Chapter 14 – Rosie #2
He glances up at me and I dip my chin, giving the approval even though it’s strange giving him permission to see his own daughter. But he’s not the only one trying to figure this all out. It’s new to me too.
“Oh, I almost forgot to give you my drawing.” Charlie offers him the paper menu she colored.
Even in the dark, his brown eyes appear glossy as he gazes at it for several long moments, his lips tipping up. Finally, he draws his attention to her. “Thank you. It’s perfect. It’s gonna go in my truck right now.”
“Okay, almost bath time,” I announce from the open doorway.
“Good night, Daddy. See you tomorrow.” She skips inside and down the hall.
He pinches the artwork between his thumb and finger and runs his other hand over his hair. “Thanks for tonight.”
“Of course.”
He turns to leave.
“Beck?” I call, and meet him on the porch.
He spins around, blinking away the moisture in his eyes.
“We’re leaving at the end of the week. I know there’s a lot we need to talk about and figure out, but you’re welcome to see Charlie anytime you want this week.”
He gives me a single nod, but doesn’t move.
“I have to go meet with Dottie’s lawyer. She’s supposed to go over her will, so then I guess I’ll know more of what her plans were with the house.”
“I think we already know. She paid me to fix it up so it would be ready for you and Charlie. She wanted you to move back here.”
“She never told me that.”
“Let me guess, she knew you were engaged?”
I flatten my lips and bob my head.
“She probably didn’t want to flat-out tell you to not marry him. She only wanted you to be happy.”
“Do you really think she’d want me to move back here? There’s nothing for me here,” I spit out.
He dips his chin and kicks the toe of his boot into the ground. “Nothing, huh?”
My stomach pinches.
“Beck,” I say on an exhaled breath, the exhaustion comes on strong. I’m too tired to have this conversation tonight.
“Never mind, just forget it.” He whips around and stalks off. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Beck, wait,” I call.
He stops before he rounds the back of his truck.
“I was gonna ask if you wanted to come watch Charlie while I meet with Dottie’s lawyer?”
“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.” Then he’s stomping off again, jumping in his truck and slamming the door just a little harder than necessary.
I wait until he backs out of the driveway and starts up the street before I return to the house. When I get upstairs, Charlie is laying her pajamas out on her bed next to all her favorite stuffies. I grin at her before going inside the bathroom to start her bath water.
West calls while Charlie is in the tub.
I answer on the first ring. “Hey, I thought we were going to FaceTime?”
“I figured we’d better wait for that until after Charlie is in bed. I need some visual alone time with you…if you know what I mean.”
My core tightens and I snort a laugh. “Good call. Charlie is just finishing up in the bath. Then bed, then we can Facetime.”
“Hi, West,” Charlie hollers into the phone from where she plays with a whale in the bubbles.
I put the speaker on.
“Hey, how’s my big girl?”
“Me and Mama had the best pizza for dinner. When you come visit, we will take you there. You’ll love it.”
I draw in a breath, my heart hitting against my chest.
“Visit? What are you talking about, silly girl?” he replies.
I shoot to my feet and clutch my phone, punching off the speaker and stepping to the open doorway. “Hey, I should get her out of the tub and in bed. I’ll call you back.”
“Sweetie, what’s Charlie talking about—when I visit?”
I stare at my girl in the bath, scooping up handfuls of bubbles. “Well, apparently Dottie had her house fixed up so Charlie and I could move into it.”
“What?” he says, chuckling. “That doesn’t make sense. She knew you and I were engaged. And my life is here, in Seattle. Your life is here. And so is Charlie’s.”
“I know, I know. Don’t worry. For now, it’s just an assumption. I’ll let you know what I find out after I meet with her lawyer.”
He sighs into the phone. “Oh, okay, good. You had me worried you two were scheming some big plan to get away from me.”
“Ha, ha.” My heart beats faster. “Of course not. Okay, well, I should get her out. She’s turning into a prune.”
