26
Charlotte
The next day, Caleb ties a blindfold around the back of my head when we get into his car. “No peeking,” he warns.
“Where are we going?”
“That’s the surprise.”
I sit back and close my eyes since I can’t see anything, anyway. The engine roars beneath my seat and the sensation causes my core to tingle. I’m not sure if it’s the pregnancy hormones or the way Caleb made love to me again last night, but my whole body is on fire whenever he’s close to me.
As though he senses my need, his fingers brush up against my hand and he caresses my knuckles with his thumb. The strokes are slow but heavy and it reminds me of his lovemaking.
I remove my jacket as heat sweeps across my neck and face.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine. Just a little hot.”
“We’re almost there.”
Thank God .
A few minutes later, Caleb pulls the car over and unlocks my seat belt. “Okay, are you ready?”
“Yes! This blindfold is making me nauseous.”
He chuckles and unties the blindfold. I blink, looking around. “We’re on Sunset Ridge.”
“Yup.” He climbs out of the car and walks past the front of the hood to open my car door. I take his hand to help me up and stare out at Cedar Manor.
“I bought it,” he says.
“You what?”
He nods with a wide grin. “I got to thinking about what you said. How important this house is to the town, but no one has the funds to buy and fix it. But, I do.”
“You own this? It’s all yours?”
“Yes.”
It feels surreal walking up to the door of a house I’ve admired my entire life, knowing that Caleb now owns it. “And you’re going to fix it?”
“With your help.”
“Why would you want to buy property here?”
“Charlotte,” he says, a little annoyed. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because the baby will be here soon.”
“Oh.” I’m a little disappointed as I imagined him staying in my bed, but this makes more sense, of course. “That’s a good idea. ”
He grabs my hand and turns me to face him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I guess I’m just a little in shock.”
“So, you’ll help me?”
“Of course, I will. It would be a dream.”
He pulls a key from his pocket and opens the front door. It creaks at the hinges, but it’s genuine wood and solid. It would be perfect with just a bit of paint.
The foyer is wide, expanding at least fifteen feet into a living room on the left, and a dining room on the right. The floors are light-colored wood with thin carpets laid across. The furnishings aren’t very expensive, but it’s been a rental for so long I guess the landlord didn’t want to invest in anything costly.
“We can probably keep the couch,” I say, running my hand over the linen upholstery.”
“I’m donating all of it and hiring a contractor to refinish the floors, replace the toilets, the vanities and redo the showers and tub. I might keep the clawfoot one, though. It looks vintage.”
I walk toward the kitchen and family room in the back. There are French doors leading to a sprawling patio. “This is the best part,” he says, his voice rising with excitement.
I already know what he’s going to show me. We used to run through it as children, but I’ve never seen the backyard from this viewpoint. When we walk outside, my heart flutters like a butterfly released from a glass jar. I turn around, mapping the willow trees that line the river below and the water fountain that still somehow works in the center of a flower bed. It’s stunning. It reminds me of an English garden. And there’s enough room to set up garden games, too.
“What do you think?”
“It’s a dream. Truly. I’m happy for you.”
Caleb stops and pulls me into his arms. I stare into his smiling eyes. “This isn’t just for me,” he says. “I bought it for us.”
My smile falls as I make sense of his words. “For us? But, I have a home.”
“You live with Sage, and there isn’t another bedroom for the baby. This home has five bedrooms, plenty of room.”
I turn back to look at the house. It had been a dream to live in this house and now that Caleb made it possible, the thought terrifies me. “I’ve never lived on my own,” I say.
“You won’t be on your own the whole time. I’ll be here quite a bit.”
I walk back into the kitchen and survey the stove and the island in the middle. This space is larger than our kitchen and family room in Sage’s house.
“I thought this is what you wanted. ”
I look around, trying to picture myself in it. “I thought so, too. I guess I just need time to get used to the idea.”
“Choose whichever designs you like, whichever furniture you want. Make it yours in every way possible.”
I inhale slowly and ask what I’m most worried about. “I still need to pay you rent, though. It’s only fair.”
“How is that fair? I can afford this house, and I want to take care of you, Charlie, and the baby. You’ll have more work on your hands. The least I can do is provide you with the room you’ll need to live comfortably.”
“This is more than ‘comfortably’.”
“It’s less than what a penthouse in Manhattan would cost me.”
“Is that where you live?”
He shakes his head. “No. I live inside the Seavers building. I converted some offices into a living space.”
“That’s why you never left the office when Sage and I came looking for you.”
He laughs. “Yes. I guess so.”
He walks me through the hallway and up the winding staircase. “Let me show you the bedrooms.”
The smirk on his face tells me he might have ulterior motives for showing me these rooms. “Will we have separate ones? ”
“I hope not. But you can turn one into a closet if you wish. I plan on spending my nights in your bed.”
“Good.”
“Now, let’s see which room you like best.”
*
Two months later,
I chose the bedroom with the largest windows facing the river. It was an easy decision, especially since that was the room we made love in.
