Chapter Ten
Charlotte stood in line at the deli counter at the Main Street Café, waiting to pick up sandwiches for her and Marin.
It was Saturday, a full week since they’d looked at the house on Middleton Hill Road, and they were going to have lunch at Marin’s apartment before Charlotte headed out for an afternoon of house showings.
Marin’s offer on the house had been accepted almost immediately, with a closing set for the first weekend in March, which meant soon Charlotte would just be Marin’s friend, not her Realtor.
“Charlotte?”
She glanced behind her, and everything seemed to freeze as her gaze settled on the woman standing there. It had been a long time—over twenty years, in fact—since Charlotte had last seen her, but the recognition was immediate and overwhelming. “Elena.”
Elena Campos looked much the same as she had in high school, dark curls framing her face, light-brown skin that seemed sun kissed even in the middle of a Vermont winter. She was smiling at Charlotte, and . . . that was unexpected. “I heard you were back in town, but well . . . hi.”
“Hi.” Charlotte felt flushed and tongue tied, because how were you supposed to greet the woman who had been your best friend through high school, who you’d fallen out with just before graduation and hadn’t spoken to since? “I . . . wow . . . it’s really good to see you.”
“You too.” Elena was still smiling, but something hesitant had entered her eyes now, as if she was remembering the way they’d crashed and burned senior year, just like Charlotte was. “I’d love to catch up sometime.”
“So would I.” Charlotte’s body was on high alert, a confusing cocktail of emotions sweeping through her veins as she realized that deep down, she’d been afraid of this, that Elena still lived in town and Charlotte might bump into her.
Shame followed, because this woman had been her best friend, and their friendship-ending fight seemed petty and insignificant now.
“I’m on my way to meet someone, but maybe we could grab lunch sometime? ”
“I’d love that. Can I get your number?” Elena held out her phone.
Charlotte glimpsed a photo of Elena with two teen girls who were unmistakably her daughters on the lock screen, and it hit her like a punch in the gut just how much time had passed since they’d spoken. How had she let that happen?
Charlotte tapped her number into Elena’s phone and said goodbye, but she was still reeling as she walked outside a few minutes later, holding a paper bag that contained her and Marin’s lunch.
Elena’s family had moved to Vermont the summer before Charlotte and Elena started high school, and almost as soon as they’d met, they’d become inseparable.
Sometimes friendships were just like that, weren’t they?
One day, you didn’t even know each other, and the next day you had connected on a soul-deep level.
Charlotte had experienced it twice . . .
first with Elena, and then with Marin. She and Elena had spent practically every free moment at each other’s houses, talking about clothes and music and which boys they liked.
They’d both dated a lot, but senior year, they’d promised each other they would attend prom together.
It was going to be their last hurrah before going off to college, and no boy would come between them.
But midway through senior year, Elena had gotten serious with her boyfriend, Marcus.
He’d asked her to the prom, and she’d said yes.
Charlotte, who’d been single at the time, had been so upset, so hurt.
They had a huge fight, and in the end, Charlotte lost her best friend.
It had felt like such a big deal at the time, and now .
. . well, now it felt like she’d thrown away an important friendship over something trivial.
But maybe she was about to get a chance to fix that mistake.
She got in her car and drove to Marin’s apartment. Marin greeted her at the door, looking exhausted and a bit disheveled, but she was radiant. Having a puppy really agreed with her.
“Perfect timing.” Marin spoke quietly, then put a finger to her lips. “Ember just fell asleep, so if we’re quiet, we can eat lunch without puppy interference.”
“Challenge accepted,” Charlotte whispered.
“You okay?” Marin asked, giving her a questioning look. “You look kind of intense.”
“I just bumped into my best friend from high school, and it really threw me.” She spoke softly as they sat across from each other at the kitchen table. “We had a big falling-out senior year, and we haven’t spoken since.”
“That’s a long time,” Marin observed. “What did you fight about?”
“A guy.” Charlotte rolled her eyes. “It seems so stupid now, and I guess . . . seeing her today made me realize that. Like, she has teenage daughters I’ve never met. I have no idea what’s going on in her life. And we were inseparable all through high school.”
