by M. Sembera
"So now you're following me?" she snapped.
"My truck is right there," he griped, pointing at his black pickup.
"Well, did you want something or you just wanted to take one last look at me?"
Scowling at her, he blurted, "Yea, you wish honey," before offering, "You wanna follow me to the bar?"
"Not particularly."
That was all Auggie could stand of her for the time being. Why did she have to be that way? Couldn't she see that he was using everything that he had to keep his composure and not tell her exactly what he thought of her? Shaking his head, he walked to his truck.
~
Sitting at the desk in the back room of The Dog House, Auggie leaned over, sorting through the week's receipts and eyeing the dreaded ledger book. When Will was first admitted to the hospital, he was offended that Jackson asked if he needed him to step in with his brother out. He could manage the bar. However, it was harder than he thought and although no one else knew, every Sunday he brought the ledger and receipts to the hospital with him. Will would walk him through it each time but now, no matter how many times his brother showed him, it never stuck and he was lost doing it by himself.
It had been a little over a week since his brother passed and that meant the cross he had his cousin Kieran tattoo on his back, the night William died, was starting to get uncomfortable. With every move he made, his shirt rubbed against his back. It was just like Charlotte, rubbing him the wrong way. Auggie'd had it with being irritated and not being able to do anything about it. Unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled it off and tossed it behind him. As Auggie opened the ledger and stared at it, his mind wandered to getting his life back to where it was before Will got sick. Six months was a long time for him. He didn't do dates or relationships, but he enjoyed taking home the random girl from time to time. Quickly realizing his mind had wandered in a less than productive direction, he stood up and left the manager's office.
~
Even though she tried to talk herself out of it, Charlotte's curiosity over why Auggie wanted her to come to the bar overruled her dislike for being around him. When she pulled up at the back of the bar next to his truck and walked in, she had no idea what to expect.
Stepping into the main area of the bar, Charlotte had to take a breath. Auggie was standing, shirtless, with his back to her, stretching his arms above his head. The muscles in his back flexed as he lowered them, rolled his shoulders and leaned his head from side to side. Fixated on the Celtic cross that covered his back, she had an overwhelming urge to make her way closer. As she tried to imagine him in those horrible plaid shirts he wore, instead of the images of him that were popping up in her mind, he turned around.
Eyeing the Augustus Carrick Caffrey IV tattoo across his chest right below his collar bone and the Celtic knots on his shoulders, Charlotte quickly spit out, "You wanted me?"
"What?"
Fluttering her eyelashes as she rolled her eyes at him, Charlotte reminded, "You asked me to follow you here."
Auggie scowled at her for a long moment before saying, "Will left something in the back for you."
Raising her eyebrows at him as he continued to stand there, she griped, "Well can I have it or are you just going to stand there staring at me?"
Auggie made a growling sound under his breath before he walked passed her, assuring, "You were starin' first sweetheart."
Following him to the back of the bar, she snapped, "My name is Charlotte."
Swiftly turning to face her, he didn't realize how close behind him she was as he shared, "Be happy I'm not callin' you..."
Standing a few inches from his bare chest, she interrupted, "Charlotte is my name, Augustus."
Another low growl resonated from his throat as he turned and continued to the office in the back.
~
Picking his shirt up off of the floor behind his chair, Auggie pulled it on and quickly buttoned it before sitting down behind the desk. He opened a bottom drawer of the desk and grabbed the box William left for her. Glancing up at Charlotte, who was standing in the doorway, he set the box on the edge of the desk before flipping open the ledger book.
"What is it?"
Shrugging off her question, Auggie grabbed his pencil and started adding numbers from the receipts into the ledger book.
Refusing to look up, he could tell she had made her way closer. The room suddenly smelled better. The subtle sweetness that accompanied her grew stronger causing him to lose focus.
"What are you doing?" Charlotte asked.
Erasing an entire line of numbers from the ledger, Auggie replied, "Trying to get this done."
