She wondered what would come of the considering look—before their collective was captured by Sutton and Lucy’s voices.
“Youpromisethat I can stay up till midnight?” Lucy asked, an insistence that Charlotte was now familiar with in her tone. For a six-year-old, Lucy was very certain of her wants.
Then again, Charlotte didn’t spend much time with children; maybe Lucy wasn’t as above average as she believed.
“I do promise,” Sutton confirmed, a lightness and a warmth in her voice as both of their feet appeared on the stairs they were descending into the foyer. “I promised that last year, too, honey.”
“Iknow,” Lucy spent at least three syllables on that single word, and even though Charlotte couldn’t yet see their faces, she just knew the expression on Lucy’s sweet little face. Begrudging yet stubborn. “But I didn’t make it!”
“I will wake you up if you don’t make it. How about that?” Sutton proposed.
“Deal!” Lucy exclaimed brightly, and her legs—fully in view of Charlotte now—jumped from the step she was on in excitement. “But I’m gonnamake it.”
Sutton laughed. “Okay, hon. But no jumping on the stairs.”
They fully came into view then, their hands locked together—well, Lucy clutching Sutton’s with both of her own—as Sutton swung their hands gently between them, taking their time making it down.
Charlotte’s breath caught in her throat, an inescapable reaction, as she took Sutton in.
She was wearing a long-sleeved, form-fitting, black dress that made the fiery red of her hair truly pop. And her hair was swept up on one side…god. Charlotte honestly wasn’t sure if she was staring because Sutton looked so exceptionally amazing—which she did—or if it was because she hadn’t seen her in what felt like forever.
But was, in actuality, just under a week.
Yes. She was truly a goner.
“Mom?” Sutton called out as they hit the bottom stair, and only then did Charlotte realize that she and Katherine were somewhat hidden behind the banister in the foyer. “I thought I heard the bell ring and wanted to see if you had anything you needed me to help with?”
Katherine stared at Charlotte for a beat before clearing her throat and stepping out from the coat closet under the staircase. “I’m just over here, sweet.”
Lucy dropped Sutton’s hand and used it to wrap around the large, polished, mahogany banister and spin herself fully into the foyer, adorably spinning out the skirt of the bouncy, sparkling green dress that Charlotte inherently knew Lucy had picked out herself. “Grandm—” As soon as she saw them, though, her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped into a wide-open smile. “Charlotte?!”
The immediate spark of excitement in those baby blue eyes warmed a part of Charlotte’s heart she’d never even been aware she had, and she found herself melting right back into a smile. “Hi, Luce.”
She prepared herself for the hug she received only seconds later, but even as she reciprocated Lucy’s embrace, she kept her eyes trained on Sutton as she, too, stepped around the banister and came to stare at Charlotte.
Unlike her daughter, Sutton’s blue eyes did not immediately warm into a bright smile, and Charlotte’s stomachsank.
She didn’t quite know exactly what she would call the look in Sutton’s eyes, but she knew it wasn’t what she wished she’d seen.
It wasn’t cold; it wasn’t anger; it wasn’t evenunhappiness. It was just—off.
And it was very clearly surprised. “Charlotte?” Sutton breathed her name out, and Charlotte couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it meant. Sutton then flicked her gaze to her mother, throwing her an unmistakably questioning stare, before moving slowly back to Charlotte herself. “What are you doing here?”
“I was invited,” she echoed exactly what she’d said to Katherine minutes before, though she felt nervous for an entirely different reason now.
“Uh… huh.” Sutton blinked at her, holding her gaze for several long moments.
Then Lucy broke in, blissfully unaware of any unspoken glances in the adults around her, as she pulled back from the hug around her waist. “I never saw you at my grandparents’ house before!”
Charlotte’s heart pounded, and her thoughts whirled in confusion, and her nerves jangled together, but she dragged her focus from Sutton and down to the Mini Sutton in front of her, who demanded immediate attention. “No, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been here. Since before you were born.”
In a whole other world, it felt like.
“I gotta show you around!” Lucy insisted, reaching for Charlotte’s hand. “My mama is gonna help Grandma set up party stuff, and I was gonna go and see my cousins, but now I can play with you!”
Charlotte smiled. Despite everything swirling around inside of her, it wasn’t difficult. Which was so strange, but it was… so wonderfully sweet and special to be on the receiving end of this unfettered and uncomplicated attention and adoration. “I should maybe help your mother?—”
“No,” Sutton broke in, shaking her head. Charlotte, Lucy, and Katherine all turned to look at her, and she swallowed before folding her arms over her stomach and smiling. Sweet and beautiful but still just not quite right, as she nodded to where Charlotte stood with Lucy. “I have a few things to help take care of before everything really starts. You should enjoy a tour with Lucy. She’d love to give it to you.”
