Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
CHARLOTTE
All the hype about the food at The Groves hadn’t been exaggerated in the slightest. If anything, people should have been talking about it more.
After my melt-in-your-mouth filet, paired with buttery cloud-like garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus, I was more than just comfortably full and bordering on stuffed.
I wasn’t sure if I had room for anything else, but the Prescotts were such a riot that, when Lorene had suggested dessert, I couldn’t bring myself to turn her down.
I picked at my crème br?lée while sipping my wine.
One bottle had quickly become two as Jolie, Lorene, and I shared while the men stuck to their beers, so on top of my stomach feeling like it might explode, I was also floating on a cloud of booze, currently resting somewhere between giggly and slurred speech.
This had been one of the best nights of my life, and I didn’t want it to end.
“So, Charlotte, tell us about the club where you work,” Lorene insisted, her eyes glassy as she rested her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hands.
She’d been keeping up with Jolie and me, drink for drink, but it was quickly becoming clear she was a bit of a lightweight.
“Dalton tells us it’s a burlesque club? Is that fun? ”
I took another sip and placed my wineglass back on the table, silently cutting myself off.
“It is, actually. I’ve waited tables and been a barista at my fair share of coffee shops, but I never did anything like this.
I kind of fell into the job at Whiskey Dolls thanks to my friend Hayden, and it turned out to be a lot of fun, and the other girls there are pretty great.
And really talented. They’ve actually taught me a lot. ”
“That’s so amazing,” she said dreamily and a bit slurry. “You deserve fun, my dear. Glad you found it.”
We’d touched briefly on the Cormack case, mostly with Dalton fielding questions, so I wasn’t taken completely off guard by her comment, but it still felt a little strange to receive praise like hers.
The past few days with Dalton had been like living in a bubble that the outside world couldn’t penetrate.
However, as incredible as things had been, and as much as I was trying to see myself the way Dalton did, I still felt awkward when I got comments like Lorene’s.
The wine had worked wonders in keeping me nice and floaty, so my muscles didn’t visibly tense up as I quietly thanked her.
“Tell us a little about yourself, Charlotte,” Walt spoke up. “I feel like we’ve monopolized the conversation all night.”
“You haven’t,” I insisted. “And besides, Lorene promised me embarrassing stories of Dalton growing up.” And boy had she delivered.
“Still, we’d like to get to know you more. Did you grow up here in Virginia?”
It was a tame enough question, but I always tended to get a little stiff when people started asking about my past. “No. I’m from Ohio.”
“Are your parents still there?” Jolie asked.
Don’t lock up, Charlie. Don’t lock up. I felt Dalton’s hand come down on my thigh beneath the table as he clipped, “Do we really need to play twenty questions?”
I could see his family was surprised by his sudden brusque change in demeanor, and the last thing I wanted to do was put a damper on the evening. Reaching beneath the table, I put my hand on his and gave it a squeeze, looking over to give him a reassuring grin.
“It’s fine, cowboy,” I said quietly before looking back at Jolie. “My parents actually died when I was little.”
Their faces fell, and I instantly wished I could take away the guilt etched into Jolie’s face as she sucked in a gasp. “Oh, Charlotte, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
I waved her off. “It’s fine, really. It was a long time ago and you couldn’t have known.”
“Still, I’m sorry.”
Man, the Prescott’s were incredible.
I silently hoped that would be the end of the questions, but I knew there was always one more that never failed to accompany the news of my parents. And it was the hardest one by far.
Sure enough, Walt looked across the table, his face awash with sympathy as he quietly asked, “Did you at least have any siblings? Other family to lean on after that?”
I didn’t want to lie to these people. I was very quickly coming to like them more than I liked anyone.
Their kindness shone through in everything, and knowing them, I understood why I’d so easily and swiftly begun to fall for Dalton.
But I’d made a promise to myself a long time ago.
The one and only time I’d searched, I’d discovered my sister was living a nice, quiet life.
With that curse a part of me still believed was hanging over my head, I didn’t want to risk messing that up for her.
That good deed had nearly blown up in my face months ago when Cormack found out my secret and threatened to hunt her down, and I’d almost died trying to protect her from a mad man.
The only person in my life who knew was Micah, and I knew he’d take that secret to his grave.
