“I imagine your French must be very good, having lived there.” Mrs. Hamlin said.
“I am becoming rather fluent.” Julia admitted smugly.
“Oh, do say something in French; it’s such a beautiful language.” Mrs. Hamlin urged.
“Mais, bien sur.” Julia said, looking around the table. “Does anyone else speak French here?”
“Charlie speaks French.” Becky piped up quickly.
“Becky,” Charlie muttered under her breath at her friend. She glanced toward Ryle, meeting his eyes for a moment. Those azure eyes glinted with amusement.
“That’s right, our Charlotte speaks French.” Eva smiled. “She’s traveled to Toulouse many times.”
“You speak French?” Jeff asked Charlie from beside her and she gave a rueful nod.
“It’s very elementary.” She told him softly.
“Toulouse? Where’s that?” Julia frowned.
“It’s a city in southern France where one of the major aviation trade shows are held.” John spoke up.
“Oh.” Julia shrugged, losing interest.
“Well, maybe you two could have a little conversation in French.” Mrs. Hamlin said, looking between Charlie and Julia. “The French language is so romantic.”
“I’m afraid my French is very rusty.” Charlie said.
“I’m sure Julia can help you with whatever you forget, dear,” Mrs. Holton said magnanimously.
“Mm. Why not? We can just say a few sentences.” Julia said confidently.
“Okay.” Charlie agreed, seeing no graceful way out.
“Bonjour, Charlie, comment ça va?” Julia asked.
“Ça va très bien, merci. Et vous?” Charlie replied.
“Bien. J’ai acheté la plus belle robe d’une petite magasine à Paris quand j’étais là.” Julia said.
“Bonne. Est-ce que tu as eu la chance de voir beaucoup de galléries et autres immeuble historique à Paris?” Charlie asked.
“Non, mais le shopping est excellent.”
“Ah oui, je comprends. J’imagine qu’il y a beaucoup de belles choses à Paris.”
“My goodness, that sounded so lovely.” Mrs. Hamlin sighed blissfully.
Charlie looked at Ryle again, and he gave her a barely perceptible nod of admiration. Somehow that made it all worthwhile. She was filled with warmth at his approval.
“Your French is very good.” Jeff whispered at her side.
Charlie turned to look at him. “If you knew French, why didn’t you speak up?”
“Hey, don’t look at me; I don’t speak French. I just know how it’s supposed to sound and yours sound good to me. To me, you sound like a native; even though I had no idea what you just said.” Jeff said and she laughed.
“Thanks, Becky,” Charlie turned away from Jeff to mutter against Becky’s ear.
“Any time.” Becky grinned.
The two ends of table started chatting amongst themselves as the meal continued.
“Anyone catch the hockey game last night?” Rob asked.
“We did; it was an awesome game.” Sean said.
“I caught some of it.” Ryle said, giving Charlie a little look and she had to suppress a flush. She was the reason he didn’t get to watch the whole game. Thinking about what he did to her, her whole body was suffused with heat at the memory.
“That fight between Eriksson and Marks was awesome.” Rob said.
Mandy grinned across the table at Charlie and Becky, rolling her eyes.
“Do you define a good game by the fights?” Julia asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Sean grinned.
“Barbaric.” She muttered.
“That last goal by Evans was something to see, huh?” Rob said as the guys continued to discuss the game and other games.
After the main course, Charlie got up automatically to help clear away the plates.
“Thank you,” Jeff said, smiling as she took his plate.
“No problem.” She returned his smile before moving to the others.
She collected the dinner plates as she went around the table. She made her way to Ryle’s side.
“Hey,” He said as she stopped beside him.
“Hey,” She murmured, her eyes caught by his for a moment.
“You did good.” He murmured just loud enough for her to hear, giving her a quick wink.
She felt warm all over at his compliment. His wink made her knees weak and she was in danger of dropping all the plates.
“Thanks.” She wanted to ask him if he spoke French, but knew it would have to wait until they were alone, at least, not directly in front of Julia and her parents.
He picked up his plate and handed it to her. “Thanks,” His long fingers brushed hers deliberately in an imperceptible caress as she took the plate from him.
She bit her lower lip and moved on. It was hard to pretend they were mere acquaintances when she wanted to touch and caressed him openly; to let some of her true feelings show.
She went to the kitchen to make the coffee. While the coffee was brewing, she rinsed the plates and stacked them into the dishwasher.
“Could you make some tea for Mrs. Hamlin, darling?” Eva asked as she went to the dessert to put finishing touches on them.
“Sure, mom.” Charlie prepared the tea, and turned back to her mom.
“Mom, can we talk for a moment?”
Eva paused what she was doing to look up with some concern. “That sounds rather serious.”
“It is.”
“Oh, is everything all right?”
“It’s about Jeff.”
“I know, I was hoping to surprise you that he could come tonight.” Eva said, smiling.
“Thanks, Mom, but I think you should know that Jeff and I are no longer dating.”
Eva frowned. “You’re not?”
“No. We decided to give it a break.”
“Don’t you mean you decided?”