“It happens, and you moving out of state certainly didn’t help you two reconnect.”
“No. If I’d gone to NU like so many kids from our high school—including Elena—we probably would have made up in college.
If I’m honest, our fight was part of the reason I left Vermont after high school.
Everything here felt so overwhelming and messed up, and I just needed a fresh start.
Anyway, we exchanged numbers today, but I feel so weird about the whole thing.
Our fight was my fault. At the time, I blamed her for choosing her boyfriend over me, but now I see that I was just being immature and stupid. ”
“It’s what teenagers are best at, right?”
“I guess. I haven’t spent much time around teens since I was one.”
Marin chuckled. “I’ve spent enough time with nieces and nephews—and even great-nieces and nephews—to have experienced my fair share of teen drama.”
“That must seem so weird, your siblings being grandparents already,” Charlotte said. “I mean, I don’t feel nearly old enough for that.”
“Well, I’m a little older than you,” Marin said, eyes sparkling playfully. “But no, it’s not weird for me because of the age gap between me and my siblings. That’s my normal. My mom was about my age now when she had me.”
“Did you ever want kids?” Charlotte asked, then waved a hand in front of her face. “Sorry, that was insensitive of me to ask. A friend of mine went through years of infertility, and she told me how hurtful it was when people asked her why she didn’t have kids.”
“I don’t mind you asking,” Marin said. “I did want kids, but I never tried to have one. It never felt like the right time with Andrew, and he didn’t particularly want them, so he never pushed me about it. In hindsight, I think I just didn’t want to tie myself to him that way.”
That was a more honest and in-depth answer than Charlotte had been expecting.
“I get that. When I was younger, I wanted kids, too, but I never had the right partner, and I didn’t want them badly enough to consider intentionally becoming a single mom.
Now, I guess the urge has passed. I like my independence too much. ”
“The urge has passed for me too. There are a lot of things I want from my new life, but children aren’t one of them.”
“Except as their teacher?”
“College students aren’t exactly children, but yes.” Marin’s face softened. “That I’m enjoying quite a lot.”
“Good. So far, your new life here seems to be working out just as you’d hoped.”
“Except for dating,” Marin said. “That’s going more slowly than I’d like, although Laura and I are actually hoping to meet soon.”
“Exciting.” But Charlotte felt something ugly twist in her chest at the thought of Marin going on a date with Laura.
It was the same way she’d felt when Elena ditched her to go to the prom with Marcus.
Maybe Charlotte was a terrible friend who wanted her friends to be single just because she was.
She didn’t like what that said about her.
“I’ll just need to coordinate our date around Ji-Yoon’s availability to watch Ember.” She gestured toward the black puppy, who was still fast asleep in her dog bed.
“I can watch her if Ji-Yoon can’t,” Charlotte offered, determined not to repeat the mistakes of her past. She wouldn’t lose Marin the way she’d lost Elena. “I’d be happy to.”
“Oh, you’ve already done enough,” Marin deflected.
“Nonsense. It would be fun to watch her for a few hours.” This time, Charlotte would be a good and supportive friend. “Nothing’s going to get in the way of your date with Laura.”
Marin admired the framed photo of her and Ember on the shelf in her living room.
Charlotte had taken the picture of them last week.
In it, Ember sat on Marin’s lap, gazing up at her with those big brown eyes while Marin smiled at the camera, and she almost didn’t recognize herself, she looked so happy. She felt happy.
She’d been floored when Charlotte showed up at her apartment unexpectedly on February fourteenth, holding a pink-wrapped gift and a bouquet of flowers, telling Marin she didn’t want her to go another year without receiving a gift from a woman on Valentine’s Day.
It had been such a sweet and thoughtful gesture, so romantic .
. . in a strictly platonic sense. Not for the first time, Marin was grateful for their friendship.
Ember trotted into the room, and when she spotted Marin, her tail started doing full loop-de-loops of joy. Marin felt a burst of warmth in her chest. Oh, she loved this little dog. So much. “Want to go out?”
Marin fastened Ember’s leash and led her outside, grateful for the relatively mild February day. Temperatures today had reached almost forty, and after a frigid few weeks, this felt positively balmy by comparison.