One More Chance: A Small Town Love Story

by A. J. Wynter

  “Logan asked me to go to the prom. I had to work two jobs to pay for the dress. My mom took on extra hours at the gas station to surprise me with a trip to the salon to get my hair done. Then he didn’t show up.” The truncated version spilled out of Charlotte’s mouth like a waterfall.

  “What. Why?”

  “I have no idea. He left me sitting in a dress that I couldn’t really afford, waiting. He never apologized, never called, and he didn’t return my calls.”

  “Ouch. That is a bit of a dick move.”

  “You think?” Charlotte thought that she would feel anger when telling the story, but tonight all she felt was sorrow. “It was bad, but the worst part was the rumors. I heard that asking me to go to the prom had been a bet. People didn’t think that he would actually take dirtbag Billie Jo Bunkman as his date. There were other rumors too. The most popular girl in school Stacy started them. She nicknamed me the Blow Job Queen, you know, because of my initials, and it stuck. She told everyone that I had blown the entire hockey team.”

  “You never talked to him again? You never heard his side of the story?” Megan grabbed a log from the wood basket and tossed it onto the glowing coals. Charlotte pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and handed it to her.

  “No. As a matter of fact. I got my things together and moved to the city. I took a job with Veronica O’Hare and she mentored me. When I got my real estate license, I changed my name – after her.”

  Megan hugged Charlotte. When she pulled back her eyes were soft, and she held Charlotte’s hands in hers. “Charlotte, I’m sorry. That’s a terrible story. Kids can be so cruel.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t just the kids. The whole town got in on the action. Thankfully I got out of here and didn’t have to live through the small-town gossip, but my mom and Lauren sure did. We were flat broke, working hard just to eat. We didn’t deserve to be treated like that.” Charlotte fought to keep her voice even, “My only regret...” She couldn’t stop the waver in her voice, “was that my mom never got to see my success. I never got to spoil her. I never got to thank her for sacrificing her own life for Lauren and me.”

  “She died young. I know that you miss her,” Megan whispered and gripped Charlotte’s hand.

  “Too young.” A lone tear escaped from Charlotte’s eye and trailed down her cheek.

  “The rumors about me, even though she knew they weren’t true, were tough on her. And the rumors that started when Lauren became a single mother, I think it was just too much for her poor heart.”

  “You know that’s not true. You and your sister can’t blame yourselves for what happened to your mom.”

  Charlotte shrugged. She knew that her mom would reach out and smack Charlotte from her grave if she heard her blaming herself for her death. “It didn’t help.”

  Megan shifted on the couch, took a drink of water and cleared her throat. “Charlotte, you know that I love you like a sister. You are one of the smartest women I know, but it sounds to me like you’re living with a lot of guilt.”

  Charlotte nodded. Megan had hit the nail on the head.

  “And you’re looking for someone to blame.”

  Charlotte snapped her head up, suddenly aware where Megan was taking the conversation. “I don’t blame him.”

  “Sounds like you do, at least partly.”

  Charlotte felt her cheeks flush red with anger. She balled her hands into fists and opened her mouth to tell Megan to get out of her house and never come back, but Megan was right, and the truth of her words came from a good place.

  The muscles in her body gave out, she crumpled back onto the sofa and stifled a sob. Megan reached over and pulled Charlotte into her arms and that’s when Charlotte let the floodgates open. She ugly cried into Megan’s shoulder, her body expanding and contracting in her friend’s arms as she heaved and sobbed, soaking the shoulder of Megan’s sweater.

  Charlotte pulled back, “Megan, all the years I thought that it was about the prom. I just really miss my mom.”

  “I know you do, Char. But you can’t blame anyone for her death, especially yourself. She died of a heart attack. She was too young, but you and I both know that she would be so proud of you.”

  “And Lauren too.”

  “And Lauren too,” Megan repeated. “Now, do you think that you can give Logan a chance?”

  Charlotte grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. “I will try Meg. For you. For my mom. I will try.”

  Charlotte walked Megan to the door and thanked her for coming over. She felt like a huge weight, one that she didn’t even know existed, had been lifted off her chest.

