I feel Charlotte stiffen and I hold her closer, attempting to take some of the weight I feel piling on her chest.
Charlotte huffs. “I like my job at the construction office. It’s low stress and the people are nice.”
“But you paid out the nose, you struggled for years, and then you missed the last days your father was here to take some stupid test. Remember?”
I’ve heard Charlotte talking about her dad in the office and I even had the pleasure of meeting the guy a few times before he passed. I know he wouldn’t want anyone talking down to her.
“Whoa,” I interject before anyone gets a chance to respond. “That’s not okay.”
Her mother shakes her head and tips back the glass of wine that’s settled before her. “You don’t understand, Jake. My daughter is a chronic dreamer. When she was young, it was the theater. She was going to move to Hollywood, be an A-list actress, and buy a house in the hills. When she realized that was unattainable, she took up photography and spent all this moneyon expensive equipment. She even talked her dad into buying her some big lens that he didn’t have the money for.” She tilts her head to the side and glares at her oldest daughter. “How long did that last? Four months? And don’t get me started on boyfriends. She went through them like she does chocolate until she met you.”
I let most people talk to me however they want and I go on with my day like nothing happened, but for some reason, I can’t listen to this woman talk to Charlotte like this. I narrow my gaze at her mother. “Watch how you talk to her, ma’am.”
“Noble,” her mother laughs. “I just think you should know what you’re getting into.”
“I’m very well aware of what I’m into,” I say, glancing toward the woman I’ve been studying for months. “Charlotte is the kindest woman I’ve ever met. She’s the first person everyone goes to in the office to talk to.” I hold my gaze on the blue-eyed woman I shouldn’t be quietly obsessed with. “There’s a warmth about her I admire and can’t get enough of.”
“Hmm,” her mother laughs and looks at her youngest, “good to see the degree is coming in handy. Nothing says value like giving your talents away for free.”
The waitress interrupts our train wreck of a conversation looking for orders. Part of me wants to leave right now, end the pain I can feel Charlotte stewing in, but she warned me how awful her mother is, and she’s given no signal that it’s time to leave. So, I order with the rest of the group.
When the waitress has taken our orders and left the table, Charlotte’s sister twists her dark hair to one side of her shoulder and leans in toward me. “So, Charlotte tells us you two met at the tree lighting a couple years ago. I go to that lighting every year. I think I’d have remembered someone like you.”
This is a fucking witch hunt and I’m getting really fucking annoyed now.
I squeeze Charlotte’s thigh in comfort, though I’m not sure if it’s more comforting for me or her. “I was keeping my head low. It’s good you didn’t notice me.”
Her mother and sister tilt their heads to the side simultaneously like two dogs following a bone. “Keeping your head low?”
“I was out on work release at the time.” I wait for Charlotte to nudge me, but she doesn’t. Instead, she takes over talking.
“Jake was in prison for a few years. He was on work release up until recently.”
Her mother’s eyes widen as does her sister’s, but they don’t say a word.
“They got me on a drug dealing charge,” I say, completing the story. “I did some time in the desert, came back with a back injury. I tried every medical intervention around, but nothing helped like this off label pain killer I got from a buddy of mine who’d been through the same thing. I was never actively‘selling’but I did buy in bulk and offer the drugs to folks in similar situations.”
Her mother scoffs and picks up her ice water, sipping on it slowly before she speaks. “My Dave was in the military for ten years. Came home from war with a leg injury that made it very difficult to walk. He managed to stay away from‘off label pain killers’and certainly never distributed them.”
“Mom!” Charlotte shoots her mother a dark glare then looks at me with sympathy. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need anyone to understand. This is my truth. I did a thing I’m not proud of and I own it.”
“How righteous of you,” her mother balks. “So, while you were out on work release, you were sneaking around to see my daughter? This explains why you couldn’t do any better.” She grins and glances toward the sister. “I knew something wasn’tright. There’s no other reason a man that looks like him would be messing around with a girl like Charlotte.”
And that’s my final straw!
“Ma’am, I’m about to give you some unsolicited advice, and if I were you, I’d take it.”
The woman stays quiet as I stand from the table and pull out Charlotte’s chair.
“If you want a relationship with your daughter, you’re going to need to talk to her like you give a damn. Otherwise, I’m not allowing it.”
Her mother grins as she chews on my comment and twists at the strand of pearls around her neck. “And who the hell are you? I’m sorry, jailbird, but you date my daughter for two years, you don’t bother coming around once for dinner, and now you’re telling me how to talk to her?”
I shuffle forward slightly. “I said, talk to her right or don’t talk to her at all. Your choice.” I tuck Charlotte’s hand into mine, set a hundred-dollar bill on the table, and turn toward the door.
I’m not sure what happens next, but I know I meant every word I said tonight.
