“It means the business side you see is only part of it. There are lots of people involved, lots of stakeholders. I’m studying every angle. If I ever got confirmation of anything that could help you, I would.”
“Does that mean you suspect you might be privy to some helpful intel?”
“It just means I’m not the heartless monster who wants to watch you and the others lose. I care about this town. I care about the girl who declared her love on a swan-diving plane then took it right back. I’ll turn over every stone, but it’s not that easy.” He rested his head on mine. “It’s just not that easy.”
“Charlie—”
He silenced me with a kiss.
Charlie pressed me to him, and my hands slid to his back. There was no urgency. The kiss slowly unfurled, with feather-light touches meant to soothe and comfort, but they did so much more. My head filled with his scent, the heat of his skin radiating from beneath his shirt, the undeniable strength that was so much a part of him. When Charlie held me like this, the world slipped away, and all I knew was right. He felt like heaven.
He felt like home.
Charlie rained kisses along my cheek, then pressed his mouth to my temple. “I do have something to tell you.”
“Something helpful?”
“Yes.” He cocooned my body in a tight hug. “We’re meeting Joey and Frances.”
That was his news? “I thought it was just the two of us. I thought. . .” Anything that might’ve come out of my mouth at that point would just sound petty and pathetic.
“You thought we’d be alone?” I could feel his breathy laugh on my neck. “Why Miss Parker, I believe despite trying not to, you have the hots for me.”
My mom had her addictions. Apparently Charlie was mine. “So we’re going out with Frances and Joey.”
“He drove in from Dallas this afternoon. He’ll be here ’til the wedding.”
“Great.” I tried to sound enthused, but Charlie did not look impressed. “You might take this opportunity to talk to him about slowing things down.”
“We Benson men don’t do slow.” Charlie tilted my chin with his finger and brushed his lips against mine. “We know what we want and don’t stop until it’s ours.”
For a girl with too many scars from being left behind, his words were a balm on the old wounds that still festered and ached.
“Would it surprise you to know there’s nothing dripping in your pantry?” His voice was dry as sandpaper.
My face was the vision of innocence. “I must’ve been hearing things.”
“You sent me in here to cool off, didn’t you?”
“Did it work?” Because my own temperature was definitely not dropping.
Charlie laughed as the tips of his fingers made looping figure eights on my back. “Babe, my brother knows what he’s doing.”
I closed my eyes at the endearment and held it like a keepsake “And you?”
Charlie’s smiling mouth lowered. “I’ve got all I want right here.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
By the next evening, I had my entire life figured out.
Or at least the part concerning Charlie.
After working the morning shift at Micky’s, I spent the rest of the day doing online, phone, and print interviews. With Ian’s help, we had created a media hurricane, and the whole country was getting the message that Thrifty Co. was not the small town friend they pretended to be. Business owners from other communities who had fallen to Thrifty’s powerful and persuasive bulldozing had jumped into the fray, adding more voices to our cry for justice.
I texted Charlie to tell him to put on something nice, that I was picking him up for dinner. And at six o’clock, wearing a midnight blue dress I had purchased on a whim in a little boutique in London, I pulled into his parents’ driveway. My heels clicked on the pavement as I walked to the front door. I ran my tongue over my teeth to swipe away any stray lipstick and was about to ring the bell when I heard it. Loud shouts coming from within. I leaned closer to get a better listen.
“But I’m not you!” I recognized Charlie’s deep voice.
“That much is clear! You do the job you were hired to do.”
“And what about your job, Dad?”
“You stay out of mine. You’re lucky to be where you are. In a matter of years, you’ll be a vice-president. Don’t screw that up!”
“You can’t even be honest with me. Or yourself.”
“I didn’t get where I am by being soft and coddling.” Mr. Benson accented his words with a pound to a wall or something hard. “The business world requires a steel backbone. You better find yours soon, or you’re never gonna make it.”
“Maybe I don’t—”
Whatever Charlie said next drifted away as the two moved to a different part of the house.
Did I call Charlie? Text him to see if he still wanted to go out? Maybe just come back in an hour?
The door flew open, making my decision.
“You gonna stand out there all night?” Sadie Benson held an American Girl doll beneath her arm and aggressively chewed a piece of gum.
“Um. . .” I cleared my throat and put on a kindergarten teacher smile. “I was just about to ring your doorbell. Is Charlie home?”
She squinted one eye and tilted her head to the side. “Are you gonna marry my brother?”
This kid should never grow up to write romance novels. The couple would be swapping I Do’s by page seven. “No, I don’t think we’re getting married any time soon.”
“Mia Penbridge says when boys and girls kiss it means they’re getting married.”
