15. Charlie
CHAPTER 15
CHARLIE
“W ell, you two certainly are the picture of new love,” Carl Rogan said.
Charlie couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He never could when he had Olivia by his side. And even though he felt a pang at the suggestion that they looked like something more than they were, he also enjoyed it. It pleased him to think that his affection for her shone out so brightly, that it was such a real and visceral thing that other people couldn’t help but see it.
“We’re very happy,” Olivia said. It sounded so real. Charlie knew he had to take care. It was difficult not to simply allow himself to believe that she was speaking the truth.
To a degree, she probably was. They were happy. They were getting along wonderfully, and the home repairs were going great. Their days were full of laughter, and the evenings always contained some sort of meaningful conversation.
He would miss it when it was gone.
“I’m awfully sorry you’re required to keep having these visits,” Rogan said. “I can see perfectly well that what’s between the two of you is very real. If it was up to me, I would call a halt to the whole thing right now and let you be on your way — but I’m legally obligated to keep this going until the six-month window is up.”
“We don’t mind that,” Charlie said. “We know you’re only doing your job, and we’re happy to go along with it — though I hardly think it’s necessary for my entire family to be here every time we have one of these meetings.”
“It isn’t necessary,” Rogan said. “They’re not at all required to attend.”
“But they will anyway,” Charlie smirked. “Won’t you, Cait?”
Cait fluffed her hair. “We have every right to be here.”
“Nobody says you don’t.” He sighed. “Are we good to go?”
“Yes, you’re fine,” Rogan said. “I’ll see you at our next meeting.”
Charlie stood, reaching out for Olivia’s hand. They had decided together that it made sense for them to hold hands in these meetings, as a part of the show. But for Charlie, it was more than that. He relished the opportunity to take her hand. It made him feel connected to her in a way that he could rarely permit himself to enjoy. The only thing that made it okay in this situation was that he had to do it for the sake of keeping up the act.
He found himself wishing that one of his siblings would say something to challenge their relationship so that he could take another step to prove that it was real — putting his arms around Olivia, maybe. He felt his heart beat faster at the thought.
It didn’t happen. Instead, Cait took his arm. “We need to speak to you,” she said.
“All of you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. So speak.”
She glanced at Olivia. “Privately.”
“No, I think whatever you want to say, you can say in front of my wife.”
“We’re still family, Charlie,” John said quietly. “We can have a private conversation, can’t we?”
“It’s all right,” Olivia said quickly. “I don’t mind waiting by the car, Charlie.”
“You really don’t have to do that.”
“It’s okay. You should be able to talk to your siblings.” She gave Cait a smile. “I know you three don’t like me that much. I hope that will change.”
“We never said we didn’t like you,” Cait said defensively.
“You didn’t have to say it. And I’m happy to go away so you can all talk as a family. I just hope you know that it’s never been my intention to cause any division, and I hope that’s something we can all move beyond.”
She smiled at them and headed out to the parking lot without another word.
Cait watched her go. “You should tell her that we can tell she’s sucking up to us,” she said once Olivia was out of earshot. “It’s not cute.”
Charlie sighed. “You know, whatever you think about her, she is my wife. I wish you wouldn’t say things like that. It’s rude.”
“Whatever, Charlie. What I want to know is this — are you going to keep up this charade?”
“What charade?”
“You know damn well. The six-month period is going to end, and we want to know what happens after that. You’ve been putting on a hell of a show with that woman.”
“I’m starting to wonder whether she’s even in on it,” Scott spoke up. “Have you told her this isn’t a real marriage? Or did you trick her into it? Does she think she’s really married to you, and when you’ve gotten what you want out of all this, you’ll just ditch her?”
Charlie felt sick. “That’s really the kind of person you think I am? I knew you had a low opinion of me, but I didn’t know you thought I would do something like that.”
“You do things like that all the time,” Scott pointed out. “When’s the last time you had a relationship with a woman that lasted more than a few days?”
“Fine, Scott, but I don’t trick them into it. I don’t like commitment, but I don’t take advantage of women. Who the hell do you think I am?”
“Don’t act like you’re above tricking people.” Cait’s eyes were narrowed. “You’re here lying to all of us. And you’re going to say that it isn’t a lie, but Charlie, we know it is . You know and we know, so you might as well just be honest about it, because I’m tired of this crap.”
“I’ve been honest,” Charlie said. He couldn’t help thinking about the future, about the day when he would have to face his siblings and admit that they were right and that this whole thing had been a sham. That would be a painful pill to swallow, and they would never let him forget it.
He almost gave up right then. He almost told them the truth. It would be better — cleaner — to just admit it now. At least if he did that, they wouldn’t be able to be quite so smug as they would if they were to find him out later.
