Chapter Twenty-One #2
Charlotte rolled her eyes and gave him a grudging smile. “You’re right, as always. I know you are, but do we have to do it right now? Just when I was getting excited about houses?”
He chuckled. “We may as well get it over with. Then we can enjoy our house-hunting without that dark cloud looming over us. At least there’s a bright side to it for you. I know you enjoy my parents and they love you.”
Charlotte smiled back at him. “And I know how you feel about them. I used to have a secret hope when we were kids, you know.”
“What was that?”
“I always hoped that somehow, someway I could build a bridge between you and your parents. Help you find a way to understand each other. I know you love each other, you’re just so different from them.”
Ben nodded slowly. “If you’d told me that back then I would have told you not to bother.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, and more importantly they are, or if seeing our friends have kids of their own is giving me a different perspective on family, but what I will say now is that I hope somehow, someway you might be able to do that. But I’m not going to hold my breath.”
Charlotte smiled. “We’ll have to see what we can do, then, won’t we?”
“Yep, but quit stalling. What we can do right now is make the phone calls and get it over with.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll call mine, if you call yours. But you have to promise me that once we’re done we can get online and look at houses, and maybe even go see some this afternoon?”
He grinned. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
~ ~ ~
Ben had to smile at the way she had her feet up on the dash of his truck, her toes tapping along to the music on the radio.
They were heading over to Four Mile Creek to check out the waterfront lots that would soon be available as part of the second phase of the development.
“You seem a lot more relaxed now, aren’t you glad we got those phone calls out of the way? ”
She turned to smile at him. “That sounds an awful lot like I told you so.”
He laughed. “I’d never say that.”
She laughed with him. “That’s because if you did, you’d be saying it all the time.”
“I’m just glad it’s over with. I still can’t quite believe that your folks apologized. I thought we were in for a battle. They wanted so badly to keep us apart back then, I didn’t expect them to accept it so easily now.”
Charlotte shook her head. “They surprised the hell out of me, I can tell you that. I don’t know what changed with them, but to hear them say they want me to do whatever will make me happy took me by surprise to say the least.” She stared out of the window a moment and then looked back at him.
“That sounds awful, doesn’t it? They love me.
I know that. But my whole life they’ve always thought they knew better than I did what would make me happy. ”
Ben nodded. “It doesn’t sound awful. I understand what you mean. I’m kind of feeling surprised by talking to my folks, too.”
“That one’s easier for me to understand.
But then I was always more like them. They’re free spirits, and to a free spirit being tied to one place, being bogged down by responsibilities equals being unhappy.
They only ever wanted to see you happy, they just didn’t understand what makes you happy.
I know you always thought they loved me more than they loved you.
But that was so far from the truth, Ben.
They loved me for you, because they thought I represented the kind of happiness they wanted you to have. ”
Ben mulled that over for a long time. Eventually he shot her a smile. “And when did you get so smart?”
She laughed. “I’m not sure, but I think it was somewhere in the middle of all that growing up I did.”
Ben pulled off the road and onto the narrow strip of land by the lake. Charlotte looked around. “Is this it?”
Ben nodded feeling as disappointed as she looked. “It is. The best lots were part of phase one. This is waterfront, but it’s nothing spectacular, is it?”
“No, it’s not. It’s not what I was hoping for at all.”
“That’s okay. We’ve only just started looking.” He smiled at her. “And I think we’ve already learned that even when things don’t go right first time, they can always get better.”
“We haven’t just learned it, we’re living proof of it.”
“We are. What do you think? Should we head up to North Cove? I’d like to take a look at the place we saw up there. It’d be kind of cool to live near Emma and Pete.”
“We could, but that’s a good twenty minutes from the resort. I’d rather take a look at the place by the marina.”
Ben made a face. “It’s closer to the resort, yes, but it wasn’t nearly as nice a house.”
Charlie smiled at him. “We don’t know that until we take a look, and besides we don’t know what else is down there.”
“Okay, we’ll go and look, just to keep you happy. But remember, you trying to set me up with the things you think will make me happy doesn’t work out so well.”
Charlotte met his gaze. “I talked to Angel last night. She’s nice. Did you know she’s thinking about leaving?”
Ben’s heart sank. “She is?”
Charlotte nodded. “I asked her not to. I don’t have a problem with her, and I know that the two of you work well together.
You know me, I’m not the jealous type. I’m not insecure.
I know that we haven’t come this far for it to change now.
You’ve reassured me you’re not interested in her in a romantic way. ”
Ben nodded. “Is it wrong of me to hope she doesn’t leave?” He was a little concerned how him admitting that might make Charlotte feel.
Charlotte shook her head slowly. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I think it would be a bit easier for me to hear that it didn’t matter to you if she stayed or left.
But I do get it. You’ve never had anyone who could help you run the place.
Now you do, she’s good at her job and easy to get along with.
It’s hard to find someone like that, it’s just unfortunate that she happens to be a good-looking woman who likes you. ”
“That part is unfortunate, but it doesn’t make any difference to me.
I don’t see her as a woman, just as a colleague.
” As he said it, Ben knew it was true. He understood now that he’d only ever seen her as a colleague.
The fact that she was a good-looking woman who liked him had almost had him believing that there might be something else there. But there wasn’t.
Charlotte smiled at him and shrugged. “She’s a part of your business, a part of your work life; I’m not and I would never presume to tell you what to do at work.
” She chuckled. “Though I might try to boss you around when it comes to us finding a house. So, let’s get back over to the resort and see what we can find over there. ”