“We have a system so no one can take advantage and take more than they need, but there is a monthly order in place for the next twelve months, so the inventory will be replenished with whatever we’re low on! Can you believe it?”
Charlotte was still speechless.
“And there’s more,” he said and boldly took her hand and led her from the room. They walked back to the food pantry. Normally it was stocked with canned goods or boxed goods that were a little banged up or dented, but now the room had new shelves full to overflowing with new merchandise—nothing dinged or damaged—and all brand name.
“When the new kitchen came, we also got more refrigeration units so we can have fresh produce,” Hank explained giddily. “I’m telling you, it’s a miracle. And like the clothes, there is a standing weekly order in place to restock us.” He laughed happily. “In all my years of doing this, I’ve never seen such generosity!”
Neither have I, she thought as her heart raced.
“Any idea who donated?” she asked hesitantly.
“I can’t say with any great certainty, but Julian’s been here helping with all the heavy stuff—demolition, construction of the new shelves, cleaning. I’m telling you, he and his team have put in a lot of sweat and time. But he’s done that for us before so I didn’t give it much thought. And then with the celebrity lineup he’s sent through here in the last few weeks, I’d have to say it’s either one or all of them combined. Either way, I am thankful for it and I’d love to shake all of their hands and tell them how many lives they’ve saved with their donations!”
“Wait—celebrity lineup? I mean, I know he brought Riley and Dylan with him a couple of times, but that’s it, right?”
Hank laughed. “I forgot you haven’t been in when they’re here, but it’s been like a who’s who of the music world in here! Wait, let me pull up the pictures I have on my phone. I’ve been so star struck and I never know who’s going to walk through the door!”
Charlotte scanned the twenty-something pictures on Hank’s phone as he shared a story about each of the celebrities he’d met. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned this to her? She’d even spoken to Mick several times and the guys he normally sent her way were new to the business and looking for a way to fill their time or find temporary work until their music took off. How could no one have said anything about any of this? Which was what she asked Hank.
“Honestly, I thought you knew! I figured you and Julian had worked this out and you were just busy,” he replied. “Are you saying you didn’t know?”
“Not a clue,” she said, frowning, but then she quickly reminded herself that it wasn’t about her. This was a great thing that was happening, and she needed to focus on all of the good it was doing—not the fact that it had all happened without her knowledge or help.
Hank finished showing her all the improvements to the facility and by the time they were done, it was after eight and she was starving. Another night of takeout and she could only pray she wasn’t going to run into Julian. After seeing everything that he’d more than likely done, she had a feeling she’d fling herself into his arms and thank him and then beg him to take her back.
So, it seemed the way to her heart wasn’t with diamonds; it was helping the needy.
Not a bad thing at all, right?
And it wasn’t like he was just throwing money at the problem, he was putting in the time, too, which made what he was doing even more amazing.
“I’m heading out, Hank!” she called out as she walked to the door. People wished her a good night, and when she stepped outside, there was a small mob of people and lights and cameras flashing. What the…?
“Charlotte! Is it true the Shaughnessy reunion to raise money for the shelter was your idea?”
“Charlotte! How did you manage to get the band back together?”
Wait…what?
“Charlotte! Are you the reason Julian Grayson came out of retirement?”
She was surrounded and practically blinded and had no idea what was happening! She looked around frantically, stammering and stuttering while she tried to think of something to say.
“No comment, folks!” a male voice called out and suddenly Mick was there with a protective arm around her to shield her from the crowd. Everyone moved aside as he guided her toward his car.
“But…my car’s over there.” Charlotte weakly pointed in the opposite direction. Not that Mick noticed, he was too busy fielding questions—and by fielding, all he kept saying was, “No comment.”
“Come on, man, just one comment!” someone called out. “Please!”
“There’ll be a news conference tomorrow at eleven. You’ll get everything you need there,” Mick said as they kept walking. “In the meantime, why don’t you do something useful like donate a meal to the shelter or volunteer to help a kid learn to read!”
He ushered her into the back of a black SUV before jogging around to the other side and climbing in beside her. “Let’s go,” he said to the driver and then they were in motion.
For a minute, she forgot to be confused and instead got annoyed. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?” she cried, turning in her seat to face him. “What was that all about?”
“I’ll take you to Julian’s and he can explain,” Mick said evenly as he reached forward, grabbing a bottle of water and handing it to her. “Here. You look a little flushed.”
Without thinking, she took the bottle. “I don’t want to go to Julian’s, Mick. I want you to tell me what’s going on. And I need to go back for my car!”
He gave her a very serene smile. “I like you,” he said. “And trust me, I haven’t liked anyone from the get-go like I have you. On top of that, you’re good for him.”
Was she in some sort of alternate universe or something?
