Chapter Twelve #2
“Any time now, and you know there’s something I’ve been dying to ask you.”
“Give everyone else a chance, Em! Come on, Charlie, come sit down,” said Missy. “We’re all waiting to say hi, and there are lots of new faces to introduce you to.”
Ben was grateful to Missy for stepping in.
He knew Emma desperately wanted Charlotte to be godmother to the baby.
What he didn’t know was how Charlotte would feel about that.
The two of them had skirted around it last night, but with both Emma and Megan almost ready to give birth, the subject of babies was laying heavy on his heart.
He had to imagine that Charlie might feel the same.
Everyone scooted along to make room for the two of them to sit. Ben looked around at all the happy smiling faces and started to introduce Charlotte to those she didn’t yet know.
When he was done, she laughed. “It’s so amazing to be back here, to see so many familiar faces.” She smiled around at everyone. “I know at least half of almost every couple here.”
“So, what do you think, are you going to stick around and even up the numbers?” asked Pete.
Ben closed his eyes and let out a low breath.
Why the hell had he asked that? Charlotte didn’t need that kind of pressure.
He needn’t have worried. She smiled and met Pete’s gaze.
“It’s good to see you haven’t changed, Hemming.
” She turned to Holly. “I probably need to apologize to you in advance,” she said with a smile.
“Pete never was my favorite, and I was never his. So, if … no, actually when I’m rude to him, please don’t take offense. ”
Holly laughed. “Don’t you worry about that. I understand completely and it’s always nice to see someone put him in his place.”
Charlotte grinned. “I think we’re going to be good friends!”
Pete groaned. “Great. Just great. Now I’m going to have the pair of you ganging up on me, right?”
“Absolutely,” said Charlotte with a grin.
Holly leaned against him and batted her eyelashes. “Aww, what’s the matter, Perfect Pete? Are the girls being mean to you?”
Pete shook his head. “Not yet, no. But I think it’s about to start.”
“You can bet your arse on that one,” said Charlotte.
Michael laughed. “I love the way you say that, Charlie. I haven’t heard it in years.”
She laughed with him and so did Emma. “It’s arse, not ass, right Charlie? Not like a mule or a donkey.”
Charlie nodded. “You got it, Em.” She smiled at Megan. “You look fabulous, too. How long have you got to go?”
Ben loved that Charlie somehow seemed to know that she needed to draw Megan into the conversation. Megan rarely spoke up voluntarily unless there was something important that needed saying, but right now she was smiling back at Charlotte, looking relaxed and happy.
“Just a couple of weeks, hopefully.” She turned to smile up at Michael. ‘I’m more than ready for the baby to be here now and, apparently, I’m getting a little crabby.”
Michael laughed. “You, little one? Crabby? Whoever told you that? I’ll get them for you.”
Megan shook her head at him. “Then you’d better beat yourself about the head.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “I think I’ve been doing that for a while now, darl’.”
“Leave her alone,” said Missy. “She’s entitled to be a bit hormonal.”
Megan smiled at her gratefully and Michael waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe it’s just me that’s getting a bit crabby, since I do have to leave her alone.”
Megan blushed and Missy slapped Michael’s arm. “Too much information, Mr. Morgan.”
Michael shrugged and put his arm around Megan’s shoulders.
“How long are you planning to stay, Charlotte?” asked Pete.
Ben groaned inwardly. Why couldn’t Pete just leave the tough questions alone? Tonight was supposed to be fun; it was Charlie’s first chance to catch up with everyone. She didn’t need interrogating about what her plans might be.
To his relief, she turned a big smile on Pete. “This is it. I’m back for good.”
Pete looked surprised at that. “Wow! I didn’t realize. And what are you going to do for work?”
“I’m in the process of figuring that out.”
“That sounds about right. Make it up as you go along, huh?”
Charlotte shook her head. “It’s not as bad as you make it sound, Mr. Planner.
I do all kinds of online marketing. I’ll continue to work with some of my clients, they’re dotted around the world anyway.
And hopefully I’ll pick up a whole bunch of new ones.
” She smiled around at everyone. “So, if any of you need any help in that department, I’ll be happy to help. ”
Ben was surprised by the reactions around the table. Lily, Emma, and Holly all started talking at once. They stopped and smiled at each other.
“Sorry, but can I go first?” asked Lily. “I managed to get a website set up for the riding stables, but now I need to get into all the social media and set up a real marketing strategy.” She smiled at Charlotte. “I’ve even set aside a budget for it.”
Charlotte grinned. “Well, in that case, let’s set up a meeting. I was planning to come up to the stables to see you anyway.”
“Give me your number then. I have some free time Monday morning, if that will work for you?”
“That’ll be perfect,” said Charlotte.
“And when you get done with Lily,” said Holly. “Maybe you’d like to come out to the Plaza to see me. I’m in the same situation. I had this web developer build me a beautiful website for the store, but it just sits there in Internet oblivion, since I have no clue how to get any traffic to it.”
“I’d love to. I’ve heard about the Plaza, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Great, I’ll be happy to show you around and we can have lunch too, if you have time?”
“I’ll make time,” said Charlotte with a smile.
Ben felt a little uncomfortable. It was crazy, but he was hoping that she wouldn’t run into Angel while she was over at Four Mile.
“And if you still feel like working after your lunch with Holly,” said Emma, you can carry on up to North Cove and come see me. I finished my book, but I’m planning to self-publish it, and apparently, I need to build myself an online brand and audience before I do.”
Ben had to smile at the way Charlotte’s eyes lit up at that news. “Oh, that will be an amazing project, Em. We can have so much fun with that.”
Jack looked a little concerned. “I thought you were going to wait?”
“I just want to get the ball rolling,” said Emma. “It’s not as though I need to do huge amounts of work to get started. But it seems to me that if I want to build a readership, the sooner I get started the better. Isn’t that right, Charlie?”
Charlotte nodded eagerly. “That’s absolutely right, Em.
” She turned to smile at Jack. “And don’t worry, she’s right, it really won’t have to take up too much of her time.
But if I get an idea of where we want to go before the baby arrives, then I can keep working on that and growing her audience while the two of you are focused on your new arrival. ”
Jack smiled at her gratefully. “That sounds good to me.”
“Not a bad hustle for your first evening,” said Pete.
Charlotte made a face at him. “It’s not a case of hustling, Pete. This is one of the things I love about my work, these days almost everyone you meet needs help with building an online presence.”
Pete nodded. “Yeah, sorry, that came out wrong. I’m impressed.”
“Is there any chance I could get that in writing?” asked Charlotte with a laugh. “I never thought I’d see the day I could impress you.”
Pete smiled. “Neither did I.”
“Oh, stop it, you two,” said Missy.
“Yeah,” said Ben. “Could you please stop harassing my girlfriend, Hemming? I’m just grateful that she’s versatile enough to hit the ground running and build a new business for herself here.”
Charlotte turned to smiled up at him. She leaned against his shoulder and was about to say something, but didn’t get the chance as Emma spoke first.
“Ooh, is it official, then?” asked Emma. “Is Charlie your girlfriend? Are you back together?”
Ben’s heart raced. He hoped so, but he didn’t know so and he certainly hadn’t planned to force Charlotte to answer that question yet. He looked down into her eyes, afraid of what he might see there. She smiled up at him. “Don’t be silly, Em. I’m here, aren’t I?”
Ben looked around. He felt as though everyone had turned to see his reaction to her words. He forced a big smile. She hadn’t said no, but she hadn’t said yes, either.