by Haley Cass
Still, she hadn’t spoken to her mom in almost a week. Plus, if there was one thing she didn’t need, it was Regan asking her why she wasn’t going to answer, if this wasn’t a date.
With a deep breath, her gaze flitted over to the door before she answered the call, “Hi, mom. What’s – wait, you had your meeting with your publisher today, didn’t you?” Just like that, the slight anxiety she’d had upon answering the call melted away into excitement. “How did it go?”
Her mother didn’t keep her waiting, and even though her voice was typically reserved, Sutton could hear her enthusiasm as she told her, “The general public will have the next book available to them in six months – with three more to follow in the series.” Then her tone dropped into the warm affection that was reserved for her kids, “And someone has the final chapters waiting in her email already.”
Sutton couldn’t help the squeal of excitement from escaping her. “Mom! I can’t wait to read them.”
“I know, hon. And I can’t wait until you’re home for the holidays, and we can brainstorm about the new series together. None of your siblings has the same gift as you do.” Katherine sighed, full of affection and indulgence.
“I know. It’s going to be great!”
Sutton looked forward to the holidays for a handful of reasons, and she did enjoy spending time at home more now, after she’d moved away. But there were fewer places she liked more than her mother’s office.
Katherine Spencer hadn’t really planned on being an author; she’d planned on being a best-selling historical fantasy sensation even less. In her childhood memories, her mother was a stay-at-home mom with no side profession. The best stay-at-home mother that there could possibly be, but still. She was dedicated to her family, and her kids were her primary focus.
When she would put them to bed or sit with them by the fire or take care of them while they were sick, her mom would tell them stories she’d made up. Tales of a woman – a heroic knight named Aurora. Sutton’s childhood was full of these stories.
Sutton had always loved the tales, and unlike her siblings, she never really grew out of them. Also unlike her siblings, she never hit the phase where she was “too cool” to hang out with their mom. She’d loved to be her little helper, especially when Ethan had been born just after her eleventh birthday.
And throughout his baby and toddler years, Sutton had enjoyed sitting with her mother and her youngest brother. She grew more enamored with the stories her mom would tell, and started to help tell them. It wasn’t until she’d been thirteen that her parents had sat with the owners of a publishing company when they’d been at the same event, and they’d heard some of Aurora’s tales over dinner.
It all seemed to happen so fast from there; Katherine wasn’t planning on having any more children, her eldest was going to be leaving for college in less than two years, and her youngest was no longer a baby. Jack had encouraged her to focus on something to make herself happy, and Sutton herself had begged her mom to really write about Aurora.
As Sutton had entered high school, Aurora’s origin story hit the shelves, and sold out faster than anyone had anticipated. Her favorite thing was to curl up in her chair in her mom’s office and talk about what was next for Aurora, giving her input on her mom’s ideas.
“Let me know when you read it, I want to know what you think. You know I talk about it with your father and Oliver, but they aren’t terribly creative.”
“I will! I’ll read it tonight when I get home,” she promised.
“Are you still on campus?”
It was like a flick of a switch, the way Sutton zoned back in to exactly where she was; she found herself sucking in a quick breath, trying to be mindful of the way her words left her mouth, her broad smile slowly fading. “Um, nope, not on campus. I’m just at Topped Off for a bit.”
“Order up for Sutton and her date!” Regan grinned.
Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. I will kill you, she mouthed to her, but Regan just kept grinning anyway because the damage was done.
She knew the look in her mother’s eyes, even without having to see her. The look she wore when any of her kids “had their eye” on somebody new. It was both interested and cautious at the same time, and she could hear exactly that reflected in her tone, “A date? You didn’t tell me that you were interested in someone.”
Even though Sutton disliked tardiness, she sincerely hoped that Charlotte would continue to run just a little bit late. At least late enough for the blush that she was sure was darker than her hair to fade along with her embarrassment as she denied, “It’s not a date; Regan’s just being a jerk.”
Her mother only hmm’d, and then sat quietly for a few moments.
Sutton knew what she was doing, because that was a trick that her mom had done so many times. . . .but it worked so well, and the words were already leaving her before she could think about it. “Really, mom, it’s not a date. I’m meeting a – a friend.”
She hated that she sounded so unconvincing, despite the fact that she was telling the truth.
“A new friend?” Katherine questioned, and still had that tone. The tone that said she knew that Sutton was hiding something.
“Yes,” she dragged out the word. “Just, someone I met recently.”
God. Oh, god. Her mother was going to hear it in her tone. She knew it was completely illogical and technically impossible. Because there was no way her mom could know that she met said girl on a lesbian dating app, just from her voice.
But what if she could?
“All right. Does this new friend have a name?”
“I – well, of course, everyone has a name. But this is a new friendship, and I don’t want . . .” she trailed off, realizing as she spoke that she was only making it worse for herself.
She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, holding in a groan of frustration at herself.
Even if she didn’t come to that conclusion on her own, the wildly entertained expression on Regan’s face said it all. She was bracing her elbow on the counter, chin in her hand, with a shit eating grin on her face.
