, facing each other across the distance, neither moving, neither speaking.
The afternoon sun through the windows painted them both in gold. The inn was quiet around them. The only sound was the distant murmur of voices from the dining room and the soft crash of waves beyond the walls.
And then, like gravity pulling them together, they moved.
Charlie didn't remember deciding to walk toward him. Logan didn't seem to remember making the decision either. They just moved, closing the distance, meeting in the middle of the hallway.
They fell into each other's arms.
Logan's hands came up to cup her face, warm and solid and sure. Charlie's fingers gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, needing the anchor of him.
"I don't know what's happening between us," Logan murmured, his voice hoarse, his forehead touching hers. "But I can't deny there's something."
"I know," Charlie breathed.
And then his lips crushed hers.
Not accidental this time. Not a fumbling reflex born from nerves and proximity. This was deliberate. Desperate. Real.
The world disappeared. The inn, the foreclosure, the complications, everything faded away until there was only this moment, this connection, this impossible thing neither of them could explain or control.
Logan kissed her like he'd been waiting his whole life to do it. Like she was air and he'd been drowning. Charlie kissed him back with the same desperate intensity, her hands sliding up to tangle in his hair.
It was too much and not enough all at once. Three days. She'd known this man for three days.
This was crazy. Impulsive. Completely unlike her careful, controlled, logical self.
But it felt more right than anything had in years.
They broke apart, breathless, foreheads touching, neither willing to step away yet. Logan's thumb brushed across her cheek, gentle despite the intensity of the moment.
"What are we doing?" Charlie whispered.
Logan's breath was warm against her lips. "I have no idea."
"I've known you for three days."
"I know."
"This is insane."
"I know." His thumb traced her cheekbone again. "But I don't want to stop."
Charlie's heart raced. Every logical part of her brain was screaming that this was too fast, too much, too everything. But her heart, that traitorous organ that had been locked away for so long, was singing a completely different tune.
"Neither do I," she admitted.
And when Logan kissed her again, softer this time, tender instead of desperate, Charlie stopped thinking altogether.