Statements like that had been so casually made, in the last couple of weeks. Ever since they’d started on this journey together. There were other things, too.
Like Charlotte sending her flowers a few afternoons ago, just because she was thinking about her in the middle of the day. How she’d had Maya share her schedule with Sutton so she could be aware of her comings and goings.
How Charlotte had made an effort to find time in her schedule to call Sutton, every single day, even when that schedule had become utterly insane this past week.
“You know you don’t have to do this. You know, call in the middle of the day when you’re booked with meetings,” she reminded Charlotte as she often did, even though the butterflies in her stomach argued with that statement. She loved that Charlotte did it.
It wasn’t justwords. Charlotte was showing her she wanted to be with her every single day.
They didn’t have time to see each other every day, between both of their work schedules and Lucy; in the week and a half since the incredible date Charlotte had taken Sutton on, they’d only been able to see one another two more times.
Charlotte seemed to be taking the idea of romance very seriously, much to Sutton’s absolute amusement and delight.
The first time they’d seen each other again had been on Sunday night, when she’d taken both Sutton and Lucy out to dinner and then to the arcade. Sutton didn’t know what, exactly, was better—Charlotte romancing her one-on-one or seeing Charlotte and Lucy learn to play arcade games, chatting and laughing together.
The second time had been on Monday; Charlotte had come over to have a late dinner with Sutton and Lucy after she’d been able to tie things up at work.
Sutton still felt the ache hot and low in her stomach, when she thought about how she and Charlotte had started making out on her couch after Lucy had gone to bed. How heatedly and hungrily Charlotte’s mouth had devoured hers, how feverish she’d been as she’d slid her hands into Charlotte’s hair and fisted them there, desperate to keep her close.
They’d been interrupted fairly early on by Lucy getting out of bed and calling out for Sutton, but… god, sheached.
“I did have back-to-back meetings this morning,” Charlotte acknowledged, bringing Sutton back to the moment, “but my afternoon is looking up.”
“Not nearly as brutal a schedule as you’ve had, so that’s something,” Sutton agreed, and it was true.
Congress had been in session this week, and Charlotte had several other projects she was working on that she’d had to fit time in to work on. And yet she still had found the time to text and call Sutton every day and FaceTime two different times before bed.
“Believe me, I am more than aware and thrilled beyond measure.”
Sutton glanced up at the doorway to her class as her students started filing in. She turned, looking down at her bag as she lowered her voice slightly. “I’m really sorry, but I have to go.” Before she could bring herself to really say goodbye, though, she bit at her cheek. “Maybe, with your not-breakneck-busy afternoon, you’ll have time to come over tonight? Or tomorrow?”
God, she felt like a teenager at how eager she was to see Charlotte again—or, at the very least, like she was in her early twenties again, the first time they’d done this. How excited it made her when they had plans together.
Even before this call, she’d had hopes that Charlotte would be able to wrap up everything on her end early enough this evening and that Layla would take Lucy after school—as had been the plan, given that today was her custody day and all. But Sutton now knew she would likely be taking Lucy for the afternoon and possibly into the evening as well.
“For you, I will make the time.” There was a steadfast promise in Charlotte’s voice that made Sutton’s butterflies start all over again. They were only bigger and stronger; maybe it was more apt to say the flapping of bird wings?
Whatever the technicality of it was, Sutton knew it was a feeling only Charlotte could inspire inside of her.
“I can’t wait,” she murmured as more of her students streamed in through the door. “I’ll see you later then.”
“You most certainly will.”
Sutton arrivedat Lucy’s school with ten minutes to spare in spite of the traffic she’d hit, already checked in and affixing a visitor’s badge to her shirt.
Since her conversation with Charlotte, she’d had an undeniable pep to her step, though it was fading the closer she walked to Lucy’s classroom, as the reality of the Layla situation was settling back in.
She’d brought some books with her as well as her tablet so she could hook it up to the smartboard and have the class write a story with her as her participation activity. She hoped it was fun enough to cushion the blow Lucy would feel when Layla didn’t arrive—especially because she knew Lucy had been excited about sharing Layla’s career and had wanted everyone to play the game Operation.
As she reached Lucy’s classroom, she paused in the doorway, scanning her eyes over the tables until she landed on her daughter. Grown-Up Show-and-Tell was slated in after afternoon snack time, which was winding down now.
She watched as Lucy laughed and handed one of the apple slices that Sutton had prepared for her to her friend, Anha, who next to her, taking a few grapes in return. Snack time tradeoff was an arrangement with Anha that Lucy had exuberantly told her about a couple of weeks ago.
When Lucy’s eyes landed on her a moment later, they lit up, and snacks forgotten, she raced toward Sutton.
“Mama!”
Sutton bent down at the right moment for Lucy to leap into her arms, grunting softly at the impact. God, her daughter was getting bigger and bigger every day.