Sutton brought her middle finger up, trailing it over her neck in a threat before she turned around to avoid having to deal with Regan’s face.
“So, in summary, you don’t want me to know your new friend’s name . . . in case it’ll jinx your friendship?” Her mom sounded both confused and amused.
It sounded idiotic to her own ears, but she for the life of her couldn’t find the words to tell her mother that it was Charlotte she was meeting. Not when her mother could so easily read her.
“Yes?” She offered, weakly.
“Okay. But I’ll be here to listen about your date when you feel like sharing,” She was clearly teasing, but Sutton’s breath caught in her throat.
She coughed, twice. “Ha. Yeah. Okay, I’ve got to go. I love you.”
“I love you too. Be safe.”
As soon as she hung up the phone, Sutton brought it up to rest her forehead against, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly. When she heard Regan cackling behind her, she spun around with a glare. “I hope you know that I’m not leaving you a tip.”
“Why aren’t you leaving Regan a tip?” Came the interested voice from behind her and Sutton froze, even as she felt a little tingle move up her spine at the somehow already familiar tone.
“Uh – no reason.”
Sutton turned to face her and immediately was aware that Charlotte had a special skill – in that everything she wore looked like she was modeling it. She didn’t believe that it mattered what she was wearing, really, but more of the way she carried herself.
With grace and elegance, and Sutton honestly believed that she could be wearing anything and still look like that. As it was, she stood in front of Sutton with a tight, fitted pencil skirt and blouse, with a light jacket over it.
It was such standard business attire, but Sutton couldn’t help but think that Charlotte wore it like she was walking down a runway,
and that, combined with Charlotte’s small, side-tipped inquisitive smile just made her stomach twist –
She cleared her throat and reached for the coffee on the counter behind her. “Um, here. This is for you.”
The small smile on Charlotte’s face grew into one that was fully-fledged, and it made Sutton’s chest go all warm with it directed at her. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I needed this today. Need this.”
Sutton might have missed the slight frown – or, frown line between Charlotte’s eyebrows, rather – that quickly smoothed out again had she looked away for only a few seconds if she hadn’t been watching her so intently.
“I’m just going to get some sugar,” Charlotte gestured to the station a few feet away.
She spun around to see Regan, practically bursting at the seams, and she whispered as menacingly as she could, “Don’t –”
It was already too late. “Why don’t you give her some sugar?”
Sutton’s hand tightened around her cup, and her tea nearly spilled out as she felt her cheeks flame hot in mortification. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw that Charlotte appeared to be too far away to have heard the comment. Thankfully.
“One more comment, and I’m changing the locks,” she threatened. Rather than wait around, she turned to look at where Charlotte was approaching, stirring her coffee and giving a questioning look between Regan and Sutton. “So, I was wondering, if you maybe want to . . . take a walk?”
And leave Topped Off before Regan undoubtedly says something so embarrassing that I’ll never be able to look you in the eye again, she added silently.
Charlotte’s caramel colored eyes seemed to brighten in amusement as she dragged her gaze one last time from Regan to Sutton. She ran them over Sutton’s face in a slow perusal before she agreed, “Sure.”
“Great. Good. Okay, let’s go.”
“I’ll see you at home, my tall drink of water. Take care of her, Stunning Charlotte!” Regan called out to them, and Sutton threw an exasperated glare over her shoulder.
Which melted as soon as she felt Charlotte’s steady, sure hand rest on the small of her back and heard her quiet chuckle in her ear as she led them out of the café. “I’ve come to realize that you didn’t exaggerate about her when you told me stories.”
Sutton hardly felt the crisp air hit her as she stepped out of the door. Despite the fact that she had a great tolerance for the cold, she was pretty sure it had something to do with the way she felt a bit warm all over with Charlotte’s proximity.
Which, really, didn’t mean anything, she assured herself.
The laugh that escaped her was shaky but genuine. “Yeah, there’s no way to exaggerate about Regan.”
She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved when Charlotte dropped her hand as she started leading them down the sidewalk. She tried not to think about it, and instead took a sip of her tea, wondering what to say. Conversation flowed so well between them through text, and she hoped it would carry over –
“I’m so sorry I was late. Today was . . . well, it’s been insanely busy all day long,” Charlotte sighed.
“It’s okay.” Biting her lip in uncertainty, she hesitated for a second before offering, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.”
“I wouldn’t be bored,” the words left her quickly before she could even think about them, and she felt herself flush and hoped that Charlotte thought it was the wind. “That is – only if you want.”
At that moment, she very much wished she could read minds, especially what was going on in Charlotte’s as her look turned speculative, like she was trying to figure something about Sutton out. Which was so strange, because Sutton knew that she was no mystery.
Whatever Charlotte must have deciphered, it made her sigh and close her eyes for a moment. Sutton suddenly thought back to the times that they’d texted where she worried that she’d asked for too much personal information, and she thought about what Charlotte had said to her before. About how she wasn’t used to different parts of her life coming together and colliding.
