Before she could stop herself, Charlie threw her arms around Miss Dodd. They held each other for a long time as Charlie sobbed in relief and joy.
And so, from then on, she taught ballet until she gave birth to Dylan at seventeen. She took some time off before going back to the dance studio. She grew to enjoy ballet when she wasn’t obligated to do it, and she discovered her love for teaching.
Miss Dodd watched Dylan while Charlie got her GED and started college. She became Dylan’s grandmother and the mother Charlie never had. They loved each other and were happy in their tiny house. After Charlie graduated college and got her first teaching job, Miss Dodd retired to Florida with her boyfriend of three years.
Charlie and Dylan left the house, not because Miss Dodd made them—she’d offered them her home—but because the teaching job Charlie received took her a few hours away, and she was excited about breaking away.
Miss Dodd didn’t live in the same town as her parents, but they ran into each other a handful of times over the seven years she lived with Miss Dodd. They never acknowledged each other when they passed, and even though Dylan was five the last time she saw her parents, he didn’t know they were his grandparents. And for that, she was glad.
Grief tugged at her heart as she thought of Miss Dodd. She would have been devastated to learn Charlie and Dylan were missing. Charlie hoped she’d get to see her again one day.
Chapter Seventeen
Jack studiedCharlie as her shoulders became more rigid while she walked. He didn’t know what she was thinking about, but it didn’t seem to make her happy.
“Does Dylan ask about his dad?” he asked. It was a personal question, but he hoped to draw her back into the conversation.
“What?” Charlie asked as she left the past behind. “Oh, ah… no. Not in a while anyway. I told him I’ll tell him when he’s eighteen, if he’s still curious then.”
“I see,” Jack murmured. “My dad died in a car accident when I was a baby. I was raised by a single mom.”
Charlie glanced at him, uncertain as to why he was telling her this. “And?”
“And she did a fantastic job.”
Charlie snorted. “Way to toot your own horn.”
Jack laughed. “I’m not; I’m tooting hers. She was tough as nails and worked her ass off to make sure I had a great life. She would buy me things I never asked for because I hated when she worked doubles, but somehow, she always knew what I secretly dreamed about opening under the Christmas tree or on my birthday. Some people would give me this sad look when they learned about my dad, and believe me, I wish I knew him, but she loved me enough for both of them.”
Charlie didn’t want to like him, but sometimes Jack made it so damn tough to dislike him. “Where is your mom now?”
Sorrow swelled in Jack. “She passed away five years after I became a vampire.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So was I,” Jack murmured as he recalled standing by her casket and gazing down at the serene face that resembled his mother but was so different than what his mother looked like while alive. His mother never wore makeup, but it covered her face. It was disconcerting and confusing.
He’d loved her dearly, but because of what he was and the life he led now, he rarely saw her after turning. He always felt like she would know something was different about him, and because of that, he avoided visiting her.
They talked on the phone a couple of times a week, but it wasn’t the same. Almost a year passed between the last time he saw her and her heart attack. No matter how long he lived, he would never rid himself of his guilt over that.
Charlie almost touched Jack’s arm when she saw the sadness in his eyes and felt the unhappiness radiating from him, but she stopped herself. She didn’t know if he would accept her trying to comfort him. and she couldn’t take rejection.
“How old were you when you were turned?” she asked.
“Twenty-one.”
“And how old are you now?”
Jack tilted his head to the side as he studied her. She was curious about him; that was a good start. A good start at what, he didn’t know, but her curiosity pleased him.
“You broke my nose and tried to kill me, but we haven’t been properly introduced.” Jack grinned as he held his hand out to her. “I’m Jack Conte; vampire, ex-pasta lover, football fan, and one hell of a good-looking guy. My birthday is February twenty-second, which makes me a Pisces and, according to my astrology, it also makes mefantasticin the sack.”
His final words startled a laugh from Charlie before she could stop it. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“Oh, it’s very true,” he assured her. “And I’m fifty-three now.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jack,” she said and was astonished to realize she meant it as she shook his hand. When the touch of his skin caused a tingle to race through her body, she pulled her hand away.