Just as he started over, she questioned, "Why don't you use a computer?"
"Jackson likes it done this way first," he explained, rewriting the receipt balances.
"You look like you're having a hard time."
Erasing the row for a second time, Auggie griped, "I'm already a week behind."
Before he realized it, she was right beside him, leaning over the desk saying, "I can show you an easier way to do that."
As Charlotte placed her finger on the ledger book and started to explain, Auggie was overwhelmed by the smell of her. Without hearing a word she said, he closed his eyes and drew in a slow deep breath. He couldn't place the scent. Trying to think of what it could be, he felt her hair brush against his arm as she leaned closer.
Yanking the ledger book away from her, he slapped it closed and fussed, "I don't need help."
Standing up straight, Charlotte griped, "Keep doing it wrong then."
"I know what I'm doing."
Shaking her head at him with a disgusted expression, she stated, "Sure you do. That's why your totals won't balance out."
Auggie glared at her, knowing she was right but refusing to admit he needed help, especially from her.
~
When Charlotte made it home to an empty house, she went straight to her room. Setting the box William left her on her nightstand, she threw herself onto her bed. She felt she was making an honest effort where Auggie was concerned. If he had let her help him, she could have been one step closer to fulfilling her promise to William. Reaching over, she grabbed her box and set it on the bed next to her. Propping herself up on her elbow, Charlotte opened it. Inside the box was a plastic bag filled with bottle caps.
With a loud exhale, she rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. No matter how hard she tried, Auggie standing in that stupid bar, shirtless, was the only thing she could think of. He wasn't even handsome. He wore ugly plaid shirts and his beard was scruffy, unkempt and far too long. Charlotte's mind wandered to how she felt standing close to him with his shirt off. She didn't like him, couldn't stand his attitude or the way he looked at her, but there was something about him that made her wonder what it would be like if they had known each other under different circumstances.
Slowly opening her eyes, Charlotte sat up. Closing the box William left her, she placed it back on her nightstand and stood up. Smiling with pride, she decided on just the right approach to take with Auggie. If she handled him as if he were any other man, she could do what William asked.
5
Deal
After a long night of tossing and turning, Charlotte stood in her bathroom brushing her teeth. The empty house was eerily quiet and she didn't like staying there by herself. In Spain, Erin was gone quite a bit but she kept a full staff at all times, even when it felt like it, Charlotte was never alone. In a way, she felt homesick for Spain. She missed having breakfast waiting on the table for her each morning, accompanied by Erin's 'Good Morning Dear'. Five years was a long time to spend there and it had become home for her. There, she fit in. No one knew anything about her there. It was a separate life from her small southern town, one that was everything she wanted her life to be.
Making her way to the closet, Charlotte stopped in front of her bedroom window when she heard a diesel engine idling right outside. Moving the curtain back, she peered through the mini-blind and s
aw a black Chevy Silverado 2500HD with custom chrome and mud tires. Making an irritated sound, Charlotte narrowed her eyes at the truck, knowing who was inside. To her surprise, the truck backed up and pulled away. Smiling to herself, she thought, 'chicken' before hearing the truck pull up again.
Wanting to watch and see if he got out of the truck this time, she opted to get dressed instead, just in case he did. Charlotte pulled on a pair of ultra-short knit baby blue shorts before pulling off her tank top and sliding on a fitted camisole and loose fitting white t-shirt. Grabbing her hair brush out of the bathroom, she ran it through her hair a few times before tossing it on her bed. Pulling her hair into a messy ponytail as she headed into the hallway. She stood at the top of the stairs for a while waiting to hear a knock. Wondering if he was trying to make up his mind, she heard his truck door close a few times before the doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, Charlotte smirked to herself thinking, 'Game on'.
Charlotte took her time walking down the stairs through the living room and up to the front door. When the doorbell rang a second time, she counted to thirty, unlocked the door and slowly opened it.
Leaning onto the doorframe through the open door, Charlotte crossed one foot in front of the other and greeted, "Well this is a surprise."
