“What made you decide to go there?” she asked.
“It was supposed to provide an opportunity to write without distractions.”
“Did it work?” Charlotte asked.
“Kind of.” I played with the cross I wore on a chain around my neck. “With the noise of the world shut out, I felt a deeper connection to my unique voice.”
I pointed at her dinner. “Eat up. We want to finish before it’s time to dance.”
“We’re dancing?”
“Would you like to?” I asked.
“Depends on the song. I refuse to dance to disco.”
“I’m fairly certain you won’t have to worry about that in Peregrine, Idaho.” My phone buzzed inside my jacket. “Let me just make sure this isn’t Mother calling.”
“Yes, please.”
I took my phone out of the inner pocket of my jacket. The call had not come from my mother or anyone in my family. It was yet another call from Felicity.
“What is it?” Charlotte asked. “Is she all right?”
“No, it’s not Mother.” I clicked the phone off and put it back into my jacket pocket. “It was no one important.”
“From the look on your face, it seems like someone important.”
The waitress came with another round of beers. “Did we order another round?” I asked Sally.
“You will.” Sally set them on the table and left without further explanation.
“Would you care to share who interrupted our date?” Charlotte scrunched the earlier straw cover into a small ball. My reaction to the phone call had triggered her distrust. Who could blame her after the last man in her life? She was worried that a red flag would suddenly blow up into a disaster.
She tucked her chin against her neck and watched me like I might make a sudden move. I reached across the table and touched her arm with my fingertips. “Charlotte, I’ll never lie to you. I don’t have a gambling problem or a drinking problem or a secret baby tucked away in the attic.”
The last one evoked a burst of laughter.
I continued. “I don’t have a girlfriend, or a wife stashed in another one of my homes.”
“How many homes do you have?”
“A few. Three, to be exact. That phone call was from an old friend I haven’t heard from in a few years. In the spirit of full disclosure, she was the first girl I ever loved. The first of several unrequited loves.”
“How could anyone not love you?” she asked.
“I believe there are many reasons, but my mother says to never point out flaws, especially during dates.”
“She told me that very thing today,” she said.
“In this case, we were teenagers and she loved my brother, Ciaran, as did most females under the age of nineteen in the state of Idaho.”
“Why did your face change when you saw it was her?” Her gaze narrowed. I was being watched, picked apart and analyzed.
“Because she has this way of showing up in my life at just the wrong time. For example, she’s now hijacked our dinner and she’s not even here.”
“Not hijacked, just provided an opportunity for deeper conversation,” she said. “Do you know why she’s calling you?”
“No idea. Felicity appears in my life at the worst moments. I haven’t heard from her in two years and all of the sudden I’m spending time with the girl of my dreams and, boom, my phone rings. I can guarantee you she’s calling because she needs something.” I hesitated. Should I tell her the whole sordid story? Would she think less of me?
Tell her everything. Tell her your soul.
“We had a fight the last time I saw her. I told her to get out of my life.” I explained to her about the dynamic with Ciaran and how I fit into the disfunction. “This last time, she showed up at my condo in the city, drunk and crying about Ciaran. He’d told her he met someone and to stop texting and calling. I was waiting for my girlfriend to arrive with dinner. When Melanie came in, she got the wrong impression of what was going on between us.”
“Why?”
“Felicity had thrown herself on me. It looked like we were kissing. We weren’t. Melanie never spoke to me again. That’s the last serious girlfriend I had. I swore that was the last time I’d let her ruin something in my life.”
“And you haven’t heard from her since?”
“That’s right.”
“How weird that she’s calling now,” she said. “Did she know how you felt about her back when you were kids?”
“We’ve never really talked about it, but she knew,” I said. “I was pretty obvious.”
“Maybe she’s seen what a mistake she made,” she said.
“No, she wants something. That’s the only reason she’s calling.”
“Please, don’t blindside me. That’s all I ask.”
“I’ll never blindside you. It’s me who should worry. You’re too young for me, too smart, and my mother likes you better.”
“None of those things are true.” Her eyes returned to their usual soft brown, all glimmer and steel vanished. I breathed a sigh of relief. Charlotte was sensitive, and she noticed every small detail of every situation. I had to be careful with her heart. In that way, it was like looking in a mirror.
“I almost want to thank her,” Charlotte said. “You could be married to this Melanie right now and I’d never stand a chance.”
“I don’t think we would’ve gotten married. She wasn’t the right one.”
The air turned dense, like just before a thunderstorm. I looked up to see Moonstone and Sam entering the bar. When she spotted me, she let out a whoop and charged our direction. Why had I thought bringing Charlotte out was a good idea? In the course of thirty minutes we’d run into my brother and now Moonstone.
She headed toward us with a determined gait, carrying a floppy cloth, tie-dyed bag against her ample chest. A pleated, velvet, purple skirt squished about her legs. Sam, her husband, followed closely behind. I glanced out the window to see Sweetheart, their three-legged dog, curled up near the lamppost.
“How groovy is this?” Moonstone set her bag on the table, almost knocking over my water glass, before planting both hands on her round hips.
