12. Charlie
12
M ove into his house!
Is he out of his mind?
I don’t know what my ex was smoking last night, but I’m sure he came to his senses this morning and realized how crazy the idea is.
For Pepper .
Does he think I was born yesterday? Although the idea of twenty-four-hour access to my wedding planning partner is tempting. The things we could accomplish together…
You know, in between arguing like we’re high school enemies.
And it would be nice to stay some place clean and new and…doesn’t smell like mildew.
The Inn is clean, but he’s right, I can’t stay here for the next month until Pepper’s wedding. It wouldn’t be fair to Aiden since he won’t let me pay and I’d be costing him revenue.
Assuming he’s come to his senses and might want to take back the ridiculous offer, I give him an out and call my Uber earlier to skip out before he wakes.
Noah finally left my room last night after helping me to the bathroom and settling me back under the covers.
I had to fake falling asleep just for him to leave. And so I could cry in peace.
Mike sent me an apology text right before Noah came up, saying that Roger found out about the items in storage and had them removed…before threatening to fire his own son.
I, of course, apologized for causing trouble and thanked him for everything he'd done for me.
I slide on the thickest pair of socks I own. I don’t need to worry about walking much, Em says she has a pair of old crutches she’ll bring to work today and will be waiting by the door for my Uber to drop me off.
Who needs Noah?
Not me.
I hold onto any furniture piece I can find as I hobble my way to the door, my tote bag over my shoulder. I’m careful to only put pressure on my heels when I step and shut the door lightly behind me.
The action reminding me of sneaking out of the house when I was in high school… back when I had friends.
Turning toward the stairs, I grab onto the rail and try not to look down.
Apparently, I don’t try very hard because I’m instantly nauseous. Not that I’m afraid of heights but one wrong move and I’m toast.
My first two steps are successful as I hold my breath. The next one makes a small, yet deafening creak.
Fuck.
The only way to do this is fast. Deal with the pain later.
I squeeze my eyes shut and take one step on the sole of my foot, muffling a groan, and repeat halfway down.
I see a shadow come around the steps from the bottom and pick up speed. I overestimate and slip with a yelp, before tumbling straight into someone’s arms.
Not just anyone.
Noah.
A rush of warmth surrounds me and I’m lost in the clean cedary scent of him. It’s profound, the familiar sense of belonging, the need to be in his strong arms. Like home after a long journey.
I gasp and struggle to break free, my knees giving out from the pain of my soles. Noah lifts me and carries me down the rest of the way.
“Your Uber left,” he mutters quietly.
“What? Why?”
“I told him you couldn’t figure out how to cancel and sent me down instead.”
I jerk, crossing my arms. “Are you driving me to work?”
“Yes. Tomorrow. You’re not working today.” He sets me down in a booth. “The staff isn’t in yet so I’ll make you an iced coffee and we’ll head out.”
“There’s something very wrong with this plan of yours,” I tell him, giving up on fighting him.
“Doubtful, but humor me.”
“How do you think the town will react when they find out I’m staying with you?”
He rolls his eyes. “It hasn’t been that long, Charlie. I still couldn’t give two shits about what people say in this town.”
He pulls up to his small house on the hill. We arrive in his sports car with a handful of my belongings in the back seat. He said something about going back for the rest later.
That can’t happen.
The last person I want packing up the few things I have left in this world is Noah.
It’s embarrassing. I don’t even know what I packed, I could have a box full of pillowcases and no pillows. My scented candle collection with no place to light them.
He’s going to take one look at these things and wonder what on earth was going through my mind. What kind of person packs bath towels instead of her mother’s wedding dress?
A person who chose practicality over sentimental value.
A person who was sleep-deprived and grieving instead of thinking logically.
Noah walks around the car and opens my door. I hold my breath as he leans over me to unbuckle my seatbelt. Closing my eyes doesn’t help, either; I still smell and feel his warmth.
“Are you in pain?” he asks as he scoops me into his arms.
“No.”
“You’re stiff as a board and not breathing.”
I release a breath. “Just put me down.”
He pushes his door open and carries me inside.
There was a time I imagined this differently. We’d both be laughing and drunk off champagne. But I gave up on my daydreams of marrying Noah Reeves a long time ago.
He sets me over the kitchen island but doesn’t pull away from me. His palms grip the counter on either side of me, and he releases a heavy breath. “Charlie, you’re not leaving until you’re healed. You have an infection, you’re exhausted, and you’re emotional. I’m the one responsible for you running out in slippers, so stop acting like we’re born enemies and let me take care of you.”
I level my gaze with his.
