Chapter Five
Five
CHARLIE’S brAIN GLITCHED WHEN HER gaze locked on the man she’d been doing her best not to think of all day.
It’s just a physical reaction. It was worth reminding herself because she’d learned all too well, lately, that her trust was often misplaced.
She didn’t have a “connection” with Gray.
She was attracted to him and it’d been a while since anyone had piqued her interest, so it was completely normal for her thoughts to continually shift back to him.
Thoughts could be pushed away—just annoying background noise, New York traffic or LA construction.
In person, though? It was next door to impossible to avoid thinking of him if he was the brother, uncle, tour guide, and lodge owner that everyone had been talking about today.
Had they mentioned his name? Was she completely out of it?
Or had it just not registered because her mind was so busy with the complications of her situation?
His sister, Jillian, and his sister-in-law, Presley, were absolutely lovely.
They reminded her so much of the small friendship circle she’d created for herself after grad school.
Friends who’d looked at her like she was a stranger when they’d learned the truth.
All the things she’d held back in her effort to be a curated version of herself.
Charlie had been at Get Lost Lodge only a few hours and she felt like she’d known these people for months.
She already knew that neither of those women was the type to capture an emotional meltdown on camera and then use it as a way to manifest personal gain and success.
Because really, what kind of humans did that?
Charlie had to admit that meeting this crew, including the guests staying at the lodge, had reminded her that not everyone was hovering to make a mad grab for their fifteen minutes of fame.
Living in her mother’s world again had made her forget that.
“Grayson, you’re back. How was the event, son?
Sorry I couldn’t go.” Bernie pushed up from his chair.
He had a bit of a limp but he insisted it was just some arthritis and he didn’t need fussing over.
Charlie had been so worried he wouldn’t be what she’d pictured, but he was all that and more.
A piece of her own story, her father’s story, she’d never let herself read.
“Come meet my niece.” He gestured to Charlie, then looked back at Grayson.
“Technically, my great-niece, as she’s the daughter of my late nephew. Gray, this is Charlotte.”
She appreciated that he didn’t use last names.
Gray continued to stare at her even as he came forward like he was on autopilot; their eyes connected, an invisible string shrinking between them to bring them closer.
Her heart rate spiked to the point that she could feel each beat.
That wasn’t good. She forced herself to stand.
“Charlotte,” he said, reaching out a hand. The two syllables felt like warm honey being drizzled over her favorite dessert. Seductive and alluring. Get a grip, Charlie.
“Grayson, was it?” she said, noting the way his brows arched.
Yes, she was a coward and wasn’t about to admit that they’d met.
Knowing was part of the battle, right? God.
She felt like all she’d done lately was battle or prepare for it.
It was exhausting when there was no time in between to regroup.
“Gray is good. Bernie’s been really excited for your visit. Welcome to Get Lost Lodge.”
They continued to stare until Beckett, whom she’d met earlier, cleared his throat. She and Gray must have realized they were still holding hands in the same split second.
Yanking her hand free, she looked at Bernie. “I’m really tired. It’s been a long day. Do you mind if I head back to the cabin?”
Bernie patted her arm, a casually affectionate gesture that he couldn’t know meant something to her. The puff of gray hair on his head made him seem taller and made Charlie want to reach out and smooth it down.
“This is your home for as long as you need it. You don’t need to ask,” he said kindly.
Why did a simple kindness make her want to cry? Because you haven’t had enough of it lately. She annoyed herself when she knew the answers to her own questions and asked them anyway.
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she turned to look at the rest of the Kellers. “Thank you for dinner and a lovely evening.”
Presley stood, starting toward her, but Ollie beat her, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around Charlie’s belly and maybe her heart. She’d fled LA and landed on a tiny island with the nicest people on earth.
“I can take you hiking tomorrow,” Ollie said, tilting her head back. Her ponytail bounced with the movement.
Gray put a hand on her shoulder. “Let her get settled, kiddo.”
Unable to process how strangers could be so welcoming when the people who were supposed to be her family had been so cruel, Charlie forced another smile and left the group around the firepit, all but running so she could get far enough away to pull in a full breath.
She was almost to the cabin, her pulse refusing to settle, when Gray called her name. He must have followed her. Charlie turned, waited at the foot of the steps for him to reach her.
“You’re Bernie’s niece?” His breath came in short bursts like he’d rushed.
“Great-niece, technically.” Bernie had already told him this, but the scent of his cologne, or maybe it was all him, made it hard to think.
He shuffled his feet, actually looked down at them and shifted them.
It would have been disarmingly endearing if her heartbeat weren’t so loud in her ears.
When he glanced up, he gave her a small smile.
“I didn’t know that. Obviously. When I asked you to get a hot dog earlier.
