29. Charlotte
Dear Charlotte,
All I can think about is last night.
How you looked waking in my bed.
How you felt next to me.
All I want is you.
Reading the text from Henry, Charlotte blushed.
She ran her thumb over his words, wishing he were here so she could touch him.
Fresh out of the shower when her phone pinged, Charlotte assumed it was Amy letting her know she was almost to Beverley.
To her delight, the message was from Henry, whose scent still remained on her skin.
Her fingers fluttered over her shoulder, recalling his touch. With a sigh, she dropped onto her bed.
Her phone rang then, and she answered immediately without looking at the screen. “Hello?”
“I’m getting married, Char.”
Thoughts of Henry made it difficult to place the voice on the other end of the line. “Excuse me?”
“I’m getting married, Char,” the voice repeated. “We had dinner with Isobel last night, so she knows.”
A few seconds elapsed before she said, “Brady?”
He chuckled. “Who else calls you Char?”
“I’m sorry, did you say you’re getting married?” Even as she said it, she didn’t think she’d heard him correctly.
“Yeah, we haven’t set a date, but as Harmony pointed out, we’re too old to wait around.”
“But,” she finally managed, “you said when we divorced that you didn’t think you would ever marry again.”
“Everything was still so raw then. Even though I had already met Harmony, our divorce still hurt,” Brady told her.
“Char, I will never regret us and the life we made, but I was in denial for so many years. I knew you didn’t love me anymore.
You always loved me, I know, but you weren’t in love with me.
And I’ve never said it, but when we found out you were pregnant, it wasn’t fair of me to assume that I would be the one to go to college.
You were looking forward to it as much as I was.
Part of me, I think, was scared that you would figure out a way to have your life with the baby without me. ”
“Oh, Brady, I never wanted that.” Who was this Brady, finally voicing what she had held in her head for thirty years?
“I just wanted the same choices you had.” After she found out she was pregnant, she raised the possibility of continuing on to college.
The baby wasn’t due until February, which meant Charlotte could have a semester under her belt before Isobel was born.
She explained she’d take the second semester off and then go back the following fall, with their infant in daycare.
Brady had adamantly opposed it, as had his parents.
Hers had agreed, but Brady’s parents were younger and more forceful than hers. “How did Isobel take the news?”
“She’s happy for us. I asked her not to say anything because I wanted you to hear it from me.
” Ahh, that explained why Isobel hadn’t called to tell her about it; she disliked going against either of her parents, and as close as she and Charlotte were, she’d been a daddy’s girl since her tiny fist wrapped around his teenaged finger.
“She and Harmony have grown close.” Close?
Except for telling Charlotte that her dad was doing well, Isobel rarely ever mentioned Brady’s girlfriend…
now fiancée, she supposed. “And I should probably add that Amy knows, also.”
“What? How did Amy find out?” Furthermore, why hadn’t Amy told her? Charlotte could excuse Isobel for remaining silent, but her best friend?
“We ran into her after our engagement dinner.”
“Engagement dinner?” When Charlotte and Brady had gotten engaged, she had been four months pregnant, and dinner was a box of store-brand macaroni and cheese she’d made after her lifeguarding shift at the town pool.
Her parents had been in Des Moines for the weekend for a family reunion, something that her mom had pleaded with her to attend as well, but Charlotte, irritable and hormonal, refused to find someone to cover her shift at the pool.
For years, she had regretted not going with her parents, believing that if she had, maybe Brady would not have proposed; that was how emotionally immature she had been. “Where was your dinner?”
Brady paused before admitting, “Il Giardino.”
“Il Giardino?” Charlotte repeated. “That’s our place.
” Inexplicably frustrated by his announcement, she reminded Brady, “We had our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary there…the staff knows my order by heart.” Always the sixteen-layer lasagna, made with their legendary red sauce and topped with melty mozzarella.
Why couldn’t he have found somewhere else to celebrate?
Was the life she had lived in Sioux City being erased, simply because she was out of town?
“Char, I’m sorry. I…I thought you were moving on…that you had moved on. Isobel raves about your life in Beverley.” Which, yes, Charlotte adored, but did that mean she was never going back to her old one in Sioux City?
“I love living here…but I don’t know if it’s forever.” And yet, Beverley was where she was flourishing: in her career and now, finally, in the arms of Henry, exploring elements of herself she’d not known existed.