“It’s not your fault. There… you’re off the hook.”
“Oh okay.” He releases me and bends to a few shopping bags on the side of the counter. “Then maybe I should return these.” He pulls out a pair of fuzzy purple slippers. They’re vibrant and a lot thicker than the ones I destroyed. “They were going to be my guilt gift…but since I’m not responsible after all, I’ll just return them.”
“It’s totally your fault. I should sue.”
He grins and teases me with one slipper by my foot. “And you’re going to let me take care of you?”
“Sure. Put it on.”
“And you’re going to stop acting like a brat?”
I scrunch my nose.
“Yeah I suppose that is asking for too much.” He slides them both on and sets me down gently on the floor. It’s cushiony and not as hard on my skin.
“Thank you.”
He’s still holding onto me, his strong hands gripping my waist like I might fall if he lets go. But his eyes are soft now.
It’s been years since I asked for his forgiveness. And I thought I was done. So I’m not sure what possesses me to whisper these words to him right now. “I’m sorry for what happened between us. You didn’t deserve that.”
A grin touches my lips. I can’t stand how cute she is. How innocent she is. That she still thinks I broke up with her because of a kiss I know meant nothing…
“Why are you bringing that up again?”
“Because you still look at me like you have regrets. And I know those regrets are for ever getting involved with me.”
My heart aches. She’s so wrong. And so right.
“I don’t want to leave it like that, Noah.”
“Leave it like that?” I ask, knowing what she means but too much of a wuss to accept it.
“When I leave town.” She chuckles. “I know I’m in bad shape now but I have a plan.”
I roll my eyes, still teasing. “I’m sure it’s one hell of a plan.”
“It needs fine-tuning, but yes. I know what my interests are, I just need to… find these interests a good home, so to speak.”
"Your interests involve books and purple boots. What exactly do you plan on doing with that? Teaching literature in Texas?"
Her small laugh makes my stomach flip. "No, my cowgirls can be worn anywhere and literature sounds too…grown up." Her eyes drift up and to the side. "I'm thinking more like the children's museum in Denver. An apartment with a quaint coffee shop right downstairs. I thought about teaching kindergarten at one point but I don't want to deal with messes…and math."
This makes me chuckle. "So no subtracting using apples and oranges. Got it. Your options are limited then."
She shrugs. "I'll figure it out."
“Before or after hitting your birthday bucket list?”
I’ve been holding onto this question—or some form of it—for too long. And if she’s spilling, I’m listening.
Her eyes widen. “You know about that?”
“Heard something about it.”
“Do you…know what’s on it?” She squirms like she’s embarrassed. And that’s exactly why she’s not fucking ready.
For someone to touch her in places I never got to. I never deserved to.
“Might of heard something about you getting naked.”
Her eyes bulge.
“And jumping in a lake,” I add quickly.
She shifts and I pull away to give her space. Needing coffee myself, I turn toward the counter.
“Yes. That’s one of them…” she says cautiously like I'm about to judge her.
I can’t keep staring at her the way I have been. But it’s so damn hard when she’s as beautiful as ever. Vulnerable as ever. The lock I placed around my heart after Elliot’s death starts to crack the way only this woman manages to.
I swallow hard to cease the pull between us in its tracks. I need to remind us both of the thing that separates us.
At least in her mind…
“Sounds like you're well on your way to achieving all your dreams." My tone shifts and it's ice cold. "In regards to your apology, since we’ve called a truce for the sake of my brother and Pepper, I accept it.”
My chest tightens because it doesn't get more backhanded than that.
The light in her eyes from moments ago disappears but she manages a small smile. "Thanks."
Yeah, Noah. Thanks for being a complete ass about it.
After breakfast, I show her around the place, starting with the back porch since it’s closest to the kitchen. I hang out by the back door as she roams the elevated deck carefully, taking in the view. I may be biased but this is the best view of the mountains in Hideaway Springs. With the evergreen trees down below and the serenity of the flowing river, it’s my favorite spot in the house.
“This…is…really something,” she says, breathing in the Spring air.
“For someone who reads a lot, your adjectives are lacking.”
“Yeah, well, give me a break.” She limps back to me. “I’m on pain meds.”
I take her hand and lead her back into the house. “Speaking of which, you might want to take it easy. May not feel it now but you’ll feel it in a few hours.”
“I’ve been on my feet for three minutes,” she argues, scanning the living room and then the hallway behind the kitchen. She points to it and I nod her along.
“This is the guest bath, but you’ll have your own in the master.”
“The master what?”
“The master bedroom.”