  Chapter 11

  FRIDAY MORNING CHARLOTTE woke up twisted in her sheets, her hair pasted to the back of her sweaty neck. After a fitful night of tossing and turning, she had finally nodded off to sleep just before her alarm went off. Usually an ‘up and at ‘em’ kind of girl, Charlotte rolled over and groaned.

  She heard cupboards banging in the kitchen and remembered that she had a responsibility, so she rolled out of bed and padded down the stairs to make breakfast for Tabitha. As she reached the bottom stair, she caught a glimpse of Lauren as she headed out the door, a piece of toast in her mouth, her heavy briefcase slung over her shoulder.

  “Mm. Bye,” she managed to mumble out from behind the peanut butter toast and then was out the door.

  Charlotte dropped Tabitha off at her ski lesson, but instead of heading up the mountain for some spring skiing, she returned home to get some work done. Or at least that’s what she told herself. The truth was she was just avoiding Logan. He wasn’t going to catch her off guard again. She was going to be prepared and ready for their next encounter.

  The party was that night, and no part of Charlotte was looking forward to it. She had successfully hidden from her past and the town of Chance Rapids for years. Until a few months earlier, no one had known that Charlotte O’Hare was really Billie Jo Bunkman. She had been able to avoid recognition by sticking to the rich side of town. She had staff, went heli-skiing, entertained clients, and did not mingle with any locals. Tonight, she’d have to cross the covered bridge into town and face her past.

  She sat down in her office and pulled up her email and new listing report. Her assistant was extremely proficient and filtered her email for her, sending her only the messages that she couldn’t field herself. “Ugh,” Charlotte groaned as she saw another message from her accountant telling her that she needed more charitable write-offs. She threw herself into her work for the rest of the day until she had to go pick up Tabitha.

  LAUREN STEPPED INTO Charlotte’s room. “Are you ready to go?”

  Charlotte looked up and saw her sister was wearing a ribbed turtleneck sweater and jeans. She looked down to her Valentino sheath dress and couldn’t help but feel like both had missed the mark.

  “Whoa, Nelly. That’s a gorgeous dress,” Lauren said.

  “It’s overkill, isn’t it.”

  Have you forgotten where we are?” Lauren laughed.

  “Alright, unzip me. But, if I have to change, so do you.” Charlotte said, wrestling to try to grasp the zipper on the back of her dress. Lauren stepped in to help her out.

  “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Lauren asked.

  “About a billion things. Lauren, there might be some single men at this thing. That outfit screams mom.”

  “I am a mom,” Lauren protested.

  “I know. But you don’t have to look like one of theirs.” Charlotte grabbed a one-piece pantsuit for herself and tossed a black silk shirt and ripped black jeans to Lauren.

  “You can’t be serious. These have rips in them.” Lauren held up the jeans and fingered the torn knees.

  Charlotte had already stepped into her pantsuit and was accessorizing it with gold stud earrings and a matching thick gold bracelet. She had worn the same outfit to a film festival and was mistaken for one of the stars. It was sexy but understated, or so she thought.

  Lauren sighed and pulled on the jeans and
shirt, “This actually looks pretty good,” she said as she turned, checking out the outfit from all angles in the tall mirror.

  “Did you have any doubts?”

  “Yep,” Lauren laughed.

  “Now here, wear these.” She tossed her a pair of suede boots as she put on a pair of black ankle boots.

  “There. Now, you don’t look like you just misplaced your bifocals,” Charlotte quipped as she grabbed her handbag.

  After ensuring that Tabitha was happy with the babysitter, the two sisters trotted out to the waiting cab. Charlotte’s heart was hammering in her chest so hard that she thought it might break her ribs.

  “Relax, Char.” Lauren smiled and patted her on her hand. “It’s going to be a good night.”

  Charlotte nodded while staring out the window as the lights from the Sugar Peaks mansions whizzed by before giving way to the darkness of the covered bridge. As much as she wanted to believe Lauren, she had never been so full of dread her entire life. She had brokered multi-million-dollar deals without breaking a sweat, but tonight, she was worried that her antiperspirant was going to betray her.

