“Why not? No nice girls up in San Francisco?”
“There are nice girls everywhere, but they’re not Jane.”
“So, have you done anything about that?”
Charlie set down the paperweight and picked up a framed picture of Will and Gianna as children. “A few weeks ago I broke down and texted Jane, just to say hello. She was so happy to hear from me and I freaked out, realizing what I’d done to her and … well, I tried to put the whole thing out of my mind.”
“Charlie! How could you do that?”
“I know, I know.”
“You haven’t contacted her since?”
Charlie shook his head. “She deserves better than me. I never should have texted her.”
“Do you want to be with her or not?”
Charlie didn’t answer for a long time. “If I could go back in time I’d have never broken up with Jane. I’d be making trips to Meryton every weekend, even if it meant I only got a few hours with her.”
Will let out a deep breath, a weight lifting off his chest. “Then let’s fix this. I’m not going to pretend it’s not selfishness on my part. I’m trying to mend things with Elsie. I’m even toying with the idea of buying that stupid little rental house we stayed in. But none of that will matter if the two of you can’t be in the same room together.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
Charlie rubbed his head. “So what do I do?”
Will felt like Gianna as he formulated a matchmaking plan in his head. “Don’t text. Call her and have an honest conversation. Grovel. And if she still likes you, pack up and leave for Meryton.”
“What about you?”
“I’m not showing up there yet. You have to go on your own. Jane will need a big gesture to believe you’re serious.”
A door slammed down the hall. “Will? Charlie? Are you two down here?” Caroline’s voice was getting closer.
“Don’t breathe a word of this to Caroline.”
Charlie saluted. “Not a word.”
***
Elsie hummed as she walked in the door, juggling her library books so she could pull her keys out of the lock. “Jane, you here?”
“Back here.”
Elsie set down the books and headed to the kitchen. Jane was sitting at the table with a spoon and a carton of ice cream.
“Wow, what’s the occasion?”
Jane looked up with forlorn eyes. “The occasion is my life. Oh, Elsie. Why now?” She pushed the carton away from her and Elsie picked it up and found the lid. The dregs weren’t worth saving, so she threw it in the trash.
“What happened, Jane?”
Jane let out a sigh that seemed to go on forever. “A couple weeks ago, Charlie texted me. I answered right away. Like a fool, I said it was good to hear from him. That I missed him. And then … nothing back. It hurt so bad. I didn’t want you to know.”
“Jane…”
“I know, I know. But I finally felt like that was it. I could put everything past me and move on. Then today, my phone rang. When I saw his name, I didn’t answer.”