She exhales a soft laugh. We're so close in the small space that I pick up the scent of strawberries and coffee on her breath. “I’m not taking your bedroom, Noah.”
I remind myself that I’m prepared for this argument, but knowing Charlie, she’ll challenge me to the death.
“The guest bedroom is…unavailable…at the moment.” As an attorney, I would have deadpanned myself and called bullshit. Suspicious bullshit. Because that was pathetic.
“What’s wrong with it? Is someone else staying here?”
“No.”
“Are you going to use it?”
“Not exactly.”
Charlie steps back and watches me. “I want to see it.”
I don’t bother getting in front of her as she tries the door at the end of the hall.
“Why is it locked?”
“It’s…Jackson’s room.”
I’m going straight to hell .
“Oh. Does he stay here often?”
“My brother needs a break from time to time…”
And now I’ve made Levi sound like a bad father.
“Oh.” She frowns just before her brows jump in understanding. “ Oh . I see.” She glances back at the door. “How often does he…” she twists from side to side and I want to laugh because of how awkward she is about it. “Need a break?”
“Uh…”
“Oh my God, it’s none of my business. I’m sorry. Please don’t tell him I asked. I don’t—I never really—looked at him like that. More like an older brother.” Her eyes grow even more. “Not that I ever felt like one of your siblings, he’s just—”
“Please. Stop, Charlie.”
She blows out a breath. “Okay. So…” She points to my bedroom. “This is my room, then?”
I exhale a laugh. “Yes. Come on, let’s get you settled.”
Two hours later, I return to the house from the Inn with the rest of her things.
I worked as fast as I could loading up my small car before asking Dad if he could drop off the rest, using Charlie’s car.
It’s not that I don’t trust Charlie alone in my house. It’s that I don’t trust her not to hurt herself because of her stubbornness.
It took a twenty-minute argument before I left to convince her not to use the shower without someone in the house.
And to be frank, I’m not sure I won.
Dad and I unload both cars and set the boxes outside the front door.
He looks at her old sedan and then gives me a pointed look. “This used to belong to Henry.”
Following his gaze, I nod at the mention of Charlie’s father.
“I wasn’t sure I'd make it uphill in that.”
“Yeah,” I sigh.
“She’s not planning on leaving town in it, is she?”
“Knowing Charlie, this is her Little Engine That Could.”
I offer to call him an Uber but he chooses to jog back into town, muttering something about feeling like a large dog in a puppy carrier in that thing and needing to stretch his legs.
I move the boxes outside her bedroom door, ready to knock, when my phone rings.
I look at the caller ID before answering. “Roger, how can I help you?”
“Tried dropping off the girl’s check. She didn’t show up for work. You sure this is the side you want to be on, Noah? At least you’re guaranteed to get paid workin’ for me.”
“I don’t work for anyone, I represent . Any reason you asked to see her instead of leaving her an envelope?”
There’s a beat before he answers. “Just wanted to make sure she’s…doin’ alright. Maybe we can work something out without getting attorneys involved.”
“One is already involved.” And getting pissed .
After what happened last year, when photos of Charlie at her place of work were snapped without her knowledge during a private moment with her best friend, I nearly lost my senses.
Roger practically stalking her there to have a few words is bringing out my protective streak. One I’ve only ever had for members of my family…and her .
I’m a lot like Levi when it comes to protecting who we care about. Levi is a natural protector. His town, his animals, his son. He does it with a passion.
I apparently…do it with fury. And threats.
“Fine. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“I advise you not to make contact and just drop it off with her name on it.” I hang up.
Heaven knows she could use every penny.
My head calculates the amount of debt I know she’s in for funeral costs and student loans that have been getting deferred for the past few years. Hell, I even know about the personal loans she’s been refused. It keeps me up at night.
Knowing she had to stay in town to care for her mother instead of moving away years ago for a better job.
Knowing she’d never let me help her the way I wanted to.
My heart nearly leaped out of my chest when she asked about selling my share of the Inn. No doubt Pepper told her. Thankfully my brother didn’t tell his fiancée that I sold my shares to Dad so I could pay off Sara Whitley’s hospital bills.
The same outrageous dollar amount Pepper tried to cover when she agreed to marry her ex for one full year so Charlie could get the reward money.
Had Chase not witnessed Charlie tear up the check, I’d have never known about the debt she’d been bearing for her mother.
My brothers and I agreed to pay it off in full anonymously, but I took care of it before they had a chance.
Charlie was always mine to protect.
“Owe.” A loud thump behind my bedroom door draws my attention and I spring into motion, racing in and stopping dead in my tracks when I find Charlie on the floor by the bed.
Naked.