Chapter Fifteen
Charlotte dropped the groceries back home and decided to call Missy before she headed over there.
“Hey girlfriend, what’s up?” answered Missy.
“Hey, is Chance there yet?”
“No, not yet. And how do you even know he’s coming?”
“I just saw him in the grocery store, he should be about to land with you any minute. He suggested I come over to talk to you both. I wanted to check that’s okay with you.”
“Of course it is. In fact, he’s pulling in the driveway now. So, come on over whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks, Miss.”
“Are you okay? I don’t suppose I need to ask what you want to talk about.”
“No. I’m sure you can guess.”
“Okay, see you in a few.”
Charlotte looked around as she pulled up in Missy’s driveway. It was hard not to think of it as her grandparents’ driveway. She climbed out of the car and went to knock on the front door, but it opened before she could.
“Come on in,” said Dan. “I’m just on my way out. I gather that you guys are having a powwow, so I thought I’d make myself scarce.”
Charlotte felt bad. “I don’t mean to chase you out.”
Dan smiled. “You’re not chasing me out.” He turned to look back over his shoulder and then smiled at Charlotte. “I’m using it as an excuse. I know Missy and Chance need to catch up, too.”
Charlotte smiled. “Okay, I won’t keep them too long.”
Missy appeared in the hallway behind Dan. “Come on in,” she said. “I’ll see you in a little bit, Danny.”
“I won’t be long. I want to get Jack out for a bit and let Emma have some peace.”
Charlotte followed Missy through to the kitchen, where Chance was perched on a stool at the island. He smiled when he saw her. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
Chance was the same as Missy—neither of them beat about the bush—they always got straight to the point. Charlotte didn’t know where to start, what to say. Chance had told her not to hurt Ben, but she had to wonder what he would think of her trying to decide what was best for him.
“Come on, hon,” said Missy. “All I’ve got out of this one,” she jerked her head toward Chance, “is that you are not sure if you’re what’s best for Ben.”
“Well, surely you understand that? You told me yourself. You think he and Angel are well suited and that he and I aren’t the people we used to be. Even if we were, we were so different anyway.”
Chance raised an eyebrow. “Hold up, fill me in, who’s Angel?”
Missy looked at Charlotte. “She’s the woman he hired to run the new lodge over at Four Mile Creek.”
“And,” said Charlotte, “by all accounts, she’s his perfect match. She grew up in the hospitality business, she’s something of a workaholic, and she’s got long blonde hair, big green eyes, and a hot body to boot.”
Missy looked at her. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”
“Probably, even though I’m trying to tell myself that it’s simply realism.
Think about it, Miss. I have, since you told me what you knew about her.
Why should Ben step back into his past and put in all the work that he would have to, to build a new relationship with me, when he could start something new and fresh and untainted with a woman who has everything going for her? ”
“I’ll tell you why,” said Chance, “because he loves you, because he never gave up on you. Because he believes that what the two of you shared was the most important thing in his life. And you know damned well that he’s never been afraid of hard work.
It sounds to me more like you’re the one with cold feet and you’re looking for a way to back out of it. ”
“No! I love him, I always have. I’ve spent all these years wishing we could be together again.
I just don’t want to be selfish. I know I was selfish as a kid.
I genuinely want him to be happy, and it kills me to say it, but if she can make him happier than I can, then I believe he should be with her. ”
Chance pursed his lips and shook his head.
“I can see where you’re coming from, and I respect you for it, but even if she is a better choice on paper, you’re the one he wants.
You’ve lived in his heart too long for him to kick you out to make room for someone else now.
Has he said he wants her?” He turned to look at Missy.
“And what makes you think he’d be better off with her? ”
Missy shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’d be better off with her.
I was just concerned that the two of you might not make it.
” She gave Charlotte an apologetic smile.
“You have to admit you have a lost past to deal with and no guarantees that the people you are now can build a good future together. He has some kind of spark with Angel. I’m not going to claim he doesn’t, I just don’t want to see him miss out on his chance for happiness by grasping at the wrong one. ”
Charlotte stared at her. “Do you really think I’m the wrong one?”
“I don’t want you to be. You know I’d love to see the two of you live your happily ever after. I just don’t want to see the two of you screw it up and him be left forever alone.”