“I…”
“Looking at Jeff, he still adores the very ground you walk on. I don’t think he would decide on something like that.” Eva said firmly. “Why, darling? I don’t understand it. He’s a wonderful man. He’s handsome, he’s charming, he’s very smart and…”
“And he’s not the man for me.” Charlie cut in gently. “I’m sure he will make some lucky woman a great husband; just not me.”
“Then who…you’re not dating Ryle, are you?” Eva was frowning now.
“For now.” She admitted, feeling lighter now that she finally told her mom the truth.
“For now? What does that mean?”
“It means, just for now. It’s not anything permanent.”
Eva's frown had deepened. “He’ll break your heart.”
Charlie couldn’t answer for a long moment. Her mother was right. Her heart was already breaking.
“Mom, I know you love me, but I’m an adult. Please just let me make my own mistakes.”
“Oh, darling.” Eva said sadly, shaking her head.
After dessert and coffee, Charlie helped clear the table. As Charlie and her friends had to work tomorrow, they left early.
“Thanks for dinner, Mom,” Charlie murmured, kissing her mom on the cheek before leaving.
“Take care, darling.” Eva said meaningfully.
Charlie and her friends left together. Jeff was also leaving. Outside in the cool night air, she exchanged hugs and kisses with Becky, Mandy and Rob before they went on their own way.
“Give me a few minutes.” Charlie said to Ryle as she caught sight of Jeff walking towards his car.
“Yeah,” Ryle nodded, as if understanding.
She left Ryle walking along the path and ran after Jeff. She caught up with Jeff before he reached his car.
“Jeff!”
“Charlie,” Jeff turned to face her. There was a very sad expression on his handsome face; he looked tired and defeated.
“I’m sorry about tonight; I should’ve told my mom the truth.” She said.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I’m still glad you came tonight.” She added softly. “I just wish we could…” She broke off, unable to continue.
Jeff looked at her for a long moment. “It’s Sullivan, isn’t it?”
“Um…” She was surprised and didn’t know how to answer. She thought she was being so careful, even after she told her mom the truth.
“I saw the way you were looking at him when you were collecting the dinner plates.”
“I’m sorry, Jeff.” She didn’t try to lie to him.
“Me too.” He said huskily as he turned away and got into his car.
Charlie sighed sadly as she turned and walked back toward Ryle. He met her half way on the long pathway.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Yeah,” She murmured. “I’m sorry, tonight was a mess.”
“It’s not your fault.” He dismissed.
“If I had the courage to tell my parents weeks ago about Jeff, tonight wouldn’t have happened. Not that I mind Jeff’s presence during Sunday dinner; I’m glad he came but I didn’t want to hurt him.” She told him as they walked into her apartment.
“I have time for that long story if you want to tell me about it.” He said as they sat down on the small loveseat in the living area. His large frame made the loveseat look ridiculously small. There was just enough room for her to join him on the loveseat. He stretched out his long legs, giving her more room.
Charlie looked at him. She had already told him a little about Brian. She really didn’t have anything to hide from him.
Taking a deep breath, she began. “When I a teen, I was never into boys. All my friends were buying pretty things and dating, and I was reading everything I could get my hands on, especially about aviation. I was learning to fly at that time. In the beginning it wasn’t so bad. My parents were not worried because I was young. By the time I went to college and I still didn’t date, well, they got worried.” Charlie said.
“How did you keep all the boys back when you’re so hot?” He asked, half teasing, half serious.
“I’m not,” She scoffed.
Ryle gave her a searing look. “Oh, yeah, from where I’m sitting, you’re definitely hot.” He said with a leer and she flushed in pleasure.
“I was a nerd. I just read and read.” She murmured. “When I started my master’s degree, I started dating. Brian was in my class and we keep bumping into each other at the library. We had a lot in common, and we liked the same things. We moved in together and our schedules meshed well. My parents were really happy. They liked Brian and he seemed the perfect fit for me. The plan was for us to get married after we graduated from our master’s program. After two years of living together, it felt like we were already married. We both went to the job fair, and we both applied for various jobs. We even joked about working together and being competitive at work.” Charlie paused. She looked up to see Ryle watching her and listening intently.
“There was this one position that everyone in the class was competing for. It was at PAL. A couple of months before graduation, I was offered the position. I was thrilled, and I thought Brian would be too. But he was really angry I got it and he didn’t. He started accusing me of all kinds of nasty things. He said I wasn’t good enough and that he was better. He accused me of fucking everyone at PAL to get the job.”
She didn’t realize Ryle had moved, but he was now sitting behind her with his arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her against him.
“He’s an idiot.” Ryle ground out.
“I walked out on him that night and never looked back. For a long time afterwards, I didn’t date. My mom and friends tried to set me up on blind dates, but they never worked out. I didn’t want to date anyone at PAL, and since that’s where I spent ninety percent of my time, chances of me meeting anyone were slim. And the older I got, the more worried my parents became.” She said. “So imagine their relief when I brought Jeff home. Jeff was everything my parents could ever hope for me. They really wanted it to work out. So it was really hard to tell them I was no longer dating Jeff when they put all their hopes on him.”
“Let me guess, they don’t approve of me.” Ryle teased.