Clearing his throat as he looked her over, Auggie questioned, "Do you really know how to do this?" holding a green ledger book up to her.
Drawing out a "Yep," she looked him up and down.
Auggie was consistent if nothing else. The only thing that varied was his choice of shirt and even then it was still plaid. And what was with the beanie? Clearly he wasn't going bald, she had seen him at the cemetery without it and although it was fashionable to wear them, he didn't strike her as keeping up with trends.
Just about the time she started to think about what was hidden by his ugly shirt, Auggie said, "Sundays are my only day off."
"And?" she questioned, wanting him to come right out and ask her for help.
"That's the day I work on this stuff."
Rolling her eyes as she turned to walk back into the living room, Charlotte replied, "Thanks for sharin'."
Auggie followed her into the house, already frustrated by the way she was acting.
Closing the door behind himself, he griped, "You said you knew an easy way to keep books. Are you gonna show me or what?"
Continuing to the couch, she sat down, crossing one leg over the other, saying, "That depends."
"On what?"
Fluttering her eyelashes at him, Charlotte proposed, "Ask me nicely."
Narrowing his eyes at her, he snapped, "Kiss my ass."
Slowly shaking her head, Charlotte leaned back rebutting, "I do believe it's my ass you should be kissing, Augustus."
"You must be high out of your mind if you think I'm kissin' anything of yours."
Feeling a bit insulted, she sat up straight and offered, "Look, you don't like me and I don't like you so let's lay our cards on the table and help each other out."
Suspicious, he scowled, "Alright."
Charlotte patted the spot on the couch next to her, saying, "Have a seat."
"Yea, no thanks."
Fluttering her lashes as she rolled her eyes at him, she stood up with a loud huff.
~
Auggie watched as Charlotte made her way to a chair facing the couch. With a sarcastic expression, she motioned for him to sit on the couch by himself.
Taking the offer, he sat before asking, "You wanna get dressed first."
Crossing one of her long legs over the other, she replied, "I am dressed."
The spot where he sat on the couch still smelled like her, making him wish she would go put more clothes on.
"Let's hear it."
Placing her hands on the arms of the chair, Charlotte stated, "I made your brother a promise before he died and I need you to keep it."
Running his last conversation with Will over in his mind, Auggie asked, "Oh yea, how's that?"
She was silent for a moment before sharing, "He wanted me to make an effort with you. Since he loved us and we cared about him, he wanted me to be here for you."
Instantly furious, Auggie stood up correcting, "I didn't just care about him, he's my brother. I don't need anything from anybody and honey, if I did, you're the last person on earth..." until she cut him off, arguing, "Really? Then why are you here?"
Asking himself that same question, Auggie remembered Will making him promise he would look out for Charlotte while she was here.
Glaring at her, Auggie sat back down. He didn't want to spend time with her. He didn't want to have anything to do with her at all. Will had really screwed him over with this one.
"What did you have in mind?"
Sitting up a little straighter in her chair, Charlotte replied, "Sundays work fine for me, not that there is anything to do any other day. Pick a time and we can meet. I'll help you with your book there, be able to keep my promise to William then once you get the hang of it, we never have to see each other again. It's as simple as that."
Nodding, he replied, "I can do that."
Raising her eyebrows at him, she fussed, "I need a time and place."
"I don't want you at my bar. You can come by the house. Saturday nights are usually late ones so you can come around four in the afternoon."
He could tolerate her for a few hours once a week to keep his word with Will.
Waiting for her to argue, Auggie was caught off guard when she stood up, stepped to him and held out her hand.
Looking up at her like she was crazy, he griped, "What?"
"Shake on it," she demanded.
Clenching his back teeth, Auggie stood up and held out his hand. Staring at it, he watched as Charlotte slowly slid her hand into his. Her thumb brushed against the top of his hand as she softly held onto it. Tightening his hand around hers, he gave it a firm shake before letting go and making a beeline for the door. He refused to look back at her before leaving the Roberts' house.