“All right, sweetie. Tell Charlie good night for me. Then slip into something sexy. I’ll be waiting for your FaceTime.”
I end the call, a humming in my depths. “Okay, bath time is over,” I sing to Charlie.
Once she’s dried off and dressed in her pajamas, I tuck her underneath the covers and sit on the edge of the bed. She’s got a stack of books that have quickly become her favorites of Grandma Dottie’s. I pick the two off the top of the stack to let her choose which one she wants me to read.
“Okay, which one?” I hold them up, but Charlie is distracted. She’s wiggling this way and that, frantically rummaging around her in the bed. “What’s wrong?”
“Mama!” she screams, and throws her covers off her.
“What? What is it?” I shoot up off the bed and clutch my palm to my lower stomach, my eyes darting around the room, unaware of the magnitude of what I’m searching for. Is it a spider or an intruder?
“My mermaid,” she says on an instant sob. “I can’t find her.”
My stomach plummets, but a little out of relief. While I’m sad for her, a missing stuffie is something the two of us might be able handle, but an intruder—I’d say Charlie and I would be in serious trouble. “Okay, calm down. I’m sure she’s here somewhere, let me help you look.”
“No, she’s nowhere.” She’s throwing back the covers all the way now, scrambling on her hands and knees.
“Where did you last see it?”
“I don’t know. Mama, I lost her. Daddy is gonna be mad.” She collapses and I feel the plunge inside my own body.
“No, baby girl, he’s not. We’ll find her.”
She curls herself into a ball and sobs and I take it back—an intruder would’ve been better than this. Seeing my baby like this wrecks my heart.
“Maybe you left her in the bathroom when you went for your bath. Or maybe downstairs.” I rush into the bathroom, frantically searching. Nothing. I hurry down the stairs as fast as my legs will allow and search by the back door. Still nothing. Charlie is right. She’s not here.
I head back up the stairs and find Charlie on the bed, still crying with the covers pulled over her entire body and head.
“I’ll call Beck. Maybe you left it in his truck.”
She quiets down, tugging the blankets off her face just a sliver so I can see her sad brown eyes. “Okay, yeah…maybe.”
Pushing the blanket off her head, I brush back her still damp hair from her tear-soaked face. “Hold on.” I tap his name on my phone screen, and it rings three times before he finally answers.
“Ugh, Rosie. Are you drunk calling me again?”
“What?” Confusion swims in my head and I stare at my crying daughter who’s crumpled on the bed. “No.”
“Is it Charlie? Is she okay?”
“We’re fine. But Charlie can’t find her stuffed mermaid. You know, the one you gave her? She had it with her tonight. And at dinner…shit.” My brain shifts to the memory from earlier in the night when Charlie set the mermaid on the bench next to her in the booth. “It’s at the restaurant.”
“You sure?”
“Yes,” I answer on an exhaled breath. “Unless it’s miraculously in your truck, I’m pretty sure she left it at the restaurant.”
“Stay on the phone, I’m gonna go out and check.” There’s a groan and the sound is just enough to scrape beneath my skin in a familiar way. His breathing picks up tempo and grows louder in the phone. Followed is the sound of keys jingling.
“Thanks. She’s been sleeping with it ever since you gave it to her. She’s a mess over here.”
There’s muffling in the background until he finally speaks into the phone again. “Nope, not in the truck.”
“Lovely. Guess we’ll be taking a little drive tonight. I doubt she’ll be able to calm down without it.”
“Now, hold on.” He exhales into the phone. “I’ll go over there and look for it. I’ll bring it by if I find it.”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to do that. You must be tired. You have work early, don’t you?”
“It’s fine. It makes no sense you having to load Charlie up in the car when I’m only five minutes away.
“You sure?”
“Of course. Anything for you.” He clears his throat. “For Charlie.”
My insides burn. My FaceTime starts ringing on the other line—West. I ignore it. “Thanks, Beck. Call me when you find her.”