“What about that mechanic you went out with?” Mechanic?
Henry was so much more: business owner, crafter, purveyor, father, friend.
Brady continued, “Isobel said you had a date.” No one knew about her evening with Henry yet, and the last person Charlotte wanted to confide in was her ex-husband.
“I take it from your silence that it’s none of my business, but if he’s as great as our daughter and your best friend have let on, you could have a second chance at happiness… at love.”
Charlotte sighed, missing Henry and eager to be off the phone with Brady.
“I’m sorry. I want you to be happy, too.
You deserve that. What I should’ve said right away is congratulations to both you and Harmony.
It’s too early to talk about things with Henry, but right now, I am very…
happy.” Her doorbell rang. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.
” Ending the call with her ex-husband, she sprinted from her bedroom to the front door.
“Avon calling. Did someone order a Hardee’s breakfast biscuit?” Amy held out a paper bag in one hand and a styrofoam cup in the other, looking her up and down. “Hey, sexy mama. I could’ve been anyone, or do you always open the door in just your robe?”
Ignoring the question, she asked her own instead, “Why didn’t you tell me about Brady?” After grabbing the bag, Charlotte opened it and inhaled deeply.
“I know, I’m sorry. He insisted on telling you himself. How’re you doing?” Amy pulled her in for a hug.
“I’m okay.” She walked into the kitchen with her breakfast treat. “Surprised, but now that the news has sunk in, not as shocked as I was. He asked me about Henry, so at least it looks like I’m not pining for my ex.”
“Yes, let’s move on to Henry,” Amy wriggled her eyebrows, grinning and sitting next to her at the table.
“I hope you didn’t let Brady announce he was getting remarried without giving him some spice of your own.
Even if you haven’t talked to Henry for two months.
” With Amy’s gaze on her, Charlotte couldn’t stop the flush spreading across her skin.
Amy gasped. “What are you not telling me? Have you talked to him? Seen him? What? Spill!”
Laughing, Charlotte said, “Well, if you’d give me a minute—”
“If you’ve been sitting on details about you and Henry, I’ll never forgive you!”
“I’m glad you’re here so I can tell you in person. Something happened last night. And this morning. And many times in between.” With a scream echoing in her ears, Amy pulled her from her seat by her arms and spun her around the kitchen.
“I’m so proud—you’ve been properly laid, I can tell.”
Blushing furiously, Charlotte responded, “I wasn’t going to put it like that.”
“Give me every single detail. I bet he’s good with his hands, right? He seems like a man who knows right where to—”
“Stop! I can never have you in the same room as him if you’re going to be imagining the power of his hands.
” She tightened her robe and dropped into her chair.
“Amy, it was incredible. Henry is incredible. We met up at the street dance last night…” And with Amy hanging on every word, she recounted her evening with Henry, leaving out the more… creative details.
“I know you’ve probably only told me twenty-five percent of what happened between you and the sexy mechanic, but damn, Lottie, if I ever find myself lucky enough to be given a tour of the coffee shed, the image of you two on top of that table?”
“The sex was…shattering…unlike anything I’ve ever experienced-”
“Well, you only have Brady to compare it to, bless him.”
“But more than that, he’s unbelievable. The craftsmanship of that shed, the coffee in it…he is so considerate, so thoughtful.”
“Do you know how many women would kill to be in your shoes? You’re divorced from a man who isn’t a piece of garbage and you’ve met a man who sounds fucking perfect.
” Amy laughed. “I mean, I know he’s probably not perfect, but he is one in a million.
So what’s the deal? Why are you spending the day here with me and not in bed with him? ”
One of Amy’s best attributes was saying something completely outrageous yet also undeniably true. “Well, he had to go to the shop, and you’re here.”
“And? You just had a night of what sounds like life-altering sex. Please, feel free to blow me off! I’m sure if you gave him the slightest nudge, he would’ve forgotten anything he had to do in the shop. I mean, he is the owner.”
“I just don’t know…he’s been single for so long.
Is he looking for something serious? Am I?
I mean, I spent thirty years yearning for freedom, then when I get it, I start up an intense relationship with the first man I meet?
Granted, it took me two years to finally get a date with him, but shouldn’t I be sowing my wild oats? ”