19. Trial by Lancaster #2
Charlie gives me a smile that tells me she’s both thrilled and absolutely knew that conversation was coming.
I’m glad Charlie’s brothers got all their razzing in before dinner—it let the rest of the meal unfold without the tension of waiting for the next round.
Once the plates are cleared, the toasts begin.
Emerson, the best man, kicks things off.
His speech is everything I imagine he is: sincere, articulate, and surprisingly funny.
There’s an undercurrent of inside jokes woven through it—nothing obvious, just clever turns of phrase that make Jace laugh and shake his head in a way that says Emerson knows exactly how to push his buttons.
But in a brotherly, best-man sort of way.
Mackenzie’s best friend, Livi, takes the mic next. She has the whole crowd laughing in no time with her stories of Mackenzie’s pre-Jace dating history, then dabbing at their eyes by the end with how perfectly she describes Jace and Mackenzie’s relationship.
As she’s finishing up, I lean over to Charlie and ask if she is giving a toast. Her eyes go wide, and she shakes her head.
“And have all eyes on me? Not a chance. We agreed I wouldn’t when Mackenzie first asked me to be a co-maid-of-honor.
” Then she smiles. “But I wrote a toast—Miles is going to read it.” As Miles stands and gives Charlie’s toast, Charlie stays seated, blushing furiously as her words make even the most stoic Lancasters get misty-eyed.
Then, Mackenzie’s dad gives his speech. He keeps it short and sweet, and makes everyone laugh at his regret that he didn’t know having someone else read it was an option. He sounds like such a proud dad, though.
Jace and Mackenzie stand with the microphone. Jace thanks everyone for coming, and then Mackenzie says, “Now, let’s dance!”
The first song is a slow one, and Jace leads his bride out into the grassy area bordered by tables, and they begin to dance. About halfway through the song, others start joining them. So I stand, hold out a hand to Charlie, and say in my best growly voice, “Would you like to dance?”
She laughs and takes my hand. “No need to bring out the growly voice to convince me—I’ve been waiting all day for this.”
When we reach an open area, I put my hands on her hips and she puts her arms around my neck, and we sway to the music under the stars. “You look beautiful,” I say. “And so happy.”
She smiles. “It’s a good day.” A moment later, she says, “My brothers love you. My mom, too.”
“And apparently, your great aunt Sissy.”
Charlie laughs softly.
“I think they’re pretty great, too. And I think you are incredible.”
She looks at me like she’s really seeing me. I can’t believe I resisted her for so long.
We dance for a long time. Free-styling fast dances in so many genres, as well as group dances, like the Macarena , Boot Scootin’ Boogie , and even a Conga line. When Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody comes on, everyone sings every word right along with it.
And we don’t miss dancing to a single slow dance.
Every time, I can’t get over how amazing it feels to have my arms around Charlie, dancing closely, whispering in each other’s ears, moving as one under the stars.
The night is beginning to take on that dreamlike quality where everything feels not quite real. But I also want it to last forever.
Eventually, we start to tire, and Charlie asks, “Do you want to wander a bit on the paths?” So, hand-in-hand, we do, checking out all the fun little spaces spread throughout the venue, all lit by strings of lights above or pathway lights at our feet.
We come upon an alcove hidden away by shrubs, greenery, one canopy-like tree, and vines that grow up and across an archway, and we sit on a bench nestled away inside. I put my arm around Charlie, and she leans her head against my shoulder.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Charlie says, turning her head to look at me. “I know that, for a first date, meeting all the family, extended family included, is… a lot.”
“I thought it was exactly the right amount.” And I’m really not lying.
I had been trying—and not succeeding very well—to distance myself from Charlie.
To convince myself that I shouldn’t want her or that dating her would be a bad idea.
Now that I finally, thanks in large part to my grandma, decided that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all, I felt like I had already missed out on so much.
So, tonight’s mega-dose of Charlie is a gift.
She smiles. “Come on. Exactly the right amount ?” The light is low in this alcove, but it’s enough to see the contour of her cheek, the line of her jaw, the silhouette of her neck as it curves into her shoulder.
“It sounds like you’re saying that maybe our second date should be the opposite of this.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Hmm. So we’re looking for something more intimate, low-pressure, and the opposite of a full-family, fancy wedding.
We could… make dinner together in one of our kitchens, once we get our kitchens fully put back together, of course, or we could set up a movie night in the grassy area behind our townhomes, or we could have a picnic in one of the balconies of the theater in the evening when no on e is there. ”
Charlie raises an eyebrow. “Ooh. I’m intrigued by this picnic idea.”
I don’t want to wait until next weekend to go on another date with Charlie. I quickly think through what is on the schedule for this coming week—I don’t want to take her there right after we made a lot of dust. “Are you free on Wednesday?”
“Yes.” She pauses a moment before adding, “Wednesday is a long time away.”
“And now we have a wall separating us.” I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling it.
“We’ll just have to find more creative ways to see each other before then.”
I smile. That, I can do.
Charlie reaches a hand up to rest on my chest, and even though we’ve been dancing together for hours, I swear the touch makes fireworks erupt inside me.
She looks so deeply into my eyes, and since I’m doing the same, I catch the moment her gaze flicks from my eyes to my lips.
It’s only for a second, but now all I can think about are her lips.
I reach up and skim my fingertips along the side of her neck and out to her shoulder.
Charlie bites her lip for a second, and then she leans forward and presses her lips to mine.
I respond by cupping her face in my hands, holding it gently as our lips move together.
She slides her hands around to my back, holding me close, like she doesn’t want to let me go. I sink into it, soaking in the sensation of being so close to Charlie, feeling her pour as much longing into our kiss as I am.
It was sixteen years ago when my grandpa first brought me to The Shadowridge, and I knew I wanted to one day restore it.
It was well over a year ago when my career was at a place where I could, and I came back to look at the building again.
That very day, I started working through the very long process of making that a reality.
I was just so drawn to the building, the town, the possibilities.
I had no idea then that when I would move here to work on it, I’d be even more drawn to the woman who lived in the townhome I’d be sharing a wall with.
I think back to who I was on that day—to the me who didn’t even know that Charlotte Lancaster existed.
I wonder how blown away that previous me would be if I’d had any idea what lay in store for me.
Or that I would ever experience a night like this with a woman like Charlie.
Or that I would so totally and completely fall for her.