  As the cab pulled up to The Last Chance Tavern, Charlotte reapplied her ruby red lipstick and took a deep breath. Here it was, the moment she had been dreading. There were groups of people shivering and smoking outside the door to the bar and as Charlotte and Lauren stepped out of the car, all eyes were on them. Their heels clicked and crunched on the salted sidewalk and one of the smokers stepped up to open the door for them. Charlotte didn’t recognize him and murmured thanks as they walked into the bar. Even in the darkness of the tavern, Charlotte felt every eye in the place turn to stare and her and Lauren. You know in the movies when the out of towners step into the bar and the record skips into silence? Well, that is exactly the feeling Charlotte had as she and Lauren made their way into the darkness of the tavern. Even though the loud rock music was still playing, Charlotte couldn’t hear it over the whooshing sound as her heartbeat echoed in her ears. Lauren placed her hand on the small of Charlotte’s back and guided her towards the bar.

  Charlotte had yet to summon the nerve to look around the bar. She wanted to get a drink before she scanned the room for any sight of the man that would stand inches taller than anyone else in town. One thing she did know was that she was extremely overdressed. It looked like the L.L. Bean catalog had thrown up in the bar. There was red plaid, purple plaid, orange plaid, and a mix of all the above. Almost everyone was wearing a stocking hat, and at first glance, she thought she and Lauren were the only people wearing high heels in the entire place until she saw some women with perms and teased hair sporting cowboy boots. The cowboy boot gang’s eyes followed Lauren and Charlotte as they made their way to the bar.

  “Where’s Megan?” Lauren leaned in close to whisper to Charlotte. “Or Josh?”

  “I don’t know,” Charlotte whispered back as she scanned the room for an open table. When she was certain that she hadn’t met one familiar face, she let her tense body relax. Logan would stand out in this crowd, and he wasn’t here - yet.

  “Ladies!” They heard a voice call out from behind them.

  Charlotte’s heart leaped into her throat; its smooth tenor sounded like Logan. She slowly turned on her heel, readying one of the rehearsed lines she had in her arsenal. Her eyes met a pair of somewhat familiar crystal blue ones. In front of her was a shorter, smaller, just as handsome version of Logan Brush. Freddie.

  “Hi, Freddie.” She switched her martini to her left hand so she could shake Freddie’s.

  “Aw, come on. None of that.” He swatted her hand away and her body stiffened when he pulled her in for a hug. She retreated from his embrace and gestured to Lauren. “Freddie, do you remember my sister Lauren?”

  “Of course, I do. You were the smartest girl in our class.”

  Charlotte caught the blush on Lauren’s neck as she extended her hand to shake Freddie’s. “And you were the funniest.”

  “Ouch. That hurts.” Freddie made a mock shot to the heart motion with his hand.

  “Where are the guests of honor?” Lauren asked.

  “They’re on their way,” Freddie said. “Come with me, we have a table over there.” He motioned to the back corner with his pitcher of beer.

  “We can wait here,” Charlotte replied. She knew that she’d run into Logan at some point, but she didn’t feel the need to walk right into the lion’s den in the first five minutes.

  “They might be a while if you know what I mean...” Freddie winked and elbowed Lauren. “C’mon, there aren’t any free tables down here and we have empty seats at ours.”

  “We’d love to join you,” Lauren said and grasped Charlotte by her forearm.

  “Follow me,” Freddie grinned as he turned and made his way through the crowded bar.

  “What are you doing?” Charlotte hissed at Lauren.

  “Char, my feet are killing me, and you just need to rip this bandage off.”

  Sighing, Charlotte whispered, “Here goes nothing,” to herself and trailed behind Lauren.

  Freddie turned to ensure that Charlotte and Lauren were following him and grinned. He pulled two chairs out from the table. “Ladies,” he said and bowed like a medieval servant, complete with hand flourish. As Charlotte sat down, Freddie leaned in so close that she could feel his breath on her ear.

  “Don’t worry, he’s not here yet.”

  Charlotte turned and smiled at Freddie. Other than Megan and Josh, he was the only person in town who knew her identity. He was also the only person who knew the whole story about what happened between her and Logan.