“Right now, I really don’t care who likes me. Why were all those people outside the shelter and what does Shaughnessy have to do with it?”
“Like I said, I’ll take you to Julian’s so he can explain it. He’s really looking forward to being able to share it with you.”
“I’m not going to Julian’s,” she said defiantly. “I want to go back to my car. Now.” She did not like having someone dictate what she had to do or hijacking her the way Mick just had.
But all Mick did was smile. “If you give me your keys, I’ll have someone go back and get the car. It will be at your place within a couple of hours.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t think you’re understanding me. It’s been a very long day and a confusing night and right now, I just want to go home.”
Mick tried to interrupt her, but she quickly cut him off.
“And not like this!” she cried. Taking a deep breath, she let it out and tried to be reasonable. “How did those reporters know who I was?”
“Julian mentioned you in the press release,” Mick said casually. “He told them about your work with the unemployed and the homeless, and I guess they did their homework and went to see you. I’m surprised there weren’t more of them there.”
“It must be a slow news day,” she murmured.
“Look, Charlotte, this wasn’t quite the way we envisioned tonight going. We knew there might be a few reporters around, but I thought I’d get there in time. That’s on me and I’m sorry. But Julian can explain the rest, I swear.”
Would it really be the worst thing in the world for her to go and see him and just get this over with? Although, remembering her earlier thoughts on what she would do if she saw him right now came to mind. Maybe she should stick to her guns and go home. Her emotions were too all over the place for her to go and see him, and she had a feeling there would be very little talking and a lot of her crawling all over him.
Yeah. That was the better plan.
She hated how logical her mind could be even when her body was crying out for some atten
tion.
Mick’s phone rang and he immediately answered. “Yeah. Uh-huh…exactly. No problem. Thanks.”
The whole thing took all of ten seconds.
He slid his phone back into his pocket. “I’ll take you home and I promise to get your car to you. We’re already on our way, so it’s crazy to go back.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said hesitantly. Why the sudden change of plans?
“It’s late,” he said a moment later. “Have you eaten yet?”
“I…I had plans to grab something on the way home.”
He nodded. “Call in whatever you want and we’ll swing by and pick it up on the way to your place.”
Why was he being so agreeable all of a sudden? And why did that annoy her too?
Right then her stomach growled, so she was going to blame it on hunger. Pulling out her phone, she called in her Chinese food order and then sat back stiffly, wondering what she was supposed to do now.
Oddly enough, Mick started talking to her about her job. They’d discussed it over the phone and in person the few times he’d come to see her about the volunteers, and it was kind of nice to focus on something that was comforting for her and…normal. After the last hour, she could definitely use some of that.
They talked and laughed, and as much as she was dying to ask more about what was going on with the band, she kept that to herself. The driver ran in and paid for her food—something she protested, but fortunately Mick allowed her to give him cash to repay him—and the next thing she knew, she was home.
No paparazzi.
No questions.
No Julian.
“Well, this sucks,” she murmured as she let herself into her apartment.
Alone, she ate her dinner and picked up her Kindle to finish reading a Christmas romance she’d started a few days ago that had recently been turned into a TV movie.
The book was better.
When the book was done and her dinner gone, Charlotte gave in to the urge to go online and try to figure out what in the world was going on with Shaughnessy.
SHAUGHNESSY REUNITES!
SHAUGHNESSY—THE INFAMOUS BAND ON THE RUN—IS FINALLY HEADING BACK TO THE STUDIO!
JULIAN GRAYSON’S NEW LOVE THE REASON BEHIND BAND’S COMEBACK?
Her eyes began to glaze over as page after page after page of stories came up under her search. It was hard to know where to start, and then she had to stop and ask herself if the internet was really the best place to get information or if she just should have gone to Julian’s.
Jumping up, she went to grab her purse and then she remembered—no car.
Opening her front door, she walked out and looked to the parking lot, but the car wasn’t back yet. She cursed her own stubbornness, because now she’d either have to wait, call an Uber, or call him. And calling him felt both safe and scary at the same time.
“Just do it,” she scolded herself as she headed back in and found her phone. “It’s not like he’s going to hang up on you. He wanted you to come and talk to him.” All this was said as she paced and tried to figure out what she was going to say. “Okay. You got this. Just be…casual. See how he sounds and go from there.”
And with that, she pulled up his number and hit send.
It rang.
And rang.
And rang again.
“Hey, this is Julian. Leave a name and I’ll call you back.” Beep!
Seriously? He wasn’t answering his phone? And she knew he specifically wasn’t answering, since it didn’t go immediately to voicemail, so…she was thoroughly confused.
“Um, hey, Julian, it’s Charlotte. Mick brought me home a little while ago and I just wanted to know what was going on, so call me, okay? Thanks. Bye.”
Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest that she was practically breathless as she put her phone down. Then she sat down on her sofa and figured he’d call her back.
Channel surfing killed some time, and when she looked at the clock, she saw it was after ten and frowned. He could still call her back.
The eleven o’clock news ended and she glared at her phone, still trying to reason with herself that he could call her back tonight.
When The Late Late Show ended, Charlotte turned off the television and chucked the remote across the room.
He didn’t call back.
And the thing was, she wasn’t sure who she was more pissed off at—him or herself. If she had just gone to his house like Mick had insisted, she wouldn’t be sitting here alone and miserable, still trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
Now she had two options—she could go back online and read the articles and piece together what was real and what was just conjecture, or she could go to sleep and try to see Julian tomorrow. Of course, it would have to be after work, since Fridays were usually a little chaotic at the office. But by that time the band would have had their press conference and she’d be able to see video footage of it and hear from the guys themselves about what was going on.
“Sleep it is,” she said, stretching.
* * *
When her alarm went off in the morning, it felt as if she had just fallen asleep after the restless night she’d had.
And as was her usual luck, nothing went as planned. Her shower drain backed up, she burned her hand on her curling iron, and there wasn’t any coffee in the house so she had no choice but to stop and get a cup on her way to work. It was her usual stop, but today she just wanted to get to work and get the day over with.
There were a ton of cars lining the street, and she had to wonder what would have all these people in town at this early hour. Finding a parking spot was a bit of a nightmare, but one opened up miraculously after she’d circled the block multiple times.
“It’s going to be that kind of day,” she murmured as she climbed from the car. Turning the corner, Charlotte cursed.
The line was easily fifty people deep coming out of the coffee shop.
“What in the world?” she cried softly.
The guy in front of her turned around and smiled. “Free coffee today,” he said.
“Seriously? Why?”
He shrugged. “Some guy came out earlier and said there was free coffee for anyone who needed it today. Kind of loud about it too,” he added. “You can imagine how fast word spread and people were lining up.”
Charlotte looked at her phone and knew that if the line didn’t start moving, she was going to be late for work. The thought of the one-step-above-instant coffee at the office made her decide being a few minutes late would be worth the inconvenience.
It didn’t take long for her to realize she may have underestimated how late she’d be when a news crew pulled up and headed into the coffee shop.
“Must be another slow news day,” she murmured, and the guy in front of her chuckled.
“Either that or they really wanted the free coffee and used their gear as a ploy to cut to the front of the line!” he said.
That was one way to look at it, she supposed.
Twenty minutes later she was finally walking through the door. Her head was down as she looked at her phone and quickly typed out a text to her boss to say she was running late and would be there as soon as possible. Their exchange went back and forth as she moved forward, and it wasn’t until she heard someone call “next” that she looked up.
And saw Julian standing behind the counter next to the cashier.
Charlotte looked around in confusion before focusing her gaze on him.
“I believe the lady will have a caramel Frappuccino and a blueberry muffin,” Julian said to the cashier, but his eyes never left Charlotte’s.
“Ma’am? Is that correct?” the cashier asked.
All she could do was nod.
“If you could step down to the end, your order will be out in a moment.”
> She did as she was asked and expected Julian to move with her. But he didn’t. She looked at him and saw the amusement on his face. After a moment, he walked over to meet her.
“Julian, what in the world?” she asked quietly, not wanting anyone to think she was having a panic attack.
Even though that was exactly what she was having.
“I’m paying it forward,” he said and then looked over his shoulder toward the line. “I’d love to stay and talk, but I need to get back to the register and greet everyone. Who knew so many people were in need of coffee, right?”
When he turned to walk away, she reached out and touched his arm. He immediately turned around, his expression so soft and warm and wonderful, and a far cry from the man she had first met here two months ago.
“I don’t understand what’s going on,” she admitted, moving in closer to him. “I tried calling you last night and—”
“Why didn’t you let Mick bring you over?” he asked softly, his eyes scanning her face like a caress.
“I…I was confused and nervous, and those reporters really freaked me out. Everything happened so fast and I just kind of panicked. Then I realized how stupid I’d been and tried to call.”
Julian moved just a little closer and she could feel the warmth of his body; she wanted to burrow in close to him and never move away. He touched her hand gently as he smiled down at her. “What are you doing for lunch?”
Lunch? Wait…what time was it?
“I don’t have any plans.” Hope began to bubble up inside of her.
“Now you do,” he said. “I’ll pick you up.” Then he turned to walk away but stopped and looked at her. “And make sure you’re online at eleven.”
This time he did walk away and she had to call out after him. “What am I looking for?”
With one last glance over his shoulder, he smiled again. “The link is waiting in your inbox.”
One More Moment Page 26
