Chapter Eight #2
“Okay, you asked for it. It’s been obvious to everyone that she likes him ever since she arrived. And I hate to say it, but it seems that he likes her too. There, I’ve said it.”
“And has he said anything? You’ve always been the one he turns to. He must’ve said something to you. And I can’t believe that you wouldn’t have asked him anyway.”
Missy looked uncomfortable, which was worrying.
Missy didn’t get uncomfortable. She just came out and spoke her mind on everything.
The fact that she was trying to choose her words carefully meant that she knew Charlotte wouldn’t like what she had to say.
“He came over to see us on Sunday after the two of you talked on the phone. He was so thrilled that you were coming back.”
“But …?”
Missy took a gulp of her coffee. “But do you know what I thought he was coming to tell me?” Missy looked about as uncomfortable as Charlotte had ever seen her now. “I thought he was coming to tell me that he and Angel were dating.”
Charlotte blew out a sigh. “They probably would be by now if I hadn’t called him. Right?”
Missy shook her head vigorously. “No, hon, I don’t think they would.”
“But you think they should?” Charlotte’s voice rose higher as she asked the question, but she already knew the answer from the look on Missy’s face.
Missy hung her head. “You know damned well that I’ve hoped and prayed all these years that the two of you would get back together.
But you know what? I never really questioned whether it was the right thing for you both.
I hate to say it, but seeing Ben with Angel these last couple of months …
I’m sorry, but they just seem right together.
You know I love you and you know I love Ben.
I want to see you both happy, I’m just not sure that being together is what will make you happy anymore.
Not you and not him. You two are so different.
It didn’t matter that much when we were kids.
But now …” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this.
Now I’m not sure that you’d be good for each other. ”
Charlotte stared at her for a long moment. She didn’t know what to say. She’d known in her heart all this time, had never questioned the fact that she and Ben belonged together. She’d believed all this time that everyone else, all their friends, knew it too.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I know I can always rely on you for the truth. And hard as it is to hear, I think it’s necessary.”
Missy raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you have doubts?”
“No! Not doubts. I’ve just been asking myself a lot of questions.
I know that Ben and I are very different people now than we were when we were kids.
” She shrugged. “And I also know that we are very different people anyway, different from each other. I came back here knowing that we’d have to take our time.
We need to get to know each other again.
And at the same time, it’s not again. We need to get to know the people we are now.
” She looked out at the water and then turned to look back up at the house.
“That’s why I rented this place. I knew …
” She let out a small laugh. “At least, I thought, that Ben would be happy to have me move in with him. That if I said that was what I wanted, we could just fall back into a full-on relationship. I thought I was being sensible. I thought I was proving myself more responsible by renting a place of my own and understanding that we would need to take it slowly.” She sighed.
“There I was, thinking I was doing so well, being realistic. Instead, it seems I was still being totally unrealistic.”
Missy reached across and patted her hand. “Don’t look so sad, hon. You need to turn this around. Look at it as a good thing.”
“How?”
“I know I must sound crazy. But I think this might be the best thing that could have happened for both of you.”
Charlotte stared at her. “You’re right, it does sound crazy.”
“I know. But think about it, would you? The two of you have always known …” Missy waggled her fingers in the air making air quotes around the word known.
“… that you were supposed to be together. But that so-called knowledge was only ever based on the wants and needs of a pair of kids. And, I hate to say it, but it was also fueled by grief.”
“So, what are you saying? That I should just turn around and leave again? That Ben and I aren’t really meant to be? And that he’s going to be happier with this Angel woman?”
“Hell no!” Missy scowled at her. “What I’m saying is, that Angel being in the picture will make both you and Ben examine what you really want and need now.”
Charlotte nodded. “I guess so. You know, when I saw them together this morning, I did just turn around and run. Partly because I felt like I was intruding. Partly because I couldn’t stand to see him smiling at her. I couldn’t stand the thought of my Ben with someone else.”
Missy gave her a stern look.
“I know, I know. I’ve been with someone else for years. Married to someone else. What that must’ve done to Ben, I do not know.” She shuddered at the thought of it. “So, what on earth do you suggest I do?”
“I think you already know what I’m going to say. You know that—as far as I’m concerned—honesty is not only the best policy, it’s the only policy. I say you tell Ben what you saw this morning. I think you should lay all your cards on the table and ask him to do the same.”
“Tell him that I saw him and his Angel? Tell him that I eavesdropped on that conversation?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte sucked in a deep breath and nodded slowly. “I suppose I have to, don’t I? And I have to ask him what his intentions are.”
Missy shrugged. “Yes, but before you ask him what he wants, I think you should be very clear about what you want.”
Charlotte thought about that. “You mean tell him very clearly?”
Missy shook her head. “No. I mean get very clear with yourself about what you really want.”