Page 81 of One Kind Hand

Chad Zimmers might be a bastard, but he didn’t turn into a quivering mass of nerves if he saw a large body of water, did he?

Austin kept that part to himself. While his sisters were aware of his fear, they didn’t have all the details on why. He didn’t want to worry them by revealing today’s fall from grace. He already probably had Charlie worried about him. And Cassandra. He didn’t need to add three more women to that list.

“Text Charlie to meet us for drinks,” Morgan said as she fixed the collar of his jacket in a motherly fashion.

“It’s better if I see her alone.”

Morgan narrowed her eyes at him. “Uh-oh. What did you do?”

“Actually, it’s what she did and how I reacted to it.” He huffed out a breath and waved a hand. “Never mind. Let’s get that drink and I’ll find Charlie later.” Maybe the liquid encouragement would make talking to Charlie easier.

Before stepping toward the exit, Morgan wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a big hug. “Whatever’s happening between you and your girl, I’m sure you can work it out.”

He leaned his forehead on his sister’s shoulder, taking the comfort she offered and hugging her back. It was the most settled he’d felt all day. His sisters had arrived here in Vermont just when he needed them most.

When Austin raised his head, his gaze connected with Charlie’s. She stood in the exit, but she disappeared as fast as she’d come into view.

****

“Well, I’m replaceable.” Charlie sat in her chopper. She was so mad she could barely put on her headphones. Seeing Austin with that gorgeous woman wrapped around him had hit her like an uppercut to the jaw. “I fuck up once and that’s it.”

She should have known dating a movie star was a stupid idea. What made her think she could compete in Austin’s Hollywood world? Even if she hadn’t poked—okay, speared—at his fear of the water, he would have undoubtedly grown bored with her simple ways. Perhaps these weeks they’d spent together had just been local entertainment to him. He probably hadn’t wanted to be alone while he was stuck in Vermont shooting Hunting Justice. He needed a vagina to satisfy him. She had a vagina. It was a convenience thing.

Only it had felt like way more than that. To her anyway. Maybe Austin did this all the time and she’d been easy prey.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” She pounded her fist on the chopper’s door, wincing when her knuckles collided with metal. Austin should have at least been man enough to tell her it was over to her face. From what she’d seen, he was moving on to some other chick and not bothering to have that talk Charlie had requested. She’d never know why Austin Rayhill was afraid of the water . . . and apparently commitment.

She let out a mirthless laugh, remembering how she’d said Austin was a nice guy. She’d been so sure he wasn’t the kind of guy to deserve a slap like the one Cassandra Wood had given him at Wicked Gates. She’d been wrong. He was a jerk playing a nice guy so he could reel her in, dazzle her with his charm, then trade her in for another chick who probably didn’t make him face his fears.

And why the hell did that other chick have to be so fucking gorgeous? Long, brown hair had cascaded down her back, stopping above an ass that had seen many trips to the gym. The woman had on a short skirt, making her legs look like a department store mannequin’s, all long and perfect. Who the hell was she and how had Austin had time to pick her up while he’d been filming all day?

Unless he hadn’t picked her up today.

Charlie clamped a hand over her mouth, recalling how the woman had fixed Austin’s collar as if she’d done that very thing many times before. It had been a familiar and intimate touch as had the way he’d rested his head on her shoulder.

My God. What if Austin had been attached to someone all this time? What if his relationship with Charlie had been an . . . an affair?

She nearly puked in her chopper. The idea that she’d helped Austin cheat on some poor woman who probably thought he loved her completely made Charlie physically ill. Every time she and Austin had made love had been another hit to this woman’s dedication to a man not worth such allegiance. Part of her wanted to warn that woman. Another part wanted to drown her sorrows in the vodka she had at home.

Vodka it is.

Charlie powered up her chopper, whipped through her pre-flight routines, and took to the skies. The sun was down and while it wasn’t snowing now, she’d seen weather reports calling for measurable snowfall. She’d actually planned to take Austin snowmobiling this weekend if the snow stuck around. She’d shown him her machines and he’d been interested in exploring the trails around Maplehaven. Those plans were shit now.

The airfield in her hometown finally came into view and Charlie landed. She cruised through her post-flight crap then hopped into her SUV, glad once again the airfield was devoid of other activity. One of the perks of using a small town as one’s base of operations. The place wasn’t exactly a busy hub.

Charlie headed for home, but then she made a turn toward Pine River Cottages. A quick hit of her best friend might cheer her up.

When she reached the cottages, however, she couldn’t find Isabel and Jackson. After a quick text to them, she discovered they had gone to dinner in Canville, a neighboring town. Lucky for Isabel, she hadn’t picked a cheating liar to shack up with. Charlie might give Jackson a hard time, but the dude loved Isabel with his whole self. No doubt about it. Why the fuck couldn’t Charlie find the same?

Kicking a pebble around as she walked back to her SUV parked in front of Isabel’s cottage, she jumped out of her skin when a male voice said, “Hello, Charlie.”

Isabel’s grandfather leaned against her vehicle. “Sorry, kid. Didn’t mean to make you piss yourself.”

“You nearly did, Eugene.” She wagged finger at him. “That would have been the cherry on top of this pile o’ shit day.”

“That sounds as if you need some ice cream to replace that pile o’ shit.” He angled his head toward his cottage. “C’mon. I think I have cookies and cream flavor.”

“My favorite.” Charlie put a hand to her chest then let Eugene hook his arm around her shoulders. “You’re my hero right now, Eugene.”