ANNA
But it wasn’t her boss’s voice on the other end of the line. Instead, she heard Charlie’s low and comforting tones, and all her muscles relaxed at once. She sat on the foot of the bed. “Hey, Charlie. What do you need?”
“I’d like to see you one more time before you go,” he said. “On the ranch. There’s something I need your help with.”
She fell back onto the bed, predicting her own exhaustion. “What is it, Charlie? I thought you liked the crew now. You all had an understanding, right? What do you need me for?”
He grumbled, “I can’t tell you what I need you for until you come out here and see it.”
This sounded like a loose end, and leaving those dangling never ended well for Anna. Whether she wanted to or not, she realized, this was going to have to be something she took care of before she left town. “All right. When would you like me there?”
“As soon as you can get here,” he said. “This is important.”
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Give me an hour, and I’ll be there.”
She hung up and finished packing. There was no point in holding on to the room.
She was determined to leave Denson Oaks tonight.
She had a lot to take care of, not least of which was finding a small town to settle down in—location scouting for her own future.
It couldn’t be Denson Oaks. That was for sure.
Denson Oaks belonged to Charlie, as far as Anna was concerned, and she wasn’t going to invade it.
That was the least she could do for him after everything.
She checked out of the hotel and, on the way out of town, grabbed a coffee from the local café that Paris and Sam had introduced her to.
Then, she made the trip to Charlie’s ranch.
She wasn’t nervous at all. She knew she’d done the right thing, and she knew she could handle whatever dispute may have occurred between the film crew and Charlie.
Surprisingly, the ranch felt emptier than usual when she showed up.
There was no film crew there at all. Had Charlie sent them away already?
Was he really that upset? She knocked on the door, and no one answered.
She checked the barn and found it empty.
She finally texted Charlie to ask, Where are you?
He responded, At the tree. You know the one.
She did. He would have meant the tree that was his mother’s sacred spot.
Of course she knew where it was and had no trouble taking the walk to it—nor did she mind at all.
It was a peaceful walk, and a little peace before the storm was welcome.
It gave her time to think, to go over various possible scenarios and plan how she would approach each one.
She probably shouldn’t have bothered, though.
There was no chance she could predict what scenario she was about to walk into.
Charlie was sitting under the tree with his hat tipped forward and his legs crossed.
It looked like he was napping, but she knew he wasn’t.
That stillness he exuded was normal, just the way he existed, and it gave her the kind of comfort she had no idea she even needed.
That was something Charlie always did for her.
He put a spotlight on how stressed she’d been by removing that same stress and showing her what her life could look like without it.
When he heard her approach, Charlie looked up and rose to his feet. “Good afternoon, Anna,” he said.
But Anna didn’t feel like playing games or beating around any bushes. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is this.” Charlie pointed to the trunk of the tree, right where the initials were carved, and Anna saw that someone had carved more initials into the tree.
The sight of that vandalism horrified her. She couldn’t believe anyone from the crew would do such a thing. She clenched her teeth. “Who did this?” She was ready to hunt them down and punch them herself.
Then, Charlie answered, “I did.”
“What?” At first, she thought she must have heard him wrong.
But he repeated himself. “I did this. I wanted you to see it so you know I’m serious.
” He took a deep breath and took one of her hands in his.
“I’ve been stupid. I thought I was protecting myself and you.
I didn’t realize I was sending a message, and the message was wrong.
From the beginning, all I’ve done is tell you you’re not welcome.
I treated you like an invader, like someone who doesn’t belong here.
So… I just wanted you to know, in some way that works better than words.
I’ve never been great at words. But my mother knew how to communicate with gestures.
” He shifted to reveal the trunk and gestured to the unfamiliar set of initials. “This is for you.”
When Anna knelt down to see them more clearly, she noticed they were her own. He had carved her initials into his mother’s tree, right below his mother’s initials. And below that was an empty heart.
“This is where the baby’s initials will go, when we know them.
” He squatted beside Anna and traced the heart he had carved earlier that day.
“I wanted you to know that you aren’t a stranger.
You aren’t unwelcome. You’re family. Denson Oaks can be your home, if you want it to be.
And this land can be your home, if you want it to be. ”
Anna was in total shock about what she was hearing.
All she could think was that Charlie was doing what he thought was right.
He was taking responsibility, even after she’d told him it wasn’t something she expected of him.
But the last thing she wanted was charity.
The last thing she needed was someone who would resent her for ruining his life years down the road.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said to him. “I told you—”
“I know,” he said. Then he held out a hand and helped her to her feet. “I know I don’t have to do this. But… I want to. Not for your sake. Do you understand? For mine.”
She stood there in stunned silence, unsure how to respond to this offer, unsure what it really meant.
“I realized,” he said, not breaking eye contact even a little, “I don’t just want to be a father, or even a good father. I want to be a good husband.”
Her breath hitched at that.
He misinterpreted her reaction and changed course.
“Or partner. I don’t expect marriage. I just wanted you to know that I’d like you to stick around, if you’re up for it.
” He turned to the tree and smiled. “My mother used to call this our family tree. I know what she meant. Anyway, I thought I’d add you to it, just so you know I’m serious.
No matter what, you’re family now. Your baby…
” He gestured to Anna’s stomach. “Our baby is family. This is proof. It’s also proof that…
I love you. I’ve fallen in love with you, and I decided not to fight it anymore.
If my heart gets broken, so be it. I’ll take that risk if it means you might stay.
Live with me. Let’s do all this together.
I mean, let’s do everything together. Everything, from now on. ”
It only took a few days for Anna to move out of her apartment and onto the ranch. Most of her belongings were still in boxes anyway. And for the first time in her life, she was looking forward to fully unpacking.
That night, she and Charlie were going out to the Jolly Ram. They were going together intentionally, as a couple, for the first time. They strolled up to the bar, Anna occupying the barstool next to Charlie’s.
John walked up with a drink already in hand, which he handed to Anna. “Mocktail on the house,” he said. “Welcome home, Miss Lafferty.”
“Oh, please, call me Anna,” she said, sipping the drink he had made her. “And thank you so much. This is delicious.”
While she was talking to John at the bar, Charlie had spun around on his stool and struck up a conversation with the bookshop owner, Shelly, who had started coming to the Jolly Ram on the nights when there was live music.
The band was always the same, of course, but they switched up their playlist, and they were always a lot of fun for the people in town.
It occurred to Anna that she wasn’t the only one bonding to the town and its people in a new way.
Charlie was behaving like he belonged here, like he had some pride in the place, and like he was part of his community.
How had she gotten so lucky? She had no idea, but she wasn’t about to question it too much.
Somehow, she had gotten everything she never even knew she wanted.
As far as she was concerned, she was the luckiest woman alive.