“Mom! Why not?” Charlie’s voice echoes across the family room, where Charlotte is rocking Kitt in her arms. She hushes him, warning Charlie to keep it down because it’s past Kitty’s nap time.
I pull my hair into a topknot, prepared to distract Charlie and see if there’s something I can do to keep him busy when I spot Caleb walking through the foyer and into the living room.
“What is it, Charlie?” he asks when he reaches us.
“Can I ride with Anthony to the waterfall? I promise we’ll be careful and not go into the water.”
Charlotte cradles Kitt in her arms, but the baby’s chubby cheeks and sparkly brown eyes peek through the crook of Charlotte’s arm.
“Why do you need to go to the waterfall if you know you’re not allowed to go in? Just ride your bikes to town,” says Charlotte.
Charlie’s shaking his head. “Because we’re… we’re… ugh… why are you making a big deal about this?”
Caleb smiles and pulls Charlie off to the side. They chat quietly. Charlie runs his hand through his hair and then looks up at Caleb sheepishly. Finally, he throws his arms around Caleb and runs out the door.
“Where are you going, young man?” Charlotte calls out.
Caleb slides his hands next to Charlotte’s and pulls Kit into his arms. “He’ll be safe. I told him which routes to take, but I’ll check on him right after I put this little one to bed.” He kisses his wife on the lips, slowly. I turn away as the moment seems too intimate to watch. “Go enjoy your breakfast with Sage. I’ve got this.”
I turn back but regret it as soon as I catch the heat in Caleb’s eyes. I swear a fire like that would burn me, if I were just lucky enough to catch it.
“Thank you,” Charlotte whispers and rises on her tiptoes to kiss him again.
I move to the kitchen before my cheeks burn any further and expose my deepest wish. I pour a cup of coffee for myself and Charlotte. I slept over last night when dinner ran late into the night. Caleb offered to drive me home when I could barely keep my eyes open, but Charlotte insisted I sleep over. When they first married, I stayed over quite a bit. But I soon realized if I was going to truly move on, I had to push myself to live on my own. The silence is still difficult, but I’ve gotten better at dealing with it.
“How did you sleep last night?” Charlotte asks when she sits next to me at the granite kitchen table. I sip my coffee and stare outside. The leaves on the trees are so dense I can’t see the sky behind them. But the blue is vibrant over top, and the sun is shining onto the water below. “Good. Thank you.”
I sip my coffee, but Charlotte doesn’t drink hers. “What’s wrong, Sage?”
“Wrong? Why would something be wrong?” My voice carries a little higher than I would have liked.
She finally sips her coffee. “Did Casey text you when he got to Los Angeles?”
“Nope.”
She nods as though she has just figured it out.
I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing wrong, Charlotte. Casey was quite clear when he left, and I’m not expecting a text from him. It was great while it lasted but now that’s over. It’s fine. I’m fine. Really. Stop staring at me like that. It’s unnecessary.”
To her credit, Charlotte immediately pivots. “So, what do you have going on today?”
“Well, I’ve got yoga class this morning, and then I have a paper I need to work on, and who knows, maybe I’ll call up Frankie and we’ll take off on a road trip or something.”
“A road trip? You haven’t done one of those in a while.”
“Exactly. It’s time that I plan one. Or don’t plan one. Just start the car and drive toward the sunset.”
Charlotte smiles. “I kind of like that idea. It sounds like the old Sage to me.”
I smile. “It does, doesn’t it? I miss her.”
“I’m just happy to see you smile.”
I cast my pearly whites to her and wink. “Don’t you worry about me, Charlotte Consuelos. I’m going to be just fine.”
She squeezes my hand, and I realize that I mean it. I’ve never let a man bring me down, and I’m damn sure not going to start now.
An hour later, the sun is shining and the breeze is warm outside, so I ask Charlotte to borrow her bike to ride into town for my yoga class.
