Chapter 10
“So what do we do now?” Andy asked Charlotte on Sunday morning. It had been an idyllic weekend, with most of it spent walking, sitting by the fire, and in bed.
“Should we pretend this never happened?” Charlotte asked him.
Andy looked crestfallen when she said it.
That was not the answer he wanted. He wanted to go on doing this forever.
“You’re leaving in a few months, aren’t you?
” she asked him. “When your father comes back. So it will end then anyway. You’ll go back to Aspen, and I’ll be here, in New York, starting a new business. ”
“Why can’t we make both work? I’m flexible and can come to New York, maybe you can spend some time with me in Aspen, and I’m not married to Aspen, I can work here too. We’ve found something amazing, Charlotte. Are you really willing to give that up, hide from it, or avoid it because of geography?”
“It’s not just about geography,” she said seriously.
“I’ve been hurt before, so have you undoubtedly.
We didn’t get to the age we are without making mistakes, picking the wrong people, and winding up with wounds and bruises.
Are you willing to take a chance on that again?
Is it worth it? Geography is the least of it.
I have a ball with you. You make me happy.
And then what? One or both of us get wounded and it’s over. ”
“If something goes wrong and we’re both decent people, which we are, we fix it.
We don’t just walk away because we might get bumped one day.
That’s why we’re alone, both of us. I’ve been terrified for years of making another dumb mistake.
I’m not afraid of you. Look at our parents, they were older than we are when they found each other, and it worked.
It probably wasn’t easy. Your mother was living some kind of crazy secret life, hiding how famous she was under a pseudonym, and my father is not an easy guy.
He’s a good man, smart and kind, but he has his complications too.
And they were crazy about each other, and happy.
I can tell you for certain, my father will never love another woman after your mother.
She was perfect for him, and he knew it.
I saw them together, you didn’t, and they were happy.
I want what they had. I want you, and I’m willing to work for it, and if I have to live in New York instead of Aspen, so what.
I love you, Charlotte. Life has just given us an incredible gift, and I’m not willing to ignore it or shove it under the bed or put it in the trash.
I’m not afraid of you, and you don’t need to be afraid of me.
I’m willing to fight for what we have, and I’m not going to sleep with you for a weekend, and walk off into the sunset to find someone else.
I’m here for you. I love you, and maybe we’ll be lucky and find the kind of magic our parents did.
Don’t you want that too?” he said, looking at her intently.
What he said took her breath away. She didn’t know a single man in her entire history who had said anything like it to her.
“By the way,” he added, “my father is coming to New York next week. He wants to meet you and your sisters.” She smiled when he said it.
“I want to meet him too, we all do. Is he moving back?” She looked somewhat worried. Maybe Andy was leaving sooner than she thought.
“No, he has a meeting with Robert and his publisher. I think he wants to see me, and make sure I’m taking decent care of his house.
And as I said, he wants to meet all of you.
I offered to stay at a hotel but he wants me at the house with him.
So what do you say, Char? Are we going to be brave?
” He made it sound so appealing, and so easy to do, it made her want to say yes, but she wasn’t sure.
She didn’t want to get hurt again if things went wrong.
“A monthly renewable contract? A daily one?” he said with a grin, and she leaned over and kissed him.
“I love you too, so shut up. We don’t need a contract.” She looked at him long and hard. “I’m in,” she said softly. “You have the family vote, by the way. And Cooper, and everyone who knows you. I’m the difficult one here,” she said.
“No, you’re not. You’ve got some scars. We all do. And you’ve dealt with a lot. And losing your mother in an act of violence recently.”
“And everything she left us,” Charlotte added. “I’m still not used to it. I still worry about money, and then I remember that I have more than I’ll need in my lifetime, even with a new business. I love this house now, especially since we’ve spent time here together.”
“I need to get a new place in Aspen, if we’re going to spend time there together. My house is barely big enough for me. I’ll look around there one of these days. We’re fine here for now.” They were better than fine. They were happy. Andy was right. What they had was too good to throw away.
“Thank you,” she said softly, and didn’t want to leave him to go back to the city. But Julia was coming home that night from her friend’s house. “I love you, Andy.” He pulled her close with his arm around her.
“I love you too. Do you want to stay here tonight?”
“I have Mom duty. I should go back.” She almost asked him to come with her, but she didn’t want him staying at her apartment with Julia, yet. It was still too soon for that.
“I’ll come to the city this week. See what works for you.
” She was suddenly sorry that they had given up her mother’s apartment.
He could have stayed there, and the rent was cheap.
She didn’t know anything about his finances, but his books were successful, and their sales had improved with each book.
His father was one of the most successful writers in the country.
He and Felicia had been an even match, in many things, just as Charlotte and Andy were.
They were what Charlotte had always wanted, equal partners.
It was a whole new style of relationship for her, and he said it was for him too.
They made love again before she left. Now that she had said she was “in,” they both felt closer than ever. They had taken an important step. They were together because they were choosing to be. It was no longer a fortuitous accident. They meant it. Charlotte liked the feel of it.
Andy kissed her tenderly before she left, and she drove back to the city, smiling most of the time.
She had been terrified of making a commitment to Andy and their relationship, and now it felt completely right.
She wondered if her mother had ever felt like that in the beginning.
She would have liked to have her advice.
Charlotte thought of all the times she had argued with Felicia about her opinions, and she realized now what a fool she had been.
Her sisters had known better when they said that Felicia was almost always right.
And Charlotte thought she would have approved of Andy.
It gave her a good feeling, she was on the right side of things now, the smart side, the loving side, the side she shared with Andy.
He was exactly what she had needed for so long.
They didn’t make the rules for each other, and neither of them wanted the upper hand.
There was no boss. They were just two good people figuring things out as they went along, and so far it was working well.
If they hit a rough patch or stumbled, they would figure it out and help each other, just as Andy said.
—
Veronica had a quiet weekend in the apartment.
She had a lot of reading to do for school.
She didn’t want Anson to catch her doing it.
She had a desk drawer half open where she could throw the book she was reading, if he walked in.
The others she had with her were in the backpack she wore to school.
There was so much he didn’t know now. It worried her at times.
He knew nothing of her inheritance. She still hadn’t told him how famous her mother had been, and the additional income her writing generated now that they had sold one book for a series, and there would be more in the future if the current one was a success.
Anson thought the farm was some kind of ramshackle old barn and maybe a cabin.
He had no idea how beautiful and substantial her new Connecticut home was, that she shared with her sisters.
Anson was handsome and charming, and he had supported her well for ten years.
But she continued to suspect that he wouldn’t like it if she had a fortune of her own and could support herself.
She wanted to be with him now, but she didn’t “need” him to pay her bills, only for emotional support.
But his kindness to her was sporadic. Sometimes he was wonderful to her, and at other times he was cruel.
She hadn’t seen it as clearly in the beginning, but she did now.
The demands and restrictions he put on her were controlling and abusive and demeaning to her.