Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
CHARLIE WAS DOING A GOOD job of ignoring the messages, emails, and phone calls. Her mom, her ex, media outlets, a couple of former colleagues, and, of course, the evil stepsisters. She was ready to turn her phone off and pretend it didn’t exist.
She was prepped for the first few lectures and even practiced in the mirror—away from anyone who might overhear.
Not that she had to worry since Bernie had gone for a walk before his staff meeting at the lodge.
She grinned when he said it. She loved how much the Keller family included him.
It said something special about all of them.
Her phone buzzed again just as she finished her practice introduction.
Glancing at it—such a hard habit to break—she frowned.
It was a text from Isaiah, her ex, which, normally, she’d leave on read.
But all she could see from where she stood was a word that made the hair on the back of her neck stand straight.
Isaiah
URGENT!
Worry wrapped its fingers around her heart. He was an ass, but surely he wouldn’t say something was urgent unless it actually was. She picked up the phone, swiped the screen.
Isaiah
URGENT! Charlotte. It’s your mom. Please phone me.
Her heart dropped to her bare feet even as her hand shook and she phoned.
He picked up immediately.
“Charlotte,” Isaiah said, his breath heavy like he’d been working out. “I’m so glad you called. Are you okay?”
She’d begun to pace but pulled up short. “What? I’m fine. What’s wrong with my mom? You said it was urgent.”
“It is urgent, Charlotte. We’re going out of our minds with worry,” Isaiah said.
Charlie shook her head, hoping something tumbled into place and made sense. “Who is we and what’s wrong with Vivi?”
“We is me and Vivi, darling.”
She nearly gagged. She had no issue with endearments, but one, there was a time and place, and two, some people just couldn’t pull certain ones off. Breathing deeply, she worked to stay calm.
“Isaiah, you messaged about my mom. Are you with her? Because I can’t imagine a world in which you should be.”
“Not at the moment, no. But she’s beside herself, wondering where you are, if you’re okay. She reached out to me and asked me to do anything I could. You know how much I care for you and your mom.”
Charlotte’s dating history was easy to sum up.
Her first boyfriend had been in the eleventh grade.
It lasted all of two months. When she went away to university, she’d fallen in love with a guy in her philosophy class.
Nothing bonded two people like lamenting life’s what-ifs.
He’d been her first and when they’d broken up because she wouldn’t open up completely to him, she’d questioned herself for months after.
He moved on quickly. When she met Isaiah, she decided to learn from her mistakes.
After a few months of dating, she introduced him to Vivi.
She’d asked her mother not to talk about her dad but it was a useless request. Shortly after the visit, Isaiah got very into music, asking her if she knew anyone who could listen to him.
It was the start of the end. When he saw the video, he’d reached out, asked her about her connections, told her she needed to do some PR damage repair, like he was some sort of expert, and that he could help with that.
During his one introduction to her mom, Vivi said she got a good vibe from him.
Charlie said the vibe was more likely coming from the three martinis she’d had over dinner.
“Charlotte, I still love you and your mom does, too. She doesn’t deserve this radio silence,” Isaiah said. “She’s worried about you.”
Her fingers tightened around the phone. “I’m fine, Isaiah, and I need you to stop phoning. I need some space from Vivi and the whole situation. I’m safe and taking care of myself and, quite frankly, it’s none of your concern. I’ll ask my mom not to reach out to you again.”
She was ready to hang up.
“She isn’t the only one calling me,” he said.
Her pulse stammered. “Oh?”
“Your stepsisters, TMZ, and some big-shot producer have also asked about our relationship.”
Charlie stopped pacing. “We don’t have a relationship, they aren’t my stepsisters, and the only way TMZ contacted you is if you reached out and told them something about our past.”
Which he’d definitely done. Because inside the polished, well-spoken grad student was a man who wanted the spotlight. Without working for it.
Sort of like the evil stepsisters. How had she ever thought what she had with Isaiah was anything close to real? She’d rather be alone.
Bernie walked through the door, smiled when he saw her.
“I need to go. Don’t phone me again,” she said quietly, then hung up.
Slipping her phone into her pocket, she forced a smile. “How was your meeting?”
Bernie had a bit of a limp as he walked toward her, but he’d insisted earlier when she’d asked that he was fine and it was just one of the perks of aging.
“It was good. The Keller family doesn’t realize how special they are. Individually and collectively.” He walked to the fridge, pulled out some apple juice, and poured himself a glass. He took it to the table and sat before he spoke again. “Is everything okay?”
Charlie sank down in the chair across from him. “Fine. Just an ex-boyfriend looking to cash in on what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry, Charlotte. You don’t deserve that.” He cleared his throat. “Would it help to share your side of the story publicly? To put the rumors to rest?”
She laughed, not liking the bitter sound of it. She wasn’t a bitter person. She was happy and content and this whole situation had turned her into someone restless and on edge.
“In my experience, contributing to the conversation in any way will only fuel the fire. People believe what they want and you can’t convince anyone of what they don’t want to see.”