Caleb's in New York now and I’m checking in on the progress of the renovations.
Over the past couple of months, we sanded and stained the floors. We did keep the clawfoot tub but installed new Japanese toilets with bidet functions. Sage assured me it was the way to go.
I asked Sage to move in with us, but she says Caleb and I need our privacy. He’s been back and forth these past eight weeks, visiting every weekend. Each time, he becomes more and more ingrained in my life, and I worry about what it’ll be like when the baby comes.
Will I miss him more? Will I be lonely living on my own? I’ve always lived with someone else. I don’t really like the thought of being alone. I worry if something were to happen to Charlie, who would be there to watch the baby? I’ve been anxious lately, and that might have to do with the fact that I’m due in three weeks.
Billy Wentworth, our contractor, arrives with paint chips in his hands. “Morning, Charlotte.”
“Morning, Billy.”
“Which one do you like?”
I take the samples from his hand and place them against the wall next to the window. The gray looks good against the light, but when I move it to the opposite wall, it’s too dark. I put the lightest gray up against the wall instead. “Mmm,” I say, tilting my head. “I like this one.”
“Perfect. We’ll get the color this afternoon, and have this place painted in the next week or so.”
“Thanks, Billy. That’ll work well with the due date.”
He looks down at my belly. “Do you know what you’re having?”
“No. Caleb wanted it to be a surprise, but I think it’s a girl.”
“He’s one lucky guy, Charlotte.”
I smack his shoulder. “Oh, stop teasing.”
“You know I’m not. You turned me down so many times in high school, I finally gave up. If I knew you would go for Jason, I would have tried harder.”
“Yeah, I wish you would have,” I say, and we both chuckle .
“But you’re not ready to settle down anyway, Billy. You’re having way too much fun being single.”
He rubs his mouth to cover his grin. “Well, that may be true, but a good woman could change me.”
“No, she can’t. But you enjoy yourself.”
My phone rings, and it’s a New York number I don’t recognize. “Excuse me, Billy,” I say and take the call in the other room.
“Hello?” I answer, thinking it might be Caleb calling from an office line.
“Hello. Is this Charlotte Tanner?” A woman’s voice asks silkily. My body tenses, and the worst thoughts race through my head.
Who is this? Is Caleb leading a double life? I saw a documentary about that on Netflix, and—
“Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes. This is Charlotte. Who’s this?”
“I’m Brigitte Consuelos.”
Shit! It is his wife!
“Caleb’s sister-in-law”
Oh, thank God.
“Oh, hi!” Caleb had never mentioned her. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I was wondering if we could talk. ”
I look down at my watch and calculate that I have an hour before I need to head over to Mrs. Jackson’s house for Jacob’s lesson. “Yes, I have some time to chat.”
“Great, can we meet at the Waldorf at seven?”
“The Waldorf? In Manhattan?”
“Yes.”
“Brigitte, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I live in Cedar Brook Falls. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Manhattan.”
“I’m aware. That’s why I suggested seven. That should give you plenty of time if you leave in an hour.”
I pull the phone away and Billy catches my eye. He lifts his chin, and I wave that everything is fine. Just a little flabbergasted is all.
“I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible to meet in person. Maybe we can arrange something next weekend for you to come here. I don’t think it’s a good idea to be traveling at this stage in my pregnancy.”
She sighs dramatically. “Fine. I wanted to be polite and do this in person, but you’ve given me no other choice.”
What?!
“I know what you’re doing, and it has to stop. Caleb’s set you up in a pretty little house, and he’s bought you a new crib, and new furniture, and God knows what else. But this ends now.”
“Excuse me? ”
“You heard me. Your little con is up. Take what you’ve got and leave him alone. He’s the face of our new company, and we can’t risk a PR nightmare like this, especially when there’s someone else. He’s better off with Trudy, and he knows it. We all know it. But he feels guilty leaving you with the baby. But you know as well as I do that you’ve raised your son on your own and you can do it with this other baby. Cost of living is ridiculously low in a small town.”
“I—I—”
The world tilts on its axis and thoughts spin in my head. I don’t know where to start. Not only has she insulted me, but she knows a lot about me. And who the hell is Trudy?
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know a lot about me and my life, but I know nothing about you.”
“Well, I guess he didn’t want you to know about his real life.”
“What are you talking about?” My belly tightens, and I walk backward toward the staircase to sit.
“You’re not listening. You’ve manipulated Caleb long enough. I’m telling you to stay away from him. He needs to live his life here. It’s where he belongs.”
A cramp shoots across my stomach, and I fall over, catching on to the steps behind me .
“Charlotte!” Billy shouts and runs toward me. I drop my phone and struggle to catch my breath. Squeezing my eyes shut, I wait for the pain to pass. When it finally diminishes, I look into Billy’s eyes. They’re wild and frantic. “Are you okay, Charlotte?”
I shake my head. “Take me to the hospital, Billy. I think I’m having this baby now.”