A smile spread across her cheeks. “I always go to the farmers’ market on Sunday.”
“You do?”
“Always.” She looked at her tote and then back up to me. “Wanna come?”
“Yeah. I’d love to.”
Red flushed her cheeks. “Alright then. Let’s go to the farmers’ market.”
“There is no fucking way.” I grabbed an eggplant from one of the stands. “This shit is so phallic.”
“Austin.” Charlie playfully slapped me and turned to the guy who was manning the counter. “So sorry. He’s got his mind in the gutter.”
The guy laughed. “I love a young couple in love.”
Charlie looked at me, and I grabbed her hand. “We’re newlyweds.”
“Ah, that explains it. When I got married to my wife, we were inseparable.”
I looked down at Charlie, her amber eyes glowing in the early morning sun. “Yeah,” I said, letting out a small sigh. “I think she’s pretty special.”
Charlie shook her head like I’d told a joke, but what she didn’t know was that I meant every word I’d said. She was special. She was solid. She was safe in so many ways that I needed.
I was broken—so broken that she’d walk away from me like everyone in my life had, but this time I knew it would come. I would be prepared for it.
“Come on, husband.” She emphasized the last word loudly so the man could hear. Grabbing her fruit from the table, she kept her other hand linked with mine.
“You’re going to get it.” I laughed.
“Oh, look, it’s the newlyweds.”
My eyes shot up at the familiar voice, and there was Dirks in the flesh with a basket of sunflowers in his hand. I quickly peeled my fingers away from Charlie’s, not wanting him to go back to Ledger that we were caught holding hands.
“Hey, Dirks,” Charlie said with a smile as she leaned in to give him a hug. “What’re you doing here? Buying flowers for a special someone?”
Dirks shook his head. “No. I like having flowers at my place. It brightens everything up.”
“You’re not at practice?”
He shook his head. “Surprisingly. We had our game Friday, but then Coach needed today as a day off. Most of the guys are meeting at the rink for a pickup game.”
Dirks looked between Charlie and me. “Are you busy?”
“Me?” I pointed to myself, then looked down at Charlie. “We just got here, so I’ll be here?—”
“No, he’s not, and neither am I.”
I turned toward Charlie and raised a brow.
She shrugged. “Dirks is about to invite you to play, and selfishly, I wanna see what a superstar myhusbandis.”
Dirks burst out laughing, nearly dropping his bags. “This. This is gold.”
Charlie turned back to Dirks. “We’ll be there. What time are you meeting?”
“Three.”
I checked my phone and realized I had plenty of time to get ready—no excuse to say no.
