Chapter Twenty #2
“I hear you. I haven’t taken many fancy vacations, either, mostly just ski trips or weekends at a local beach, but it’s fun to think about, right? Like, if money and time off and all those other logistics weren’t an issue, where would you want to go?”
“Hmm.” Marin wasn’t playing coy. She honestly had no idea.
“I suppose a tropical beach sounds nice. That clear blue water? I’d love to see it, and sit in one of those fancy chairs with an umbrella so I don’t burn.
Maybe I’d like to go snorkeling and see the fish up close.
” Now that she was picturing it, the ideas kept coming.
“Or scuba diving? Do you think that’s too hard?
I want to see a coral reef and pretty fish, maybe even a shark, if it’s not the man-eating kind. ”
“A shark, hmm?” Charlotte smiled, but it seemed somewhat fragile.
“You look upset. Was it something I said?”
Charlotte huffed, then shook her head. “No, I was just thinking about what Bev said about my mom wanting to go to a tropical island and how she might not come back.”
“Shit, that was insensitive of me. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It just shook me up. It made me realize that deep down, I assumed my mom was gone.
” Charlotte drew in a sharp breath. “I feel terrible admitting this, but somehow imagining her on a tropical island somewhere, happily living her life without me? That feels . . . worse.” Her voice faded out on that last word.
“I can see how it would.” Marin reached over and gripped her hand where it rested on the steering wheel. “But if that’s what she did, hopefully she had a reason for it.”
“The worst part is that I’ll probably never know.
” Charlotte sighed, and it carried a sadness that made Marin’s breath catch.
“I’m talking to a PI who specializes in finding people who’ve disappeared on purpose, but he’s really expensive, and I don’t know how likely it is that he could track her down after all this time . . . if that’s really what she did.”
“I truly hope you find the answers you need.”
“I do, too, but I’m trying to make peace with the possibility that I won’t. And I hope you get to take that tropical vacation someday . . . hopefully with me.”
“I like the sound of that.” Marin’s attention caught on a sign for an upcoming rest area, and she pointed. “Do you mind?”
“Course not. Need to stretch your legs?”
Marin nodded. Actually, she didn’t have any pain at the moment. Reclining the seat had done her a world of good, but she’d stayed in the car at both their previous stops while Charlotte walked Ember, and now her bladder was complaining. “So what’s your pick for a dream vacation?”
Charlotte looked thoughtful. “I think for me it’s more about who I’m with than where I am. I don’t care all that much about seeing specific places, I guess. I care more about having fun experiences with my favorite people.”
“That’s a great way of looking at it.”
A few minutes later, they stopped at the rest area, and Marin was relieved to find that she had no nerve pain when she stood. “Resting while you drove really did the trick. I’m feeling completely better.”
“Yay.” Charlotte leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.
Since they were hours from home and anyone who might know them, Marin grabbed Charlotte’s hips and pulled her in for another deeper kiss. “I love kissing you.”
“Same.”
And then, because she really did have to pee, she let Charlotte go. “Do you mind watching Ember while I go inside?”
“Nope. Take your time.”
Marin and Charlotte took turns going into the rest area, and then they got back on the road. The last two hours of the trip passed uneventfully, with Ember napping in back while Charlotte and Marin played more silly car games.
It wasn’t until they were pulling into the lodge that Marin thought through the logistics for the night ahead.
“Um, I picked this place because it had individual cottages instead of a central hotel building, for Ember’s sake, but I don’t remember what the bed situation is.
” She hadn’t paid the least bit of attention, assuming she would be alone in the room.
She’d been more focused on finding pet-friendly accommodations for the night.
“No worries,” Charlotte said. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Okay,” Marin agreed, but she had a sneaking suspicion they might have a single-bed situation on their hands, and she had no idea how Charlotte would feel about that.
They stopped at the office, and she walked inside to check in. “Can you remind me what the sleeping arrangement is in the cabin I booked?” she asked the clerk.
“The bedroom has a king-size bed, and there’s a pullout sofa in the living room,” he told her.
“Oh, good.” A pullout sofa was better than nothing. “Are there any other cabins available, just in case my friend doesn’t want to sleep on the sofa?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’re fully booked tonight.” His tone was polite but firm. “It’s one of the last big ski weekends around here.”
“I understand. Thanks for your help.” She took her key card and went back out to the car. “Good news and bad news,” she told Charlotte. “There’s a pullout sofa and a king bed.”
“I’ll take the sofa, no problem,” Charlotte agreed easily.
“Okay.” Marin shouldn’t feel disappointed that Charlotte didn’t want to share her bed, and yet . . . maybe she did. Even if they didn’t have sex, she’d love to sleep beside Charlotte.
