Chapter Thirteen
Charlie had been looking forward to this evening since Tuesday, when she’d finally gotten up the courage to ask Harper to go with her.
Using their informal bet as the reason was a stroke of genius, especially since she knew Harper had been avoiding her and had been at a loss on how to stop it.
She’d realized just how much she appreciated their burgeoning friendship when Harper was suddenly missing from her life for two weeks.
It had really hurt—especially since they’d both been so open and vulnerable that night on the pier—and made her determined to reestablish a connection, so she was ecstatic when Harper had agreed without a fight.
After spending entirely too long trying on everything in her closet—which admittedly hadn’t taken long since she didn’t own a whole hell of a lot—she’d decided on wide-legged cream linen pants, paired with a white tank top with a few red flowers on it.
Harper had beaten her to the landing, and Charlie was struck seeing her hair down and flowing around her shoulders. She’d never seen Harper without a ponytail or bun, and she was…breathtaking. Even more so as her smile grew when she looked Charlie up and down.
“You look amazing,” she said.
“This old thing?” Charlie smiled as she twirled, letting the wide legs of her pants swirl around her legs. “I just threw it on.”
“Since that I heart Key West tank top you were wearing when we met was the only shirt you owned at the time, I know old isn’t an accurate adjective here.” She laughed, and Charlie’s skin felt warm. She wanted to blame it on the air but knew it was Harper’s presence.
“True. And I’m not telling you how much I tried on before I settled on this outfit.
But you’re looking pretty great yourself.
” She circled a finger in the air. And Harper did look fantastic in those high-waisted black shorts and rust-colored sleeveless V-neck that revealed an enticing amount of cleavage.
An adorable light pink started at that alluring cleavage and crept up Harper’s throat. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, “Thank you.”
“I’ve never seen you with your hair down. I like it.”
That pink tinge got redder, and Charlie tried not to grin.
She liked knowing she had an effect on Harper.
The more time they spent together, the more sparks flew between them, and the less Charlie wanted to resist it anymore, which, admittedly, was part of the reason she’d asked Harper to go to the Sunset Celebration with her.
Harper cleared her throat. “Yeah, it’s in the way at work, but sometimes I wear it down. Not often, just when…” She rolled her lips in rather than finishing whatever she was thinking and looked away. “Anyway, shall we go?”
“Sure. Do you want to walk? Or should we call a taxi?” Charlie was hoping she’d want to walk. It was only about a mile, after all.
“Walking would be good. I didn’t have a chance to run this morning, so getting a little more movement in would be a good thing. Plus, I love to walk around here, even if it is a little humid.” She gestured for Charlie to lead the way.
They walked in comfortable silence for a couple blocks.
Charlie loved to people watch here. There were a lot of tourists in New York, but seeing them in a tropical location was more entertaining.
She really wanted to give them all some sunscreen; the number of painful-looking sunburns made her cringe.
“Have you always gone by Charlie?” Harper said. “Your legal name is Charlotte, right?”
The way Charlotte rolled off Harper’s lips made her regret for a second that she didn’t go by Charlotte here.
It was as if she was making love to the syllables.
“Um, when I was a kid, my parents always called me Charlie, but when I left for college, everyone called me Charlotte, and I decided it sounded a lot more distinguished, so I embraced it professionally. But when it was time for a break, and I ended up here…” She fluttered her hand in the air.
“I didn’t like who I’d become. Charlotte didn’t feel right anymore.
It sounded like I should be the seventh generation of inherited wealth brought over from the old country.
It was too…snooty. I needed a simpler life, so I went back to Charlie. ”
Harper laughed. “I get it. Though, I don’t think Charlotte sounds snooty. But I like Charlie too. Both of them roll nicely off the tongue.”
Charlie almost said she’d probably roll nicely off Harper’s tongue but stopped herself. But she couldn’t think of anything else to say now that those words were bouncing around in her head like a set of dice in a cup.
“So did your name come from generations of wealth, perhaps coming over in the nineteenth century on a luxury ship?”
“Ha, no. My parents are college professors at UF. It’s why they live in Gainesville. And their parents were college professors before them. So definitely no generational wealth at play. I think my dad really liked Charlotte’s Web, and that’s where my name came from.”