“No. It’s just me.” The lie rolled off my tongue as easily as it always did. Only for the first time ever, it left a bitter, acrid taste in my mouth.
I felt something strange rolling off of Dalton, and when I chanced a glance in his direction, I saw that he’d been examining my profile with a scrutiny that sent a shiver down my spine. It was like he was trying to see inside my head.
I quickly locked down everything I was feeling, painting my face with what I hoped was a relaxed, easy smile.
“Well, I think it’s time to put the inquisition to bed before we scare the poor girl off,” Walt declared with finality. “Pretty sure Dalton would string us all up by the toenails if we set her running for the hills.”
I turned to the older version of Dalton and laughed, appreciating how effortlessly he’d managed to put an end to the awkwardness that had started rolling over our table and brought it back to light and breezy. “Don’t worry, I’m not running. At least not tonight,” I teased.
“Then we should probably end this on a high note before you guys do anything to screw it up,” Dalton grunted good-naturedly.
He waved the waiter over and handed him a credit card, not once breaking from the verbal spar he and Jolie were sharing.
As I watched the two of them rib each other, I was struck with a pang of envy.
They teased each other so easily, like it was something they’d been doing their entire lives, and I couldn’t help but wonder if my sister and I would have had something similar if things had been different for us.
If life hadn’t knocked me in the teeth time and time again.
With the check paid, we stood from the table, and I was once again embraced in the Prescott glow as they gave exuberant hugs goodbye.
Jolie made me promise we’d get together for a drink, just the girls, one night before they left to return to Wyoming, and Lorene and Walt had insisted that I come to the lake house they’d rented for dinner one evening.
As Dalton took my hand and led me out of the restaurant, I felt a warmth spreading inside of me that I couldn’t remember ever experiencing. I couldn’t have been sure, with my lack of experience and all, but I thought maybe it was the warmth that came with a sense of belonging.
“So?” Dalton asked after climbing behind the wheel and putting his truck in gear. “What’s the verdict?”
I glanced across the console at him. “Verdict?”
“Yeah. You walked in there tonight a bundle of nerves. How are you feeling now?”
Oh.
“I feel . . .” I trailed off, trying to come up with the right words. I finally settled on one, but it still felt too small. “Light.”
He grinned across at me like he understood exactly what I was trying to express, taking my hand and interlacing our fingers, bringing them both to rest on his thigh as he drove one-handed. “See. Told you it would be fine.”
Leaning back, I rested my head on the headrest and let out a happy sigh. “I don’t know what it would have been like with anyone else, but your family is just so wonderful.”
“Glad you think so, baby. They really like you too.”
“It’s kind of a bummer they live so far away,” I lamented as I stared out the window at the streetlights whizzing by.
“It is. I miss them a lot. We’ve always been tight, so not having them close is tough.”
“Did you ever consider going back to Wyoming?”
“I did for a while after I got out of the Army. But it’s hard for some people when they come back.
Trying to find our place in civilian life when we’d spent so long serving our country.
I didn’t want to be so far from home, but Linc’s setup was here, and I knew it was the closest I was ever going to come to feeling like I was doing what I was meant to do, you know? ”
It was the deepest into Dalton’s past that we’d ever gone, and I felt like I was getting to see a whole new side of the man I’d never expected.
“So, all of you who work for Lincoln, you’re all former military?”
“Yep. He got it, understood that regular nine to five jobs just wouldn’t work for some of us.
He was one of those people. So he started Alpha Omega.
Had a buddy who had a buddy who knew Linc, told me all about his operation, so when I got out, I came here.
My folks were pissed at first, then bummed.
They’d wanted me to come back. But my dad is ex-Army also, so he got it, and he eventually talked my mom around. ”
“I’m glad you have them, cowboy,” I rasped through the emotion making my throat thick. “You’re lucky. Don’t take that for granted.”
He gave me another glance, his fingers flexing around mine, and when he spoke, he did it with so much tenderness I was thankful for the darkness of the cab so he couldn’t see my eyes had grown glassy.
“I won’t, Charlotte,” he promised. “I know what I’ve got.
Back in Pembrooke and also right here. I’m not taking any of it for granted. Believe me.”
Well damn. That was really nice.