Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
“ A rtists can be so temperamental.” Addison pulled out a chair at a table next to the window, overlooking the Osborn and Rugh Gallery where she worked. As soon as Charlotte took out the seat opposite her, she sank into it.
A blond-haired waitress in a black-and-white uniform brought over a tray with their drinks and a small plate of cookies. She set them down with a smile and stepped back behind the cash register. Charlotte glanced around the café, which had a high, arched wooden ceiling, paintings on the walls, and wooden tables with glass displays that featured plants and an assortment of knickknacks. There was a small table with a chalkboard behind it but no glass display with goodies in sight.
The tables in the center were scattered around, with no clear pattern.
With a sigh, Charlotte reached for her mug and curled her fingers around it. Steam rose from the cup and warmed the bridge of her nose. She smiled, took a long sip, and looked over at Addison, who was texting furiously on her phone. A furrow appeared between Addison’s brows as she stuck her tongue out between her teeth.
Charlotte had been watching the same anxious habit for years.
Would the baby have the same habit?
With a jolt, Charlotte blushed and sat up straighter. She dragged her thoughts back to the present and took another sip of her drink. “What’s happening with that new artist?”
Addison groaned. “Don’t remind me. He’s so entitled and, honestly a little bit of a jerk to deal with, but the owners of the gallery love him. Apparently, he’s got something like a cult following.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know that was a thing with artists.”
Addison stopped typing and glanced up. “We’ve never acquired an artist like him before, but as far as I know, it’s not unusual.”
Charlotte took another sip of her drink, and it trickled down her throat. “Hmm, I see. That’s a good thing though, right?”
“Usually, yes.” Addison sat up straighter and reached for the plate of cookies. She picked one up and sank her teeth into it. “But not when I have to babysit a grown-up man. I definitely don’t get paid enough to do this. Urgh, these cookies are amazing. So soft and chewy.”
“Better than my mom’s?”
“Bite your tongue.” Addison glanced around and then lowered her voice. “Nothing is better than your mom’s baking.”
Charlotte smiled. “She’ll be glad to know you’re still her number one fan. Although I should warn you, you have some competition.”
Addison sat up straighter and reached for another cookie. “Jack? I’m not worried. I could take him on.”
Charlotte took a cookie and broke it into two. “Speaking of guys, how is Mason’s new client going?”
“She’s very demanding,” Addison admitted with a frown. “Honestly, if she didn’t come so highly recommended, I’d have told Mason to ditch her, but we need the money, you know. Also, I feel bad that Mason’s career went off the rails while I was sick.”
Charlotte reached across the table to take her hand. “You know it isn’t your fault, right? Besides, Mason is a good man. He wanted to be there.”
Even if his business had to shoulder the cost.
Knowing how hard the two of them worked, they were both going to be back on track in no time.
Addison squeezed Charlotte’s hand and cleared her throat. “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, what about you? How’s work? How’s Patrick?”
“Work is fine. There’s this promotion coming up, vice principal. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s good pay and good benefits.”
Addison picked up her drink and took a long sip. “I didn’t know you were interested in being a vice principal.”
Charlotte shrugged. “I’m not. It’s just gossip. And Patrick is fine. We’re doing this joint project, or at least we’re trying to think of one.”
Addison’s lips lifted into a grin. “So, this is how your romance blossoms finally.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing between Patrick and I, and you know that. We’re just friends.”
She had to keep telling herself and everyone else that so she didn’t kick herself for missing her chance.
Addison waggled her eyebrow. “But you want to be more.”
Charlotte blushed. “It’s better if it stays this way; otherwise, things will get too complicated. Besides, I don’t want it to get weird at work and have to leave if things don’t work out. I like the administration, and I love my students.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I do,” Charlotte maintained with a shake of her head. “There’s this one student, I think I told you about her from last year, Annie Mathews, the bright foster kid?”
Addison paused and scrunched up her face. “I think you did mention her.”
“Her foster mom is great. We’ve become friends, sort of, and she’s been really helpful with…things, and I’m trying to help her keep an eye on Annie because she’s worried that her daughter has fallen in with the wrong crowd or something.”
Addison smiled. “That’s a nice thing to do, but you won’t get in trouble at work?”
“I’m not spying on her or anything like that. Just keeping an eye out for any unusual activity,” Charlotte replied, pausing to run her fingers along the outer rim of the mug. “Anyway, Libby—that’s Annie’s mom—she works at the fertility clinic on Deer Pond Road.”
“We’ve been there. It’s very nice.” Addison nodded and licked her spoon clean. “It’s actually one of the nicer clinics we’ve been to.”
Charlotte’s stomach clenched. “Yeah, I’ve been there too. I mean, I have nothing to compare it to, but it seemed nice to me.”
Addison stopped licking her spoon, sat up straighter, and frowned. “Why were you at the fertility clinic? Is everything okay?”
Charlotte clenched her mug tighter and inhaled sharply.
While she counted backward from ten, she thought of everything that could go wrong, from Addison refusing to getting overly attached to the baby. Then she thought of all the ways her body was going to change and how worried she was that it would end up driving a wedge between her and Addison.
Was she really going through with this?
Once she told Addison, she couldn’t take it back.