They drove to cabin twelve and took the parking space in front, then spent the next few minutes carrying their bags inside and getting Ember’s crate set up. The cottage was cozy, with a little living room and kitchenette and a separate bedroom.
The windows probably had pretty views during the daytime.
The pictures on the website looked nice, anyway, but it was approaching seven now, and the sun had set.
They were both starving, and Ember probably was too.
Marin fed and walked the puppy while Charlotte went over to the diner next door, returning with sandwiches and milkshakes.
Then they watched TV together for a little while, cuddling on the sofa with Ember nestled cozily between them.
It felt like a scene from a future Marin desperately wanted, the three of them making a happy little family unit.
Honestly, she couldn’t think of anything more perfect.
As she rested her head on Charlotte’s shoulder, breathing in the fruity scent of her shampoo, she thought this must be love.
Both her heart and her body craved Charlotte every moment of every day. She felt happy in Charlotte’s presence, content, safe. Of course that was love. Maybe she’d been a little bit in love with Charlotte since they reconnected back in January.
She remembered what Charlotte had said in the car about her dream vacation being more about the person than the place, and Marin felt the truth of that here on this slightly stiff sofa in a little cabin outside Rochester with a potentially unpleasant meeting with Nancy looming in the morning.
The circumstances were far from ideal, but Marin felt warm, relaxed, and happy simply because she was with Charlotte.
“What are you thinking?” Charlotte asked. “Looks intense.”
“Just thinking how glad I am that you’re here.” Marin brought their lips together. “And that you don’t need to sleep on the sofa tonight if you don’t want to.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened.
“We don’t have to do anything but sleep, but it’s a big bed, Charlotte. Share it with me.”
Charlotte looked down at her lap. “Funny you should mention that, because I actually checked out the sofa bed earlier, and it’s broken. Totally unusable.”
“So you’re telling me there’s only one bed?” Marin couldn’t help laughing.
“Yes?” Charlotte gave her a questioning look. “What am I missing?”
“Sorry, it’s a romance-novel thing. ‘Only one bed’ is a very popular trope.”
“Oh,” Charlotte said. “I mean, I was just going to sleep on the couch itself.”
“That sounds so uncomfortable. Please share the bed with me. We can just sleep.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “I want to do more than sleep. I hope you know that. It’s just .
. . I’m scared. I don’t know anything about sex between two women.
I’ve been meaning to research it, but I got caught up in everything with my mom.
Meanwhile, you’ve been waiting such a long time, and I feel like you deserve more than I can give you. ”
“Impossible,” Marin assured her, one of her hands stroking the skin above Charlotte’s jeans, and even that simple touch had her pulse racing.
Once they made it to the bedroom—whenever that happened—she was going to absolutely lose her mind.
She got wet just thinking about it. “I’m so attracted to you, anything we do will be amazing.
We’re both going to be feeling our way, so to speak, but I think that could make it even more special.
We’ll have to check in a lot, right? Ask each other what we like and what feels good.
Trial and error sounds really fucking sexy, if you ask me. ”
“Yeah.” Charlotte’s breath hitched as Marin scratched her nails lightly over her skin.
“I like that, by the way.” Charlotte slipped a hand beneath Marin’s shirt, then slid it up to cup her over her bra, and Marin ached to feel that hand on her bare skin.
She throbbed. All this foreplay with Charlotte was the sweetest kind of torture.
“See?” Marin’s voice was raspy with need. “Feeling our way. We’re already good at it. I’m one hundred percent confident we’ll figure the rest out . . . when the time comes.”
Charlotte blinked at her out of lust-drunk eyes. “One hundred percent?”
Marin nodded. “And as a statistician, I don’t say that unless I mean it.”
“Mare,” Charlotte whispered, and something in her tone only increased the ache between Marin’s thighs. “I’d like to share the bed with you.”
“What are you saying?” Marin asked, because she had to be sure. She couldn’t stand much more teasing, not if Charlotte was going to share her bed platonically tonight.
“I’m saying, I want to do more than sleep in that bed.”
“Are you sure you’re ready? I know you wanted to focus on family before relationships this year . . .”
Charlotte’s gaze never wavered. “I’m sure.
I thought a relationship might distract me from my goal of finding my mom, because my previous relationships were distracting, but it’s different with you.
You’re my best friend and my partner, and you encourage me in everything I do.
If I get a new lead, you’ll help me chase it, whether we’re sleeping together or not. ”
“Oh, Charlotte . . .” Marin blinked the tears from her eyes.
“So yeah, I’m ready. Let’s live out your ‘only one bed’ trope. What do you say?”
“Yes. I say yes.”