“And what about you?” asked Chance. “Do you know for sure that this is it? Are you all in? Or are you just back to test the waters, to see?”
Charlotte shook her head adamantly. “I know, I’ve always known. It’s easy for me, he’s the only one I’ve ever wanted. But then, I’ve been married to someone else, too.”
“I can see that,” said Chance. “I can see how it did give you a different perspective. Ben’s never explored his options.
He’s never seen an option other than you.
But I’ll tell you what I think. I think he’s a man who knows his own mind, he knows what he wants, and all he’s ever wanted is you.
I don’t think you should question that. As a guy, I can tell you that you can have a spark with a woman that you never want to explore, especially if there is still another much more important woman in your past.”
Charlotte didn’t know what to say. She knew that Chance was talking from experience, and it was so sad that he would never be able to get back the other, more important woman in his past. Chloe was dead.
She nodded and had to swallow back the tears that threatened to fall. “Are you saying I should forget it?”
“Yep. That’s exactly what I’m saying. If he’s told you it means nothing, then he doesn’t want it to mean anything.
Now, that’s not saying it doesn’t, just that he doesn’t want it to.
You might have to be prepared for it to come and bite you in the ass.
But for his sake, I think you should let it go. ”
Charlotte looked at Missy. “I think he’s right, hon. I’m sorry I interfered. It’s hard not to, you know? I want to see you both happy and the last thing I want to see is you hurt each other again.”
Charlotte nodded. “I know you’re only looking out for him, and for me. There’s no need to apologize.” Her phone rang and she fished it out of her purse. “It’s him. We were hoping to meet up this afternoon. I’m going to go, I’ll take this outside. Thanks, guys.”
She hurried out the front door and closed it behind her before she answered. “Hey!”
“Hey. Are you going to be free this afternoon?”
“No, I hope not.”
“Oh.”
“I hope I’m not going to be free, because I hope that we’re going to spend the afternoon together.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “Good. Shall I come to you?”
“Yes. I’m just on my way home now; I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Great. I’ll see you there.”
~ ~ ~
Ben smiled when he pulled up in Charlotte’s driveway and saw her sitting on the front steps waiting for him. She got up and ran to greet him. It took him back, all the way back through the years to the times when he used to pick her up from her grandparents’ house.
“I’m so glad you came.”
“Me too. I think it’s finally time I face the fact that that I don’t have to be at the resort all day on Saturday. It’s about time I started living.”
“I never thought I’d see the day you would feel that way. But I’m so glad I’m here for it.”
“I only feel that way because you are here. We have so much lost time to make up for.” It was true, they’d lost so many years, and he wanted to make every moment count.
“So, how about we start making up for it? You said you liked to take a boat out? How about we wander down to the marina?”
He smiled. “That sounds like a great idea. It should be fairly quiet down there.”
“Let’s go, then.”
Less than half an hour later they were out on the water. It was a beautiful day and the sun shone warmly down on them. Charlotte looked so beautiful with a big smile on her face and her hair blowing in the wind. Ben took out his phone and snapped a picture.
“I still keep a picture of you in my wallet too, you know?”
“You do? I have one of you in my purse, but it’s almost worn out now.”
“Yeah, the one I have is faded, to say the least. Now I have a new one.”
She looked into his eyes and smiled. “What I like best is that you don’t need a new one. Now I’m here and we can call each other up and see each other anytime we like.”
He smiled back at her. “I hope that one day soon we won’t even need to call each other, I hope that all we’ll need to do is wake up and open our eyes, and we’ll be able to see each other.”
Charlotte nodded slowly. “I hope so too.”
“What’s stopping us?” He knew they’d said they were going to take things slowly, but he didn’t want to. “I want us to get on with the rest of our lives, Charlie.”
“So do I, Ben. I guess the only thing stopping us is an attempt to be sensible. How do we dive back in to where we were when we’re no longer the same people we were back then?”
He shrugged. “If anyone knows about sensible, it’s me. But seriously, what are we hoping to gain?”
“I think, to me, it’s mostly about avoiding a big mistake. I didn’t want us to jump straight back in, only to find out that it doesn’t work anymore.”
“So, it’s just about being cautious?”