Chapter 15 Charlie
Charlie
“Is everything okay, Charlie? You seem distracted lately, even though you should be happy you finally got your promotion.” Mom looks up at me in the kitchen after Pettie’s gone to bed.
I’m sitting at the kitchen island working when she puts down the dish towel she’s holding and rests her hands on the smooth surface with a coloring book and markers tucked under a celery plant. It was a home project of Pettie’s.
“I am happy.” I look at my phone. When I thought my workload might slow with my promotion, I was wrong.
Somehow, it seems to have doubled, and it’s only been two days.
There’s also the lawyer’s letter from Ryder on my mind.
I’m unsure if and how I should respond to it. And my heart is still aching over it.
“Are you sure, honey? Ever since you came home from Vancouver, you look like you might burst into tears. I haven’t seen you so sad in years. Pettie had such a good time at Zane’s birthday.”
“I’m not sad.” I try to force a smile, but Mom can see through me.
“Okay.” She places a hand on my shoulder. I’m hoping she’ll move on as I focus on the emails before me, but she doesn’t. She’s frowning at me from across the kitchen island as though she wants to say something.
“You know, I wouldn’t bother you, but Pettie keeps asking me. He said that you said something about a longer trip to Vancouver.” Mom’s brow wrinkles.
“I shouldn’t have said anything to him. I had a job opportunity in Vancouver, but it didn’t pan out.”
“What kind of work?”
“Just another client.”
“It isn’t Ryder, is it?”
My body freezes to his name. Pressure builds behind my eyes.
“Did he offer you a job?” she asks.
I don’t know how she knows the stuff she does, and I don’t know why, but when she looks me in the eye, I can’t fight this anymore. My face scrunches as I fight the tears, determined to explode out of me.
“Oh, Charlie. What is going on with you?”
She already knows I told Pettie he has a dad, though I didn’t mention who it is.
Holding it all in for this long has been more painful than I realized, and getting that letter from his lawyers is more disappointing.
“When I was in Vancouver, I worked for Ryder on a PR issue. My friend, Lee, asked me as a favor. I shouldn’t have agreed, but I guess I was concerned.
Then Ryder figured out I had a son, and it was his, and he told me that if I didn’t work for him, he’d use his influence to get custody of Pettie. ”
Mom gasps. “He didn’t! He was such a charming young man. I didn’t know he had a cruel bone in his body.”
“I think he just said it because I hurt him. He was lashing out. I never realized how badly I would hurt him by keeping Pettie from him, and maybe I wanted to hurt him after his family hurt you so badly. I never forgave him.”
“Ryder isn’t his father. I have told you that before.”
“But Ryder told me he loved me and then ghosted me right when we received the devastating news from his father. His family caused you so much pain. Then when he came back from France, he spread rumors about me.”
“To keep the other boys from you.”
“He broke my heart, and I was sure he wouldn’t want Pettie.
He was an entitled playboy. I couldn’t expose Pettie to rejection from the family who devastated ours.
But now, I realize you were right. I should have told him the truth.
” Tears flow from my eyes as Mom strokes my hair and pulls me into her.
Sobbing against her chest, I choke. “I hated him so much.” Yet I was so attracted to him—so in love with him.
“So, what did you say about the job?”
“I told him where to go. But I thought he would still send me the contract. Then he sent me a letter from his lawyer instead. It said that he plans to stand down legally regarding Pettie and allow me to continue with full custody and making parenting decisions as I see fit.”
Mom nods, cradling my head in her palms. “That wouldn’t have been easy for him.”
I look up at her with stinging eyes and a plugged nose. “What?”
“I mean, it sounds like it was his way of apologizing for the harsh words you had. And with his father recently passing, it would cause him to reflect…”
“What do you mean his father recently passed?”
Mom’s face falls. “I thought you would have heard, and I didn’t want to upset you by bringing it up, but I follow the Alexanders online. I assumed you would know, considering you know all the stories before they hit the press.”
“Shit.” I swipe at my eyes. “I asked my assistants to take care of anything related to the Alexanders without bothering me and to keep them out of my inbox. Canadian news is easy to avoid in the US.”
“It is.” Mom tilts her head, squeezing my arm. “Let me make you some peppermint tea. That usually soothes your nerves.” She rubs my back and walks over to the stove to turn the kettle on. “The funeral is in two days,” she casually says.
“Like I’d attend the funeral of the man who ruined us?”
“You know, life isn’t so black and white. We went through some hard times, but don’t you think they made us stronger?” She slides a cup of hot peppermint tea my way.
I smirk, taking a sip. “Being stronger is overrated. You suffered for years when you shouldn’t have. And you still are.”
“Charlie, I am happy. I’m just grateful to have time with you and Pettie. I just wish you were happy too.”