7. Charlie
CHAPTER 7
CHARLIE
“Y ou’re late,” Cait said.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Why are you even here?” he asked his sister. “You’re not required to be at this.”
“Yeah, well, John and Scott are inside with Rogan already. We all wanted to see the show,” Cait said, crossing her arms.
“The show?”
“You know how much we love a bit of theater. We’re actually taking bets on whether or not you two are going to be able to convince Rogan that this is a real marriage.”
“It’s a real marriage,” Charlie said. “We’ve got the documentation to prove it. Everything is legal and aboveboard.”
“You know that’s not what today is about,” Cait said. “Nobody doubts that you’re legally married, Charlie. The question is whether there’s any emotional validity to it. That’s what Aunt Marge wanted you to prove. That’s why you’ve got to attend these meetings.”
“Right, well, don’t worry about it,” Charlie said. “I’ve got all the proof I need.”
Cait smiled smugly. “We’ll see.”
She turned and led the way into Rogan’s office. Olivia hung back, and Charlie fell into step with her.
“She really doesn’t want this to be real,” Olivia observed.
“She absolutely does not,” Charlie agreed. “If we’re lying, it’ll be all she needs to have the house taken away from me.”
Olivia squared her shoulders. “That isn’t happening.”
“I like your confidence.”
“I might think this arrangement is ridiculous, but I’m not about to let that arrogant woman tell me what to do.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry. She’s your sister. I shouldn’t have?—”
“No. You’re absolutely right. An arrogant woman is exactly what she is, and she deserves to be called out for that. I’m glad you see it.” He grinned. “It’s nice to have someone on my side in these family things for once, even if it is a weird situation.”
“It’s definitely a weird situation,” Olivia agreed. “But if that’s the way your family is going to act then I can see why you wouldn’t want them to get a share of the house. Let’s get in there and pull this thing off, shall we?”
She led the way into Rogan’s office. Charlie followed, feeling a rush of adrenaline, excited by the knowledge that she really was on his side, that they were taking this on together. Suddenly, that seemed much more important than the fact that they’d come up with a convincing backstory for their relationship.
Rogan rose to his feet when they entered, though Charlie’s siblings did not. He extended his hand to Charlie, and then to Olivia. “I have to say,” he said, “I never believed this would actually happen. The marriage stipulation in the will — I mean, I’ve seen things like that before, but they’re very rare, and the terms usually aren’t met. When I saw that part, I frankly assumed that the house would just be sold collectively among the four of you.”
“Oh, it will be,” Scott said with a little laugh. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind that this is a temporary thing, Mr. Rogan. There’s no chance my brother is going to make a marriage stick. Even if he had married under completely ordinary circumstances, I would be saying the same thing. Charlie is not marriage material.”
“I’ll second that,” John said. “That’s why I wanted to be here today. It’s like looking at the northern lights or something. A natural phenomenon that’s sure to be gone by morning.”
“All right,” Rogan said. “That’s what you two say. What do you say, Charlie?”
“I guess they’re witnessing a miracle.” Charlie shrugged. “I don’t have to argue about the nature of my character. The requirement of the will was that I be married, and I am married. I have the documentation here to prove it.”
“You understand, don’t you, that there’s some concern about your motive?” Rogan asked. “That you might have just gotten married to meet the provision in the will, and not because you love this woman or because you have any intention to stay married.”
“Innocent until proven guilty, I think,” Olivia chimed in. “And besides, if you want Charlie to have a successful marriage, I’d think the last thing you would do would be to call him into an interrogation in the presence of his new wife and accuse him of not really caring about her. A less secure woman than me might be driven off by that sort of thing.” She glanced over her shoulder at Cait, just briefly. “Of course, maybe that’s what some people are hoping to see happen.”
Damn, but she was good. There was no way for Cait to speak up after that, nothing she could say that wouldn’t make her look petty and manipulative. And she must have realized it, because she stayed quiet.
Rogan proceeded with his questions. Figuring out their backstory turned out to have been a good idea, because that was most of what he wanted to talk about. How had they met, and how long ago had it happened? What had they done on their first date? How did they feel about the fact that they had been forced into such a quick marriage? Did Olivia think it was going to last?
“I think so,” she said, a bright smile on her face. “It’s definitely an unusual situation, but I just feel so lucky to have found Charlie. I never thought I’d find a man who felt so much like my other half! I would have wanted to marry him eventually anyway, and it’s just happening a little sooner than I’d have anticipated. That’s an intense thing, but it’s okay. I’m still happy to have met him and happy to have the chance to try to make this marriage work. I’ll put it whatever effort is necessary for this to be a success, because he is the love of my life.”
“Jesus,” Cait murmured. “That poor girl.”
Olivia ignored Cait altogether, which had to have driven Cait crazy — she hated to be ignored. Charlie relished it. He ignored his sister too, but he gave Olivia a warm smile and reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She returned his smile.
“It sounds like you’re committed to this,” Rogan said.