“Not much.” She answered honestly. “It’s nothing against you personally…they were just hoping I would choose someone nice and steady like Jeff. They know Jeff would stay around.” She said before she realized what she was implying.
Ryle was silent. He didn’t contradict her. And she didn’t realize she was secretly hoping he would until he remained silent. Her heart contracted. Her mom was right; he would break her heart.
The next several weeks went by all too quickly. Charlie spent as much time as she could with Ryle. The more time she spent with him, the deeper she fell. But even as she was falling deeper in love with him, she felt as if her heart was breaking.
Before she knew it, there was only a couple of weeks left in his contract. Ryle made no secret that he was leaving Linwood in July.
She only took Ryle to dinner at her parents’ house a couple of more times. All the other Sundays he was busy in Chicago with his grandfather. Her mom was civil enough to Ryle, but it lacked the welcoming warmth she had shown towards Jeff.
In July, she and several handfuls of people from PAL were traveling to Toulouse for a couple of days to attend the aviation trade show. It was not the big one, but because it still provided a lot of information on new technologies, they tried to attend as many as they could.
From Charlie’s team, she took Vasil Halvorson and Steven Mason with her. There were several other teams who were also going. Charlie was excited at the prospect of seeing new technology, but at the same time, she was reluctant to be away from Ryle, even for a few days. Their time together was running out fast, and she was afraid he might be gone before she got back.
Charlie and Steven drove with Vasil to Chicago’s airport. At the airport they met up with the others.
“Hey.”
Charlie looked up see Jeff standing near her. “Hey Jeff.”
“May I?” He indicated the seat beside her.
“Please.” She nodded.
Jeff had mostly avoided her the last several weeks. They said hello whenever they passed each other at work, but that was it. He had stayed away from her and she didn’t seek him out. It was almost like they were strangers. It was too bad they couldn’t be friends anymore, but she knew she hurt him badly and he needed time to recover.
“How are you?”
“I’m okay.” She murmured. She met his eyes. “How are you?”
He shrugged. “Surviving, I guess.”
She smiled a little sadly.
He was silent for several moments. “I heard Sullivan’s leaving next week.”
Pain tightened her heart at the mention of Ryle. “How did you know?” She asked. Not many people knew Ryle’s contract was up.
“Jack mentioned it.”
“Oh.” She nodded.
Jeff stared at the tips of his shoes for a long moment. “I guess you knew.”
“Yeah.” She admitted.
“I guess he’s leaving PAL for good.”
“He doesn’t have any intention of staying here longer than his contract.” She said.
“You’re okay with that?” Jeff asked softly.
Charlie bit her lower lip, tears swam in her eyes. “I guess I’ll have to be.”
“I’m sorry.” Jeff said huskily.
“Thanks.” She murmured as a single tear fell down her cheek. It was ironic that Jeff was offering her comfort for Ryle breaking her heart.
The announcement overhead announced the boarding of their flight.
“That’s us.” Jeff said.
“Yeah.” Charlie stood up and picked up her overnight case.
They walked toward the line together.
Ryle found his grandfather in his study.
“Ryle, what are you doing here?”
“I’m just passing through, grandfather.” Ryle told him.
His grandf
ather checked the date on his watch. “Has it been six months already?”
“Minus a week.” Ryle said. “I’ll go back and finish the last week. I’m actually on my way to Toulouse.”
“Toulouse? Why do you want to go to Toulouse?” Marcus asked, intrigued now.
“To give Charlie this.” Ryle held up the tiny box he was holding.
Marcus took the box and opened it. The 3 carat diamond solitaire caught the sunlight splashing into the study and sparkled brilliantly.
“Your mother’s ring.” Marcus murmured, studying it.
“I had to stop by the family vault to pick it up.” Ryle said.
Marcus was grinning widely now. “So you’re really going to do it.”
Ryle met his grandfather’s eyes and grinned. “Yes.”
“It’s about time. And when am I going to meet her?” Marcus demanded.
“You’ll meet her when she says yes.”
Marcus snorted. “What’s the matter, are you afraid I’ll frighten her away?”
“That’s a strong possibility.”
“She doesn’t know who you are, does she?” Marcus guessed shrewdly.
Ryle took a deep breath. “No. I’ll have to find a way to tell her; that’s the hard part.”
Marcus chuckled, enjoying his grandson’s predicament. “I don’t envy you, boy.”
Charlie spent the first day in Toulouse walking through one section of the show with Steven, Vasil, Jeff and a couple of others. She was able to forget Ryle and focus on the task at hand.
They decided to take a break for lunch at one o’clock.
“Where should we go first after lunch?” Tom asked.
“I suggest the ARC Show.” Steven said.
“We should save the ARC Show until tomorrow.” Vasil said. “We should go through all the vendors first. They’re running two ARC Shows.”
“Today’s better.” Steven said.
“What’s so special about today’s?” Charlie asked.
“Models.” Steven grinned.
“What?”
“Models. Hot babes.” Steven grinned, holding up the color brochure to show them. “Natalia Levkova, Katia Varekova, Daniella Bernt, they’re big names.”
“Cool, they’re Victoria’s Secret babes.” Tom grinned.
Flight Page 15