But then Charlotte spoke, “You know how there’s a special election coming up for the House of Representatives?”
Sutton nodded. “John Kelvin’s.”
“Right. Well, I’m running for it, and campaigns were announced today. Which meant that everything at the office was . . .” she trailed off, using her hands to wave around in front of her for a second, before landing on, “Crazy. Even crazier because Naomi Young is also running, which just meant everything was doubly hectic. I have so much paperwork to do, I actually need to go back to work again, after this.”
Sutton’s mouth hung open before she managed to get out, “Naomi Young is running for a Congressional seat? And you are, too?”
Charlotte chuckled darkly before drinking her coffee. “That tone in your voice is basically what I heard all day long.”
Sutton shook herself out of the slight stupor she’d fallen into at all of this information, hair shaking over her shoulders, before she took a moment to look at Charlotte. Beyond the general gorgeousness that she would probably always have, she thought she could see the dredges of exhaustion on her face.
“Do you . . . want to cancel, um, this?” She gestured between them before she quickly explained, “I just mean, if you’re so busy. I don’t want to – to make you more stressed, or anything.”
Charlotte quirked her eyebrow in a perfect arch at Sutton for a moment, before turning to lead them across the street toward the High Line. And she took a deep breath before she looked up at Sutton and murmured, “No, darling, it’s okay. I’ve actually been looking forward to this.”
The words could have been meant casually, Sutton knew that. She knew, logically, that they shouldn’t have made her heart speed up just a bit, or make her smile in the silly way that was threatening to take over. But she couldn’t help it, because Charlotte said the words like they were a confession.
They walked up a set of stairs, and Charlotte tossed out her empty cup of coffee before sliding her hands into her pockets.
“Do you really think that Naomi could beat you in an election?”
Charlotte gave her a sidelong look, her eyes alone questioning and searching. “You apparently know her fairly well. Speaking of, exactly how do you know her? I assume you didn’t meet her on a dating app.” She bumped her shoulder into Sutton’s, smirking.
Sutton’s mouth fell open, equal parts scandalized and horrified. “No!” she practically shouted, garnering a few strange looks from people they walked by, before she blushed and lowered her voice to repeat, “No.” She bit her lip and lowered her eyes in hesitation, because she didn’t want Charlotte to judge her. She took a deep breath, “I dated her son – Joshua.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise as she took the information in, and Sutton waited for the inevitable look she got whenever someone who knew about Joshua gave her. Charlotte just gave her one of soft sympathy. “That’s traumatic.”
The blunt way she said it made Sutton choke out a surprised laugh, “Tell me about it.”
“And because I don’t want to make you think about that for any longer, I’ll go back to your original question – Naomi is dangerous in her own way. Let alone the fact that she has so many ties with powerful people.” She paused for a moment, considering her words. “Your own family, for instance. She was married to one of your father’s oldest acquaintances. He and Robert went to school together.”
Sutton almost tripped over her own feet before she came to a quick stop. She stared at Charlotte incredulously. “You – you actually think my father – anyone in my family, really – would support Naomi Young?”
Charlotte shrugged, before she took on a teasing tone, “For a supposedly straightforward group of people, the Spencers can be an unpredictable people when it comes to some things.”
Sutton felt that playful spark in those honey
eyes all the way to her toes, and it made her stomach flip-flop pleasantly for a few moments even as she ducked her head. “That’s – that’s not true.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“If you want.” It’s not really like Sutton had much to hide.
“Are you out? To your family?” Charlotte peered up through long lashes at Sutton.
“Um, no. Not really. I mean, my sister knows. But that’s only because Alex eavesdropped on a conversation between me and Regan.” She rolled her eyes fondly.
Charlotte lifted her eyebrows and Sutton could see that there was more she wanted to know even before she asked, “Why haven’t you told them? You seem to be close.”
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t be mad,” she was quick to say, because she didn’t want anyone thinking that about her family, let alone someone who knew them – or at least, knew them in a professional capacity. “They’d love me, no matter what. I know that,” she murmured, though she thought it might take her dad a little while to wrap his mind around it. “But it’s – I’ve barely figured myself out. I mean, I – well, you know.”
“I do know.” She gave her an amused smile. “And how is that going? The app,” she elaborated.
She felt her cheeks heat, as she reached down to fiddle with the hem of her sweater. “I don’t . . . it’s not going, really. I mean – I’m not . . .”
She didn’t know how to fully describe her ineptitude with dealing with women aloud.
Charlotte chuckled in a way that was more affectionate than anything else, before she reached out to loop her arm around Sutton’s. “Okay, we won’t talk about that.” Charlotte tilted her head up to look at her in surprise. “How are you so warm? You only have a sweater on, not even a jacket!”
“My family spent every winter break at our cabin in Canada, Charlotte. This is nothing,” she took a moment to take in the fact that Charlotte shivered slightly despite the fact that she was wearing a jacket, and she frowned. “Are you cold?”