“I am,” Olivia assured him. She sounded so sincere that Charlie was half convinced himself.
But his sister wasn’t. “You’re not really falling for this, are you?” she said to Rogan.
“It seems genuine,” he replied. “They seem dedicated, and as if they care for each other.”
“It’s an act. I can’t believe you aren’t seeing through it. What are we paying you for?”
“Well, you’re paying me to interpret your aunt’s will,” Rogan said, narrowing his eyes. “There’s nothing in my job description about accusing your brother of lying about his marriage. I’m supposed to make sure that he is married — and all the documentation verifies that he is. That’s the extent of what needs to happen here today. The requirements of the will are currently being met, and it’s my judgment that Charlie Coldwell is the rightful owner of this house.”
Cait was clearly fuming, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Charlie felt a surge of satisfaction. Their plan was working. They were going to get away with it.
“And what happens,” Cait demanded, “when he tells us a week from now, or two weeks from now, that he’s spontaneously decided to end this marriage? Totally unplanned, of course. My brother would never scheme.” She rolled her eyes.
Rogan kept his cool. “You know what will happen,” he said. “This isn’t the last meeting we’re going to have here to make sure Charlie is abiding by the terms of the will. He’s got to remain happily married for at least six months.”
“Mark my words, he’ll be walking away from this on the very first day of month number seven,” Cait said grimly.
Olivia turned to Charlie. “Can we go?” she asked him, her voice laden with dignity. “I don’t need to stand here and listen to this.”
“No, you don’t,” Charlie agreed. He looked at Rogan. “Are we finished?”
“Yes,” Rogan said. “I’ll see you next month. It was nice to meet you, Olivia.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you too,” Olivia said with a smile. “Thank you for making this as painless as possible.”
“I have no desire to make things difficult for the two of you,” Rogan assured them. “I know how difficult it can be when there are uncommon stipulations in a will, and I have to say, I admire the class with which you’re both handling the situation.”
“You’ve been very helpful,” Charlie said, shaking Rogan’s hand. “We’ll see you next time.” He slung his arm around Olivia’s shoulders and steered her from the room without so much as a glance in the direction of his siblings.
Neither of them spoke until they had reached the parking lot, and it was Olivia who broke the silence. “Damn,” she said. “They really want us to be faking this.”
“Yeah,” Charlie agreed. “The one thing that bums me out about it is that they’re going to feel so incredibly validated when it turns out they were right all along. I really don’t want them to have that moment.” He sighed. “But I knew going into this that I was setting up for that. I knew that when our marriage ended, I’d have to face their judgment. They’re going to know, of course. Even though we’ll say it wasn’t planned and that we couldn’t make things work out between the two of us — you saw how they are. They’re going to know exactly what happened, and they will never let it go.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to admit to it,” Olivia said. “I say just keep on denying. What can they do, really? They’ll keep saying they know what really happened, and you’ll keep telling them they’re wrong. It will be your word against theirs.”
“They’ll never believe what I have to say about it.”
“Who cares? They don’t believe you right now. That doesn’t mean you have to admit that they’re right. And even though they won’t ever say it out loud, I’m sure a part of them will always wonder if they’re right — or if you were telling the truth all along.”
“That would be nice,” Charlie admitted. It did make him feel better to picture the consternation Cait would feel at being denied a conclusive answer. She wanted so badly to be right about him, and unfortunately, she was — but she would never need to know that for certain. She probably would always wonder, and there was relief in that idea.
“Come on,” he told Olivia. “Let’s get home. This was annoying.”
“It wasn’t so bad, really,” she said. “That Rogan guy isn’t bad. He seems reasonable. If we could have these meetings without your siblings being present, I don’t think I’d mind at all.”
“I really owe you one for being so cool and agreeable about all this,” Charlie said. “I know it’s a lot to put up with.”
She shrugged. “It’s what I agreed to,” she said. “It wouldn’t make much sense to start complaining about it now.”
“Even so, I want you to know that I appreciate what you did today. Really. This was so much easier because we were in there as a team. I’m glad we were able to be united.”
“So am I,” Olivia said with a smile, and Charlie felt a sense of companionship. They were in this together — the two of them aligned against his siblings and the uptight rules that had been laid out in the will. It felt at the moment as though Olivia was the only person in the world who was on his side.
They drove home in a companionable silence. When they got out of the car, Charlie hesitated. “Do you want to take the rest of the day to yourself? God knows you’ve done enough today.”
“Maybe a short nap until I have to pick up Izzy from school,” Olivia said.
“What time is that?”
“She gets out at three.”
“Olivia, you know it’s two forty-five right now, don’t you?”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “It’s what ? Where did the time go? How long were we there? I’m late! I have to go right now! Oh my God, I need to get gas.”
“Get in the car.” Charlie grabbed his keys. “I’ll drive. After that meeting, I think it’s the least I can do.”
He thought Olivia might protest, but she didn’t. She looked at him for a moment, then nodded and headed out to the car.