But he couldn’t confess. The thought of it was excruciating — and besides, he needed to see this through. It wasn’t just for his own sake anymore. There was Olivia to think of. She was counting on the money she would get when they sold the house, and if Charlie came clean now, that wouldn’t happen. Her mother wouldn’t be able to quit her night job, and Izzy wouldn’t be able to go to school out west.
Charlie had only ever wanted to stick it to his siblings, but now there was a real reason for fighting this fight. Now there was a reason he could actually believe in.
He was doing it for Olivia, and for her family.
And it occurred to him that — although she would have preferred him to be in a real marriage — Aunt Marge would have approved of what he was doing. She would have understood that Charlie’s siblings didn’t need any more money. The house would benefit Olivia so much more than it would them.
I’m going to give her half what we get for selling it , he thought.
He wouldn’t tell her that now. He would let it be a surprise. But once the place was sold, he would write her that check. It would change her life forever, and the thought that he would be able to do that for her made his heart sing.
“Charlie,” Cait snapped, bringing him back to the moment.
“What?”
“When the six months are up, are you going to divorce that woman? Or are you planning to stay married to her for a longer time than that? Tell us what you’re going to do.”
“That woman is my wife, and she has a name,” Charlie said. “If you want to talk about her with me, show some damn respect.”
“This is real, Charlie. Time is running out.”
Hearing her say that made Charlie’s stomach clench. His sister was right, of course. Whatever he decided to do, one thing was very true — his time with Olivia was finite, and every day brought them one step closer to the end.
It was a fact that he found increasingly difficult to face.
“I’m not going to divorce her,” he said, feeling every inch of the lie as it left his mouth. It hurt to say it, knowing that it wasn’t reality. It made him feel like the worst person in the world.
But telling the truth would be worse. Telling the truth would mean ruining the plan he and Olivia had made. It would mean that she wouldn’t get the money, and it would all have been for nothing. He couldn’t let that happen, no matter how much it hurt him.
“I have to go,” he told his siblings. “I mean, if we’re finished with the interrogation.”
“Charlie, just think about what you’re doing, all right?” John said. “We don’t want you to regret anything. That’s all.”
Too late.
In all actuality, Charlie thought as he walked to the car, it was unlikely that John — or any of them — cared whether he was left with regrets. They were just trying to manipulate him, to make him feel anxious so that he would confess to something and they could lord it over him. He knew them well enough to know that their primary concern was not for his well-being.
But he couldn’t help taking his brother’s words to heart all the same. He would be left with regrets, because he had never intended to get in this deep.
He found Olivia waiting by the car as she had promised she would. “What’s up?” she asked him. “What did they want to talk about?”
“Oh, you can imagine.” Charlie rolled his eyes. “They were just trying to get me to admit that our marriage isn’t real. Again.”
“They really don’t want to give up on that.”
“No, they do not.”
She examined him closely. “Are you going to be okay when the truth comes out?” she asked him. “I do worry about that — leaving you alone to fend them off once they know they were right all along.”
“I can handle them,” Charlie said. “I always have.”
“No, I know you can ,” she said. “It isn’t that. I just…”
“What?”
“I guess… I wish I could stand by your side for it.” She blushed. “That’s probably stupid. It’s just that we’ve been through this whole thing together, and I wish we were going do deal with that part of it together too.”
“It’s not stupid,” Charlie said.
“No?”
“Honestly, I sort of wish the same thing.” He hesitated. “But it can’t be that way. You understand why, right?”
“It would only confuse the matter more.”
“More than that. If we were still hanging around each other after our marriage ended, it would be obvious that the whole thing had been a ruse. It has to look like there’s at least some animosity between the two of us, so we can pretend it’s a real breakup.”
“Right.” Olivia sighed. “You know, we talked about staying friends when this is all over, but that’s not going to be easy to do, is it?”
“It won’t be easy, no,” he agreed.
She looked away.
Charlie wanted to say something more. He wanted to reassure her that they would find a way to preserve their friendship, even if it was difficult to do. But he couldn’t promise that, and right now, he didn’t know if he truly wanted to. What if it was too hard to be around her after they gave this up? What if all he could think about was that soft look in her eyes when they had almost kissed, or the scent of her hair, or the way her hand felt when she held his? What if he could do nothing but focus on everything he had lost — everything he would never get back?
That was no way to build a friendship. Olivia deserved better than that — and maybe he couldn’t give it to her. Maybe he would never be able to be her friend, because he would always wish they could have been something more.
He cleared his throat. “Let’s go,” he said, gesturing to the car. “I don’t want to still be here when the others come out.”