Charlotte stood by the window, hoping that Missy wouldn’t take too long. She laughed when she saw Missy’s minivan pull into the driveway a few minutes later. She ran outside and was waiting when Missy climbed out. They wrapped each other in a hug. Tears stung Charlotte’s eyes again.
“It’s been too long, Miss.”
Missy laughed. “Well, that’s hardly my fault, is it?”
Charlotte shook her head and stepped back. “No, it’s my fault. It seems like everything’s always my fault.”
Missy wrinkled her nose. “Do I detect self-pity? And if so, why? That’s not like you. Are you going to tell me what’s going on and how you’ve already screwed up in the short time you’ve been here?”
“Yeah, come on in. Let me show you my lovely new home. And tell you what I went and did this morning.”
After Charlotte had given her a tour of the house and made fresh coffee, the two of them went to sit out on the deck.
Missy finished her doughnut and took a sip of her coffee before turning to look Charlotte in the eye. “I’m guessing whatever you screwed up has something to do with Ben?”
Charlotte nodded. “I feel so stupid, Miss. I wanted to surprise him.” She held up a hand when she saw the look on Missy’s face. “I know, I know. Dumb move. Ben doesn’t like surprises at the best of times.”
Missy frowned. “Stop beating about the bush. Tell me what the hell is going on.”
“I woke up too early this morning, you know what it’s like with the time difference. I didn’t want to sit around here and wait until the rest of the world was awake. So, I had what I thought was this amazing idea to go down to the restaurant and see if Joe still drank his coffee there first thing in the morning.”
The furrows in Missy’s brow grew deeper. “Only Joe wasn’t there, right?”
“No. Ben was.”
“And let me guess, he wasn’t alone?”
“Shit! So, you know about her?” Charlotte’s heart was hammering in her chest. She didn’t know what she felt. She didn’t know how she should feel. Part of her wanted to scream and shout and let out all the anger and hurt she felt. Another part of her knew that that was totally unfair. She and Ben hadn’t been together for years and years. Until Sunday they hadn’t even spoken for months. She’d turned back up, just like Missy had said, out of the blue. How could she expect him to have nothing else going on in his life? But, dammit, she did!
Missy shook her head. “I don’t even know who you saw.”
Charlotte glared at her. “Don’t, Miss, please! He has someone else, it’s obvious. I understand you would want to protect him. He’s been your friend even longer than I have, I get that. I respect it even. But please don’t lie to me.”
Missy put her hands on her hips and scowled. “Don’t you dare go calling me a liar! I do not know who you saw this morning. I think I could probably hazard a fair guess, but even if I’m right, it’s not what you think.”
Charlotte gave her a grudging smile. “You know I’d never dare call you a liar. I value my life more than that. I just … I don’t know what to do, Miss. I feel so stupid.” She turned and looked Missy in the eye. “If you had to hazard a guess, who would you say I saw him with?”
“I would say it was Angel. She works for him. She’s managing the new lodge over at Four Mile Creek.”
Charlotte nodded. Her heart was racing. So, the woman’s name was Angel. She felt at least some relief that Ben hadn’t been calling herhisangel. At the same time, the news that Angel worked for him seemed to make her more of a threat. Ben’s work was the most important thing in his life; it always had been. If this Angel was a part of his work life, then Charlotte knew that she was a big part of his whole life. “Are they dating?”
“No.” Missy shook her head with a frown. “Like I said, she works for him and they’ve become friends.”
“They certainly seemed pretty friendly this morning.”
Missy nodded, but didn’t comment.
“Come on, Miss. Please tell me what’s going on!”
Missy sighed. “As far as I know there’s nothing going on between them. I do know she likes him.” She wrinkled her nose, looking uncomfortable.
“And you think he likes her?”
Missy met her gaze. “I’m not going to lie to you, hon.”
“I’d rather you lied to me than sat there and said nothing. This is driving me nuts! Tell me what you know, or at least what you think.”
“Okay, you asked for it. It’s been obvious to everyone that she likes him ever since she arrived. And I hate to say it, but it seems that he likes her too. There, I’ve said it.”