“Hi Moonstone. Sam.” I nodded at him. He nodded back. Sam couldn’t speak. No one knew why, including him, as amnesia had wiped him of all memories less than five years old. Bliss had rescued Sam and Sweetheart from living on the streets of Portland and brought them to Idaho. After a good scrubbing, some new clothes, and a decent haircut, I would never have known he’d ever been homeless. In mere months, Moonstone had captured the lonely man’s heart. Now they lived together with Sweetheart at Moonstone’s inn here in town. Sam took care of our homes and properties when my brothers or I were out of town. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do, including repairing fences, weeding gardens, and keeping pipes from freezing.
I introduced them both to Charlotte.
“Nice to meet you,” Moonstone said as she studied Charlotte. “Sam can’t speak, but he says it’s nice to see you again.”
Sam gave a shy smile to Charlotte and waved.
Charlotte stood and gave Sam a brief hug. “You remember me?”
Sam nodded and touched his hand to his head.
“That’s right. I was there the day Bliss hit her head,” Charlotte said.
Sam moved his arms like he was running.
“Yes, I remember you chased the ambulance,” Charlotte said. “It seems as though a lot has happened to you since then.”
He nodded and smiled.
“What are you two up to?” Moonstone asked. As if she didn’t know.
“I’m showing Charlotte the wild side of Peregrine,” I said.
“Charlotte has no need for a wild life,” Moonstone said. “She’s a family-oriented girl.”
Charlotte had moved her attention back to Moonstone. “I am?”
“Obviously,” Moonstone said.
Charlotte glanced at me, a question mark etched across her forehead as she sat back in her chair.<
br />
“Remember when I told you I had a psychic friend?”
She nodded. “This is her?”
“Meet Moonstone,” I said.
“That’s what Heather was talking about?” Charlotte asked.
“Correct. I have visons. I had one about you, for example,” Moonstone said. “Your arrival was greatly anticipated. You’re the woman Ardan’s been waiting for.”
Charlotte coughed. “Waiting for?”
“You’re soulmates. Isn’t that obvious to you yet?” Moonstone asked.
“Oh.” Charlotte cheeks flamed bright red.
“We’re on our first date,” I said with a not-so-subtle undertone of get lost.
Sam tugged on Moonstone’s sleeve.
“You’re right, honey,” Moonstone said to Sam. “I’m being rude. We should let them eat in peace. But Ardan, I have something I need to discuss with you. It’s urgent.”
“Now?” I couldn’t keep the irritation from my voice.
“Two minutes of your time. Outside.” Moonstone pointed to the sidewalk outside the window.
I looked over at Charlotte. “I’m sorry. Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” she said. “I’ll visit with Sam for a few minutes.”
Sam nodded and smiled.
“Would you like to sit?” she asked Sam.
Sam nodded and took the seat next to mine. I followed Moonstone out to the sidewalk.
“What’s up? You realize you’re interrupting our date,” I said.
“I’m very sorry, but Ardan, I had the most disturbing dream today during my afternoon nap.”
“Go on.”
“There was a blond woman in it, fragile and beautiful. She’s going to be trouble to you, but you must not let it ruin your courtship of Charlotte. You are soulmates, but dark forces can tear even soulmates apart. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand. At all. But I nodded so I could get rid of her. Inside, Charlotte was talking to Sam, seemingly comfortable, even though he couldn’t answer her back.
“You have to get back now,” Moonstone said. “It’s rude to be outside with another woman on your first date.”
“You think?” I asked.
“No need for sarcasm,” she said.
Once inside, Moonstone turned to Charlotte. “It’s nice to meet you. Come by and see me at the inn sometime. I’d love to have tea and a snickerdoodle.”
“Sure. I’ll do that,” Charlotte said. “Nice to see you doing so well, Sam.”
He patted her shoulder before he and Moonstone ambled off to sit at a table on the other side of the restaurant.
“Sam is with your psychic friend,” Charlotte whispered. “Do you think she can really read his thoughts?”
“I do.”
“How romantic.”
“There have been a few times that her abilities have helped our family.” I told her about the crimes she’d helped solve. “Without her, my brothers might still be at odds. She was a big part of our coming back together.”
“Do you guys always have that much excitement in your family?” she asked.
“I think we’ve had more than enough for a lifetime.”
“Okay, good. Just making sure a crime isn’t headed our way.”
Later, when the band started playing, Charlotte and I danced for the first time. As I held her in my arms, I thought about what Moonstone had said about the woman in her dream being blonde and fragile. Could it be a coincidence that Felicity had called? Was Moonstone picking up on something? Would it be wrong to ignore her call? I wanted a chance to be happy. That was all. I knew without a doubt that the minute Felicity rolled into town there would be trouble.
A little before closing time, we walked to the car. The moon was a sliver in the sky, not even big enough to count as a crescent. Billions of stars lit the black night.
She waited as I unlocked the car door, shivering in the chilly spring night. I grabbed my phone from my jacket and slipped it into my back pocket, then draped my jacket around her shoulders. “Better?” I asked.