Bernie reached across the table and covered her hand with his. It was such a sweet and comforting gesture, it brought tears to her eyes.
“Would you like to go for a walk? In our meeting, I remembered something and I think you’d really like to hear it.”
Glancing at his leg and then at him, she asked, “Are you sure you’re up for it?”
Bernie chuckled, picked up his juice. “If I stayed sitting every time something ached, I’d never move, my dear.” He took a large drink and set the glass down. “Grab a sweater. It’s cooling off.”
THE SUN WAS DIPPING LOW into the water, and Bernie was right—there was a gentle chill in the air.
They’d started on the same trail Charlie took the other day when Grayson found her.
Bernie, for all his limping, had no trouble leading the way.
They took a couple of unmarked turns, and even though she worried they’d get lost, he was confident in his memory of where they were going.
As she walked beside him, stepping on leaves and twigs along the dry path, she felt the tension of her phone call easing away.
She’d have to phone her mom and talk to her, but right now, all of that felt like another life.
“It seems like some sort of kismet that Gray needed help at a time when you wanted to invest. You must have loved it here as a boy,” she said, wondering how much these woods had changed.
She was working very hard not to think about what might be living in the depths of the trees and mountains right now.
“Oh, we did. My brother and I spent hours on these trails before they were even trails. We camped overnight, built shelters, pretended to be explorers. Our parents used to have one of those big supper bells they use on farms and my mother would stand at the base of the trail and ring that thing until we had no choice but to come running.”
Charlie smiled at his story. On one hand, she felt removed from the memory because she didn’t even know Bernie that well.
But another piece of her felt warm with the little pocket of information about her grandfather, a man she’d never known.
Like somehow, knowing something about him closed some of the gap between her and her dad’s side of the family.
Like it could bring her closer to a dad she’d barely gotten a chance to know.
“I always wanted a sibling growing up,” Charlie shared.
Bernie paused by a large rock and leaned against it, opening the bottle of water he’d brought. Charlie opened hers as well, thankful she’d brought the lightweight hoodie.
“I imagine the two women who’ve turned your world upside down are not the kind of sisters you’d hoped for.” He looked at her like he truly understood. Maybe he did.
“That’s an understatement. I thought it would be wonderful to have built-in friends.
Even at my age, the thought of having a larger family really appealed to me.
But now, I worry that Vivi is going into something without really thinking it through.
Like, maybe she wants so badly to find what she had with my dad again that she’s willing to block out the warnings. ”
Bernie recapped his water bottle. “His daughters attacking hers is one hell of a warning to ignore.”
The vehemence in his tone surprised her, and for a second, just a flash, she felt vindicated. Why would her mother move forward with something that not only pulled the rug out from under Charlie, but rolled her up in it and suffocated her?
“I’m trying very hard to practice what I preach,” Charlie said, lengthening her breaths.
“And what’s that?” Bernie pushed off the rock, started walking again.
“I can’t control anyone other than myself. That’s why I left LA. I needed the space to make choices for myself that had nothing to do with my mom’s feelings. My whole life, I’ve felt like I know exactly who I’m not. I guess, coming here, I’m hoping to figure out who I am.”
Bernie patted her arm. “I think you know yourself more than you think.” He pointed to a tree a little farther up.
The tree was oddly shaped, as if it couldn’t decide which way it truly wanted to grow and so it curved and bent in a variety of ways.
It extended up into the sky so far that Charlie had to tip her head back to see it all.
It was rounder than she was tall and showed markings in the bark that suggested it had weathered a lot of damage over time.
But it stood tall, proud, and completely unique among the others.
She wasn’t even sure why she was smiling when she looked at Bernie. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tree curve like this. It almost looks like an S.”
“Isn’t it magnificent? My brother and I spotted it at the exact same moment. This was our headquarters,” he said proudly.
Charlie laughed. “Your exploring headquarters?”
He nodded, his hand on the tree as he moved around the thick roots poking up here and there. “We always agreed that if we ever got separated or something terrible happened, this was our spot. I’ve had more picnics in this spot than any other on the island.”
When he bent over, Charlie worried he’d collapsed and rushed forward.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced up from his crouched position. “I’m fine. Come look.”
She knelt beside him, looking closely as he brushed away overgrowth and bits of bark. There, carved into a tree that had stood in this spot longer than either of them had been alive, were crudely sketched letters: BD followed by JD.
Charlie traced her fingers over both her great-uncle’s and her grandfather’s initials, her heart beating unsteadily in her chest. She might feel completely unmoored in her real life, but in this spot, she had roots.
A piece of her was physically tethered to this place.
To the man beside her, and seeing that in such a tangible way healed a little piece of her heart. Made it feel more complete. Fuller.
“Thank you, Uncle Bernie,” she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder.
He inhaled deeply, let it out shakily. “My pleasure, dear.”
His voice was thick with emotion and for the first time in a while, Charlie didn’t feel so alone.