Last chance to back down, Char. It’s not too late to just get a dog or something.
Releasing a deep breath, Charlotte sat up straighter and offered Addison a weak smile. “Yeah, I was getting a few tests done to make sure everything was okay and that I was, you know…fertile.”
Addison stopped sipping on her drink and blinked. “Okay, I’m confused. When did you decide you wanted to have a baby?”
“It’s not for me,” Charlotte added hastily. “I mean, I’d be carrying the baby, but I wouldn’t keep it. It would be for someone else.”
Addison’s eyebrows drew together. “Like surrogacy?”
Charlotte’s heart started beating in her ears loud enough to almost drown out everything else. “Yes, exactly.”
Addison’s eyebrows were still drawn in confusion. “Char, why didn’t you tell me you wanted to be a surrogate? I think that’s great.”
Charlotte forced herself to release the mug and ignored the tightening in her stomach. “It’s not just that I want to be a surrogate. I want to be your surrogate.”
Addison grew as still as a statue.
“Yours and Mason’s, I mean,” Charlotte added quickly. “I know you didn’t ask me to, and it might seem kind of sudden, but I’ve spent the past couple of weeks thinking about it, and here we are.”
Addison snapped her mouth shut. “Char, I…I don’t know what to say.”
Had she ruined their friendship, doomed them to become awkward strangers?
Addison wasn’t jumping for joy, but she didn’t look like she wanted to get up and leave, either.
Charlotte had no idea which way the pendulum was going to swing, but she desperately hoped it was in her favor.
“You don’t have to say anything. You didn’t pressure me into this,” Charlotte said, the words pouring out of her in a rush. “I think it was what Savannah said about me not being happy. I’m not miserable or anything, but it got me thinking that I’ve felt a little stuck.”
Addison’s mouth moved, but no words came out. She reached for her drink, took a long sip, and some of the color returned to her face. “So, you think having someone else’s baby is going to help with that?”
“It’s going to give me a purpose,” Charlotte responded. “Which is something I really need right now. I don’t want to feel like I’m just going through the motions anymore. I want to live .”
Addison frowned. “This is a pretty big deal, Char. It’s not that I don’t appreciate your offering, because I do, but have you thought about it?”
“I have.”
Addison linked her fingers together and placed them over the table. “I mean, really thought about it. You know there’s no hurry, especially since you said your test results came back fine and everything is in order.”
“I know there’s no hurry, but time isn’t going to make me change my mind. Besides, I know you want a late spring/early summer baby, so now is the time to try. It’s already early July, so we’ve got to move quickly—”
Addison held a hand up to cut off the rest of her sentence. “Whoa, slow down. Just because I wanted a spring baby doesn’t mean we have to get on this right away. I don’t want anything to ruin our friendship and a baby…that’s a very big ask.”
Charlotte nodded, and her heart fluttered. “I know. I just think that—”
Her phone rang, interrupting the rest of her sentence. With a frown, Charlotte fished it out of her pocket and held it up to her face. It was Laura Turncliff, Liam Alrich’s fiancée.
Charlotte offered Addison an apologetic smile and swiped right to answer. “Hi, Laura.”
“Hey, Charlotte. How are you? I just wanted to give you a quick call. Liam told me about some of the ideas you had for the auditorium…I hope it’s okay that I’m calling.”
Charlotte switched the phone to her other ear and took a sip of water. “Yeah, of course, it’s okay. You didn’t have to get in touch with me right away. I did tell Liam not to bother you.”
“I’ve got a few ideas off the top of my head,” Laura said, the sound of running water in the background. “But I’d like you to send me a few pictures, if that’s okay, and I’ll try to come down and take a look at the space as soon as I can.”
“You’re supposed to come down soon, right? After the cast comes off?”
Laura chuckled. “For the wedding, yes, though, at this point, it feels more like Liam’s wedding than it does mine, but it’s okay. I should be there in late October or early November. I know the play is in December, but I think that should give us enough time, don’t you?”
“I hope so,” Charlotte replied after a brief pause. “Anyway, let’s talk about this some more later. I’m sorry to end the call so soon, but I’m in the middle of something.”
But she was already thinking of better acoustics and a spacious backstage area for the students. Since she’d seen some of Laura’s other projects, Charlotte had a feeling she’d be perfect for the job.
And she was already excited to get started.
“Of course, of course. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“You too, bye.” Charlotte hung up the call and tossed the phone into her purse. Addison had taken out her wallet and was counting out bills. Then, she stood up and shoved her arms through her sweater.
“I’m not saying no,” Addison said without looking at her. “I need to talk to Mason and see what he thinks. We’ll decide together, but again, I really do appreciate your offering.”
Charlotte pushed her chair back with a screech. “You don’t have to go. We can talk about this some more.”
Addison grimaced. “I have to get back to work. I’m not trying to avoid you or anything, I promise.”
But it was clear Addison needed some space to think, and Charlotte didn’t want to push. The last thing she wanted was to have everything blow up in her face because she didn’t have the time or patience to help Addison see what she was seeing.
Addison was going to come around.
In the meantime, Charlotte was going to do everything within her power to show her friend she was prepared.
You are so in over your head.