Chapter Sixteen #2
“I do,” Gray said, his hand resting on the small of Charlie’s back. “Keller.”
The host led them through a rustically modern—if that was a thing—dining area with high exposed ceilings and beams, black industrial pendant lights offering an intimate glow against the dark stained wood walls.
They stopped next to a partially enclosed booth that reminded Gray of a railway car.
“Oh, this is adorable. I love it. Have you brought Ollie here? She’d love this, from what I’ve learned about her,” Charlie said, sliding into one side.
“I haven’t, but you’re right. She’d want Levi’s dad to build her one.”
“Your server will be with you in a moment,” the host said.
They both thanked him, then stayed quiet when someone dropped off waters and menus.
“What an eclectic little place,” Charlie said, glancing around.
The inside of the booth felt cozy and private but well lit with the hanging light.
“I haven’t been here. I thought it would be fun to try something new,” Gray said, then heard the words. “Trust me, if you knew me years ago, you’d realize how strange those words are coming from me.”
“A big fan of routine and predictability?” Charlie asked while opening the menu.
Gray opened his, glanced down at it. “You could say that.”
“Most people are, in some way, even when they don’t think so,” Charlie said.
Their server came a couple of minutes later. They settled on a caprese salad to start, then gnocchi for her and linguine for Gray. They both ordered a glass of red wine and Gray felt more relaxed every minute.
Gray sipped his wine before setting his glass down. “What are you a big fan of?”
She laughed, her fingers running over the bottom of her glass. “I like predictability and routine as much as anyone. This little adventure has made me realize how much I relied on both.”
He wanted to ask more but didn’t want to push.
Even if the things she wasn’t saying, her real reason for being here, nagged at the back of his brain.
He just wanted to enjoy time with her without overthinking it.
Could he do that? Could he get to the point in his life that he could date casually without any of the parties involved getting hurt?
“What do you like other than psychology?”
She smiled. “I play guitar. I enjoy that when I remember to pick it up. At home, I go to yoga a couple of times a week. I love reading and going for walks.”
“I never learned to play an instrument. How old were you when you learned to play guitar?”
A look somewhere in the middle of happy and sad passed over her face. “My mom says I was born holding one. I think probably about three.”
Gray leaned back. “Wow. That’s impressive. I’d love to hear you play. We have a guitar at the lodge.”
Charlie averted her gaze, her eyes filling with something Grayson couldn’t read. “Maybe some time.”
The waiter brought their salads and they fell into an easy conversation about people she’d met, Smile, what he liked to do—hiking, fishing, hanging with his family. He was saved from having to answer what had brought him to the lodge by their dinner arriving.
They thanked the waiter and Grayson picked up his fork and knife to dig in.
Charlie smiled from across the table. “I didn’t forget the question, Grayson.” Her tone was teasing, her smile bright and … settled. Which was nice to see.
“A guy can hope,” he said.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” she said, stabbing a piece of gnocchi with her fork.
He took a bite, chewed—damn, that’s good—and thought about how to say it.
It surprised him that he wanted her to know—that even though it had hurt to get here, he was grateful for what he had.
“The short answer is it was my settlement in my divorce. My ex-wife came from a very wealthy family. Even though I didn’t contest the divorce, she allowed her father to make what they called proactively strategic moves to ensure I didn’t come after them financially.
I think that bothered me almost as much as the divorce itself, that Lana thought I’d seek retribution for her not loving me anymore.
” He shook his head, surprised at the revelation.
“I wanted it to work between us. When it didn’t, I let her go.
But it was like that wasn’t enough. Her father had bought the lodge years and years ago for his wife.
I didn’t even want it.” Smiling at her, he realized he didn’t feel any anger anymore. “Now, I can’t imagine not having it.”
Charlie reached across the table and covered his hand with her smaller one.
“Then I’m glad you have it, but I’m sorry for the things you had to experience along the way.
I’ve been through a few breakups of my own.
Nothing dramatic or harsh, but I’ve certainly known people who weren’t as lucky.
I’ll never understand why people feel it’s necessary to make the end of something as painful as possible.
” She shook her head, gave a little laugh.
“I mean, logically, I actually understand the reasoning behind it very well, but I just don’t think I could do that to someone. ”
Interesting, he thought. He’d avoided dates, but in doing so, he’d kept pieces of his story locked down because there’d been no reason to discuss it.
Talking about it let him see that he really had moved on.
He wondered if that would have been the case with any date or if it was something Charlie pulled out of him—the desire to open up again. Even if just a little.
“I realized tonight, when I was getting ready, that I’m really okay. I hate how it ended but I’m not sorry for where I landed. Especially right this minute. In fact, I feel pretty damn lucky to be sitting across the table from someone so beautiful, sweet, funny, and smart.”
Charlie’s eyes burned into his like she felt every word of the compliment to her core. The urge to kiss her had him flexing his fingers around his fork. Time and place. He couldn’t very well lean over the table and make out with her, no matter how much the look on her face made him want to.
She inhaled a shaky breath. “I think you were right earlier,” she said softly. “I think we might be in trouble.”
Gray smiled. He had no idea where this would go or how it would end.
Only that it would because there was no other option.
He could hang on to the pieces of himself if they dated.
Even if they slept together. She was hiding from something and he was finally not.
They weren’t on the same path, but that didn’t mean, while their respective paths crossed, they couldn’t enjoy the hell out of each other.