Despite the call from Lily and the emergency snag at the foundation, Charlotte found herself melting back against the seat at the warmth in Sutton’s tone. “Hi, darling.”
“Are you in the car? I feel like I can hear the very faint sound of Hamish’s opera,” Sutton commented astutely.
A grin flashed over Charlotte’s face, and she shook her head, adoration welling up inside of her. “You have quite the ear.” She cleared her throat, her grin slowly fading. “Iamin the car, yes.”
“You’re early; I’ve only just started chopping the vegetables. But that’s great; I’d love to be able to introduce you to a cooking lesson tonight,” Sutton murmured.
Charlotte couldn’t help her soft chuckle. “I makeoneaccident while we’re making dinner, and I’ll never live it down.”
“Respectfully, Charlotte, that one accident was while you were making noodles; I didn’t even know it was possible for spaghetti to be so mushy.”
Sutton’s gentle teasing made Charlotte groan softly, uncharacteristically embarrassed. Last week, Charlotte had been put in charge of making the spaghetti for dinner. She had miscalculated their timing, it was true, but, “That was a one-time mistake,” she defended herself.
It had been! Lucy had come into the kitchen and asked Charlotte to look at the drawing she’d done. It included Lucy and Charlotte and, for some reason, dinosaurs. Friendly ones, Lucy had explained. Charlotte had been unexpectedly charmed, and she may have forgotten—amid their riveting conversation—about her culinary duties.
“Sure,” Sutton allowed, “but are you really going to tell me youaren’tin need of a cooking lesson?”
“You make a very fair point,” she conceded; it was very easy to concede to Sutton. Especially when she wasn’t wrong.
Before she could let herself get too sidetracked—something that was very easy for her to do when chatting with her partner—she refocused. “Actually, that’s why I’m calling. Not about the cooking lesson, specifically, but about our plans tonight.”
Sutton paused before murmuring a simple, “Oh.”
Remorse trickled through Charlotte, settling heavily in her stomach. “I’m really sorry, Sutton. I’d left work on time—earlier than I’d planned, even—but I just got off the phone with Lily Balducci, and there’s an issue at the foundation. Something that requires a bit of oversight, and Lily is in California, so I’m experiencing a last-minute change of plans.”
“Is everything okay?” Sutton asked, obviously concerned.
Charlotte’s lips tugged into a small smile. “It will be.”
She’d make sure of it.
Her grandmother had made it her mission to build up one of the most credible, trustworthy organizations in the fucking world.
It had been so important to her because she’d not only been a career politician, a trailblazing woman burning with ambition, but also someone who practiced what she’d preached. She’d wanted to dedicate herself to bettering their country, and she’d upheld that value until she died.
Charlotte wasn’t about to sit idly by and let someone find a loophole to besmirch the name of the foundation her grandmother had built.
Which was why this needed to take priority this evening, even though it hadn’t been the plan.
“I know that we had plans,” she said, “and I really didn’t intend for this to come up.”
“It’s all right,” Sutton assured her. “We were just having dinner and a night in; it’s not a big deal.”
But it felt like one to Charlotte. Sutton’s birthday was in a few days, and her family would be coming to visit. They’d planned to have a quiet night in together before everyone’s arrival, just the three of them.
While it wasn’t anythingspecialtechnically, Charlotte had started to very much look forward to these domestic evenings together after work. She didn’t want to miss one.
“I know, but still. I want you to know that this is unprecedented; I really, really wanted to be there in time for dinner, like we’d planned.”
And it was that, too, the root of the uncertainty she felt in the pit of her stomach. This was the first time she’d had to cancel on Sutton, to change established plans because something had come up.
She wanted—no, sheneeded—for Sutton to understand that this wasn’t Charlotte being work-obsessed. That this wasn’t Charlotte prioritizing work over her and Lucy. That this wasn’t—shewasn’t—Layla. Or even her past self.
“It’s your grandmother’s foundation,” Sutton said, her voice soothing. “I understand, Charlotte. Sometimes, things come up; that’s unavoidable. This is something that means a lot to you, with good reason.”
There was such a sweet certainty in Sutton’s tone, it did wonders to ease Charlotte’s nerves.
Of course she understood. Of course she did. Because she was Sutton.