  Freddie pulled out a chair beside Charlotte. “Martini huh. Fancy. Want some beer?” He held up the pitcher and an empty glass.

  Charlotte drained the last of her martini and popped the olive in her mouth. “I’m not much of a draft beer girl.”

  “I am,” Lauren replied and reached for the glass.

  Charlotte raised an eyebrow at her sister. Lauren wasn’t an anything kind of girl, let alone a beer drinker. Lauren shrugged and held the glass while Freddie poured the beer.

  “They have some snooty beer here too you know,” he smiled. “Charlie brewed a spring verbena that’s actually pretty good. Would you like to try it?”

  Charlotte remembered Megan gushing about some local craft beer at The Last Chance. “Sure. Why not?” Charlotte smiled at Freddie. He practically leapt out of his seat to get a pitcher for her.

  Lauren kicked Charlotte’s foot under the table. “Stop it. You sound like a snob.”

  “Sorry,” Charlotte hissed. “I’m just nervous,” she said as she eyed the men already seated at the table.

  Lauren stood up and extended her hand, “I’m Lauren,” she said to the three guys.

  “Bradley.” The closest man replied with a big smile. He stood, took off his hat and extended his hand. The two other men also stood, awaiting their turn to shake the girls’ hands, “And this is Ethan and Tyler.”

  Lauren took her time to shake all of their hands. “This is Charlotte.”

  “Hi, Charlotte,” the three of them said in unison and smiled. Charlotte reached out and shook their hands just as Freddie returned to the table. He set a jug of dark beer in front of Charlotte.

  Freddie poured another round of drinks and they raised their mugs in cheers, they clinked their mugs together and drank. The beer was hoppy but delicious.

  “Are you two feeling lucky tonight?” Freddie asked.

  “Easy now, Mr. Brush.” Charlotte was surprised by Freddie, she remembered him as a quiet kid.

  “I meant, lucky, as in gambling.” He pointed to the makeshift casino tables set up beside the bar.

  “Is that legal?” Charlotte asked.

  “It is if it’s a fundraiser!” Freddie smiled and raised his glass. “To Megan and Josh.”

  As if on cue, Megan and Josh burst into the bar and everyone turned and cheered. Freddie jumped up to the stage and grabbed the microphone. Ethan leaned over to Laure
n. “Freddie is the MC for the wedding.”

  “Can everyone give a warm welcome to the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Big Johnson.”

  The bar exploded in laughter and cheers. Charlotte wasn’t used to crass humor, but seeing Megan’s smile and radiant face, she decided to relax and go with the evening as best she could. Could Lauren be right? Was she a snob now?

  LOGAN CHECKED HIS PHONE as he exited the rehab facility in Windswan, it was 8 p.m.—the party would just be starting. He did a quick calculation and figured that he could be at The Last Chance Tavern, complete with his raffle prizes, in about an hour. He smiled, not too late, not too early, just right. He smiled at his three bears analogy; he was feeling so upbeat after such a good visit with his mom. She looked alive, like the woman he knew before booze took over her life, but he had to remind himself that this was her fourth stint in rehab. The last time she had stayed clean for over two years and it had broken his heart when he heard the tell-tale slur in her voice when she relapsed.

  He hopped in his pickup truck and pulled onto the highway westbound towards Chance Rapids. Ever since he found out that Billie Jo, or Charlotte, whoever the hell she was, was going to be at Josh and Megan’s Stag and Doe party, he’d flip-flopped between excitement and nervousness at the prospect of seeing her again.

  His return to Chance Rapids had been bittersweet. He loved being at home with his brother and coaching the team he had once played for. His role as coach was almost as exciting as playing with the pros, but being near his mom was the real reason for his return. His hope was that this time would be different. He might be dreaming, but he figured if he were around, maybe treatment would stick this time.

  Freddie and Tyler had organized the fundraiser for Josh and Megan. Logan’s job had been to secure prizes for the raffle, and he felt like he had come through big time. A box full of signed hockey jerseys and VIP tickets for the next pro game sat next to him in the passenger seat.

  He saw flashing yellow lights ahead and a long line of red taillights, the stopped traffic stretching as far as he could see. “Shit,” he muttered.