“Huh,” Harper said, her brows knitted.
“What?” Charlie really wanted to know what she was thinking.
“Did it ever bother you that your parents named you after a spider? And more than that, a spider who never got any credit for being extraordinary? She did all that fancy work trying to tell the world how radiant and terrific Wilbur was while all he did was sit on the ground and oink. Though he was kind.”
Charlie stopped in her tracks. “I’ve never thought about it like that, but maybe that’s why I’ve always been driven to be an overachiever.
Wow. That’s a little disturbing. And here my parents just thought the name was pretty.
Maybe they had second thoughts, and that’s why they called me Charlie when I was growing up.
” She couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous a notion that was.
“Sorry if I’m giving you a complex. I didn’t mean it. I’m afraid of spiders, and that’s what would have bothered me the most.”
Charlie laughed even harder and squeezed her arm. “You’re not giving me a complex at all. I feel like you’re holding up a mirror to all my dysfunctions.”
“I’m not quite sure that’s any better.” She winced.
Wanting her to let it go, Charlie said, “It’s fine, I swear. But why don’t you tell me where Harper comes from? There aren’t a lot out there. In fact, you’re the first and only one I’ve met.”
“I’m named for Harper Lee, the author, because of my idealistic parents.
” She sighed softly. “They were firm believers that there are some things worth fighting for, even if chances of success are slim. Very much like Atticus Finch. If I’d been a boy, they probably would’ve named me Atticus.
Honestly, I think they thought about it anyway. ”
Charlie laughed as she squinted. “I could actually see you as an Atticus.”
Harper rolled her eyes as she chuckled. “That makes one of us anyway. Happily, they came to their senses and also didn’t go with Scout or Jem but named me after the woman who created them all.”
“That’s maybe the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. And you said they were both attorneys too, right?”
“Yep.” Harper ran her hand up and down the arm close to Charlie, brushing her arm a few times. Charlie resisted leaning in for more contact.
“Are you cold?” Charlie couldn’t fathom that given the August heat radiating off everything.
“No, just a chill. My parents wanted me to follow in their footsteps and do public interest work, but I went into big law instead. They were always stressed about money, and I didn’t want that to be my life, you know?”
Charlie nodded because she absolutely knew.
“But, um.” She cleared her throat. “My wife, Kelly, and I volunteered at their pro bono community clinic at least once a week. Sometimes more. It’s why I took the bar exam down here.
I’d thought about starting my own pro bono clinic, but that comes with too much admin and insurance and stuff, and with running the bar…
” She shrugged. “So I volunteer at Legal Aid Florida a few mornings a week.”
“That’s really amazing. I haven’t really ever given back.
Maybe teaching yoga is a little bit of giving back now.
But it…” Charlie didn’t want to say it, but in trying to be more genuine, she pushed forward.
“It wasn’t really on my radar before. I don’t think I was a bad person, but I was definitely absorbed in my own life.
My job. Making money for faceless people.
I don’t want that to be me anymore. I don’t think it’s who I am at my core.
” She hadn’t realized how tense she’d become until Harper tentatively grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“That’s what life is about, right? Growing and getting better as a person?
We aren’t born with innate knowledge of humanity and the universe.
Every person on the planet is a work in progress.
But at our age, hopefully, we are conscious enough to be changing for the better.
And at this point, if we aren’t, that’s the real problem. ”
Charlie turned her hand, interlacing their fingers. She hoped Harper wouldn’t pull away, but in that moment, she needed a tangible connection. “You’re right, I think. I hope.”
Harper squeezed her hand but didn’t release her as Charlie had been expecting.
They walked that way for several blocks, their fingers intertwined, their arms brushing.
Just the sound of their feet on the pavement and that of loud tourists a few blocks away.
As they got closer to Mallory Square, they could hear the cheers and gasps of people watching the performers who Charlie had been so excited to see.
Yet, as she and Harper walked, she wished they were alone because once they arrived and were no longer in their safe, secluded little bubble, surely Harper would drop her hand, and Charlie was enjoying the closeness. A lot.