“Yes.” She pulled the jacked tight against her chest as she looked up at the sky. “The stars. Oh, how are there so many?”
“They’re always there. You just can’t see them in the city.”
Her words seemed to stretch with wonder. “I’ve never seen a sky like this, yet the whole time it existed, hidden from me. How do the stars shine this brightly? And why? Why are they here?”
“They light the sky to remind us that love exists even in the darkest of times. You need only look up to the heavens to remember why we’re here—to love.”
She inhaled a sharp breath. “Yes.”
“Do you think you could be happy here?” I asked.
“I already am.” She answered fast, like she didn’t even have to think about it.
“Life is quiet here.”
“You said it’s easier to connect to your spirit in the quiet.” She wriggled her way under my arm. I held her tightly against my side. “I can think here.”
“That’s what Effie says too.”
“I’ve been able to write here. I feel useful.”
“Is that the place or the people?” I asked.
“Maybe there’s no difference. When it’s where you’re meant to be, the place and the people come together at the same time.”
I squeezed her tighter. She fit effortlessly under the crook of my arm. I would tell her some other time that God had made her to fit perfectly against my side.
“This jacket smells like you.” Her words were more an exhalation of breath than a sentence. She tilted her face to look up at me. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled. I never want to take it off.”
“Keep it. Forever, if you want.”
“Ardan?”
“Yes?”
“Did you really say I was the girl of your dreams? Or did I imagine it?” The sparkle from her eyes mimicked the stars.
“I said it. I’ll say it the rest of my life if you’ll let me.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Our brains, our conscious selves can never be sure. But our souls? They know.”
Our gazes locked and held. I fell into the warmth of her brown eyes, oblivious to anything but her. This was a world that belonged only to us, undefined by time or space or even memory. The world of us.
“Kiss me?” she asked. “So the stars can see why they shine?”
I held her precious face in my hands and kissed her gently. I’ve done this before. I’ve kissed her before under this same sky. Our bodies may have changed. But the sky and our souls remained the same.
“I’ve known from the first moment,” I said. “It’s you. It was you all along. I didn’t know where you were.”
“Like this sky,” she said. “I couldn’t see you, but you were here just the same.”
Chapter Nine
Charlotte
* * *
It was nearing eleven when we returned to the house. The moment we were in the kitchen, we started kissing. He lifted me onto the island. My skirt hiked up around my hips as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
“Take me upstairs,” I whispered.
“Are you sure?”
“Since the first time you carried me to your truck, I’ve been sure.”
With my body wrapped around him, he carried me upstairs to his bedroom. As swept away as I was with him, I couldn’t help but admire the bedroom. Bay windows looked out to Blue Mountain. The same dark wood floor and white trim as the first floor were accented with gray furniture. A ceiling fan turned lazily above the bed.
I forgot all about everything but Ardan the moment he set me on the fluffy white comforter. For the next hour we explored every inch of each other. His touch was familiar, like home, yet made me new again. I was reborn under the strokes of his hands and nibbles from his mouth. I was no longer self-conscious or worried that he would find me fat or lacking in any way. That Charlotte died under the weight of his body. I was melted caramel
and fearless tigress and wanton seductress. His love led me to my true self. I’d been waiting to be released from stone, like a Michelangelo sculpture.
After we were spent and satiated, we lay side by side in his big bed, holding hands. I suspected it was nearing midnight, but I wasn’t tired yet. My mind and body buzzed with life. The ceiling fan cooled my overheated skin.
I turned on my side to look at him. “Do you know what you’ve done to me?”
He brushed a curl from my forehead. “No. I only know what you’ve done to me.”
“You uncovered me.”
“Uncovered?”
“Michelangelo believed his subjects were trapped in the stone. He had to chip away until he found them. You chipped away and found me. I didn’t even know I was hidden. With you, I’m uncovered. I’m this version of myself I didn’t think existed.”
“I understand exactly.” He smiled. “Do you have any secrets?”
“Yes. One.”
I looked into his eyes. It would be easy to say to him the words I had never uttered to another living soul. Not even my parents knew.
“The day Roberta was killed, I pretended to be sick. There was a dance that night, and Roberta and I had dresses and permission to attend together. We were not allowed to date yet. I’d already played the entire night out in my mind. Roberta would shine so brightly that no one would see me. All the boys would ask her to dance and I would be alone, stuffing my face with cupcakes and punch. So, I faked an illness. I knew Mom wouldn’t let me go if I’d stayed home from school. She was killed on the way home from school because I wasn’t there with her. Because of my petty jealousy and low self-esteem, I let my friend die.”
“You didn’t kill her. A monster did that.”
“There are shades of guilt,” I said.
“You’ve carried that around with you all these years. My little Charlotte with the heart too big for your body.”
I flickered my eyelids, unable to speak.
“You had a very human response,” he said. “It’s hard to be always in someone’s shadow. It was that way for me with Ciaran. Some lights are brighter than others.”
“To me, you shine the brightest of all.”
“I see no other light but you.” He swiped a tear that slid from my eye. “Let me shoulder some of your burdens. Lay them on me. I’m strong.”
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