~
Pulling up at his mom's house, Auggie turned his truck off and sat there for a minute. The whole way all he could think about was how good Charlotte smelled and how soft her hand was. When his mind wandered to what the rest of her felt like, he turned the radio up as high as he could stand, trying to drown all thoughts of her out of his mind.
This wasn't going to work. How was he supposed to spend any time with her if she was going to have this kind of effect on him. It didn't make sense to Auggie. One minute she would appear disgusted with him and in the next, it seemed like she was flirting. In all honesty, he liked neither. Both of those expressions towards him were offensive coming from her. He knew women had their little games that they played with men; he could spot a come-on almost before it happened. Women were all the same and after a certain amount of time, there was nothing unique about any of them. Sure they varied in size, shape and appearance but when it came down to it, they all felt the same. She was just another girl, no different than any other but she had a way about her that kept catching him off guard. Not to mention, she smelled so good and those legs... If he couldn't get a handle on her at least he could get a handle on himself. Almost seven months was just too long to go without. That had to be it. Shaking his head at himself as he stepped out of his truck, Auggie knew what he needed before seeing Charlotte again.
Almost at the door, Auggie's cellphone vibrated in his back pocket. Pulling it out, he made a face at the text message.
S: Hi ♥ it's Sheryl LOL.
A: I know...?...
S: LOL do you have time for anything now?
It took him a minute to decide that might not be a bad idea.
A: What did you have in mind?
S: I'll be at The Dog House LOL tonight!
A: So will I.
S: Hahahaha! Was hoping we could hook up after.
Even over text message she was annoying.
A: Maybe.
S: LOL MAYBE???
A: Later.
&nb
sp; Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Auggie ended the conversation before one more 'lol' caused him to throw his phone across the yard.
After giving the door a tap, Auggie walked in. He could smell meat and potatoes cooking and headed straight for the kitchen.
"Hey Ma," he said finding her standing at the stove.
His sister Penny rounded the corner and rolled her eyes, saying, "Oh, it's just you."
Sitting down at the table, he looked over at Penny, saying, "Aren't you ever gonna move out?"
Sticking her tongue out at him, when their mom Sarah, said, "Would you two stop."
"She needs to do something with her life," Auggie griped before Penny laughed, "Ha! You need to get a life."
Sarah turned around, fussing, "I swear, less than a minute and y'all are already at it. Enough," at the both of them.
Penny smiled wide, tossing her long auburn hair over her shoulder as she slid onto a chair at the table, saying, "Wanna know what I heard?"
Auggie instantly stated, "Nope."
"Sheryl said Charlotte came to see Will at the hospital and..."
Holding his hands out, Auggie glanced at his mom before shaking his head at Penny.
"Oh please, mom was here when she told me."
Irritated, Auggie snapped, "See, all you do is gossip. No wonder you can't keep a man."
"Sophia is the biggest gossip in town and she has a man," Penny argued making an ugly face at her brother.
With a slight laugh, Auggie corrected, "She doesn't have a man, she's got Ailin."
As Penny snickered, Sarah fussed, "Auggie!"
"Just stating facts, Ma," Auggie shared as they heard the front door open.
Penny hopped up saying, "Sophia's here."
Sarah set a plate of Shepard's pie in front of Auggie as Sophia walked into the kitchen.
Sophia walked straight to Sarah and hugged her before stepping back and giving Auggie a slight smile. It was no secret that Auggie and Sophia didn't get along. He never understood what his brother saw in her. Sure she was cute with her big brown eyes and wavy brown hair but Ailin acted like she was the end all be all of women everywhere and he had since they were teenagers. Sophia was Ren's only child and he knew Ren had devoted everything to her. And boy did it show. Sophia was a princess in her own mind and expected everyone to treat her as such. Most everyone did too, except for Auggie who liked her alright for being his brother's wife, but that was as far as his attachment towards her went.