I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry. I’m…” He stopped, firmed his lips, drawing Charlie’s curiosity from hidden places.
Ones she’d tried to shut down. “I haven’t asked a woman to grab lunch or food or anything since before my divorce.
” He shook his head, ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
Her smile came without permission even as her heartbeat settled into a normal pace and volume. “I’ve been thinking about hot dogs.”
His loud laughter seemed to float up into the fresh air. It loosened all of her muscles and tempted her to lower her guard. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or make you hot dogs for lunch tomorrow.”
“Definitely the second.” She shoved her hands in her pockets, feeling restless and a little self-conscious, like it was her first time talking to a guy.
“This is a little awkward, I guess,” he said, dipping his chin.
The breeze brushed strands of hair into her face but she didn’t push them away. “I’ve been in far more awkward situations. This isn’t even on the low end of mild.”
Staring at her like he couldn’t figure her out, his lips turned up in a soft, friendly smile. “I look forward to getting to know you, Charlie.”
“I’m pretty boring. Not much to know.” Oh, how she wanted that to be true.
“Somehow, I doubt that. If you need anything, just ask. I mean, Bernie knows his way around this place pretty well, but I’m here, too.” The words seemed to come faster as he spoke. “So are my siblings. Levi and Ollie know a lot, too.”
Determined not to be charmed by him, she stepped back. “I appreciate that, but I won’t need much. I’m just here to get to know Bernie, and in September I’ll start working at the school.”
He nodded. “Good night, then.” He started walking back in the direction of the lodge.
She stared after him, wondering if he’d look back over his shoulder, and when he didn’t, she felt foolish for hoping he would.
Inside the cabin, she went straight to her room.
Bernie had painted the walls a pale shade of blue and added sweet little pinstriped curtains and lovely dark blue bedding.
The breeze rustled those curtains through the screen, bringing in the scent of fresh air.
A hint of paint fumes still hung around, but it wasn’t enough to bother her.
The fact that he’d gone to so much trouble to get ready for her visit had made her feel incredibly welcome.
He was genuinely happy that she was visiting and while he knew the bare bones of what she’d left behind, he didn’t know the whole story.
Like her mother could sense her thinking about it, her phone rang. Charlie closed her eyes, sinking down onto the bed, and ignored the ringing. Again. She’d left for a reason and she wasn’t ready to listen to all of the ways her mother thought she’d overreacted.
Vivi Colter, born Vivica Ashford, never met a moment she couldn’t turn into a love story or create some sort of drama from.
At eighteen, she’d stolen Bryce Colter’s heart from the floor of one of his band’s shows in Seattle.
At the time, the Bryce Colter Band was just on the cusp of notable fame.
Bryce and Vivi, who was on her way to Hollywood to become an actress, fell in love, according to Vivica, in the span of one song.
She’d traveled with the band, married him in Vegas, and settled down with him in a mansion at the base of the Hollywood Hills.
Vivi launched her acting career by starring in one of Bryce’s music videos and went on to star in several B-level films. But nothing mattered to her like Bryce. They’d been inseparable.
Mom
You can’t ignore me forever C.C.
Charlie sighed, her heartstrings tugging at the use of her mom’s nickname for her.
She had been born three years into Vivi and Bryce’s marriage.
When she was a child, the daughter of a legendary rock singer and his starlet wife, Charlie was Charlotte Colter.
But after Bryce’s death and the hard years that followed, that little girl faded from her mother’s story like an extra in the background.
When Charlotte was eighteen, she legally changed her last name to Ashford, dropped the Colter, and went away to school, putting space between herself and her mom and the legacy of her dad.
She earned her bachelor’s degree, decided to pursue counseling, and moved back to LA, settling in Culver City, far enough away from her mom’s home in the Hollywood Hills.
They found a rhythm in their relationship that worked for them both, meeting up for lunch and shopping, more like girlfriends than anything else.
Unless Vivi had to cancel because of an audition or the devastation over losing a role.
Charlie’s phone buzzed again. She turned it off.
She was here to recharge, to get away from the drama her mother had poured all over her life like syrup on pancakes.
She loved her mom. So much. Most of the time—now that she was an adult who could take care of herself and had strategies to manage her own mental health—she even liked Vivi.
But she’d gone too far. Knowingly pulled Charlie into a twisted maze with no way out.
And the horrible people she’d brought into Charlie’s life had recorded the worst moments of it.
For profit. Not entirely Vivica’s fault. But it wasn’t not her fault either.
They’d find their way back, somehow. She just didn’t know exactly how or when. But it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
Getting off the bed, she finished unpacking her things, glad she didn’t have to start work for a few weeks. Maybe, by then, she’d have adjusted to the fact that this was her life now. Whether she wanted it to be or not.