“Mia should remember that and not kiss any boys until she’s twenty-five. Did you say you’d get your brother?”
“Charlie says he’s kissed you.”
And why did he feel the need to share that information with a pint-sized psychotherapist? “And what else did Charlie say?”
“He said you were his—”
“Sadie.” Charlie scooped up his sister and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of giggling potatoes. “Were you bothering Miss Katie?”
“She was about to tell me about some of your interesting conversations.” I watched him kiss his little sister, and my heart doubled in size. “So far it’s been very revealing.”
“I seem to remember a pinkie swear not to repeat what we said.” Charlie tickled his sister until she laughed even harder. “Need a reminder?”
“No!” she cried. “I remember. Mum’s the word on our talks of Katie, things you buy me, and cookie stealing.”
“That’s right.” He set her on her feet and gave her backside a pat, sending her running out of the room. “Well.” Charlie’s eyes lit on me. “Look at you.”
I wore my hair down in relaxed waves tonight, though it was probably only a matter of time before I used the elastic on my wrist to bind my tresses into submission. My dress was a strapless number that had me back in that torture device of a bra. The full skirt made for spinning stopped just above my knee, with a layer of tulle to give it some bounce, while a thick ribbon wrapped around my waist and tied in a fat bow.
“You look devilishly handsome yourself,” I said. Charlie wore a dark three-piece suit, complete with a very British looking vest, a pale pink shirt, and a maroon tie. Tortoise shell glasses poised on his straight nose, making him the model of intellectual chic. He looked dashing and sexy, and like he might jump into a phone booth and fly out a super hero. “New specs? I’ve never seen them before.”
“Contacts are messed up. Besides I thought it would make me a little incognito when we went out on the town. That way no one’s throwing tomatoes at our table.”
With the way he looked, they’d probably be throwing their knickers at our table.
“Everything okay?” I looked past Charlie into the foyer.
“Yes, of course.”
“Shall I go in and say hello to the family?”
Charlie patted his chest pocket to locate his phone then hastily closed the door
behind him. “You can see them at the rehearsal dinner.” When I lifted a questioning brow, he pulled me to him and kissed me. “I don’t want to waste a minute of tonight.”
Good answer.
Though things were clearly wrong between him and his father.
“I’ll drive.” I pulled him away from his car and toward mine.
Charlie opened my door before getting into the passenger side.
“I’m intrigued,” he said as we drove down the street. “Where are we going in our finest?”
“A wonderful place. Very fancy.”
“Do I know this spot?” He reached for my right hand sitting on the armrest and clasped it in his.
“I don’t think you do.” I turned onto Smith Street. “But it’s got quite the reputation. Pretty elite.”
A few minutes later, I pulled the car right in front of the entrance of the Valiant Theater.
Charlie had gone quiet in the last minute, figuring out exactly where we were bound.
“Katie—”
“No, hear me out.” I put the car in park and let the air conditioning cool my flushed skin. A lot was riding on tonight, and my nerves were as frazzled as Kourtney with a K’s dead ends. “I know this is considered enemy territory for you right now.” I stared up at the impressive building, loving the welcoming hello of the old marquis. “But I’m asking you to come inside. It’s just you and me and the supper I made in the basket sitting on my backseat.”
He reached around and lifted the basket. “You made this?”
“That’s what Loretta told me to say.” I slapped his hand away from the lid. “She fixed it herself.”
“I thought she hated me.”
“She doesn’t hate you, Charlie. She may not like the decisions you’re making or your current job, but you’re still one of our own.” Plus I’d made her swear on her Miss Clairol that she hadn’t spit in his fried chicken.
“I’m still an employee of Thrifty Co.”
“Not tonight.” I opened my door and stepped outside. “Tonight you’re just Charlie Benson, hometown boy, and the sexiest date I’ve ever had.” I held out my hand.
And waited.
Charlie looked at the building before him. He’d been to the Valiant so many times, but this evening I wanted him to see it with new eyes.
He took my hand and kissed my fingers, his heavy-lidded gaze on me. “What are you up to, Parker?”
My skin tingled at his touch. “I’m hurt you would even feel the need to ask.”
“You’re related to Maxine. Sam’s already warned me of my fate.”
I wondered at the permanence of that statement, but led Charlie into the theater, locking the doors behind us. The lights glowed inside, and we ventured past the lobby.
“This is our lobby.”
He laughed. “I know that.”
“F.D.R. stopped here on his campaign trail for his first presidency. His slogan was ‘Happy days are here again,’ and he thought the Valiant captured that spirit.” We took a few steps. “In 1954 the Valiant underwent a little renovation, but forgot to tell one small act they’d booked. That man showed up to sing, and when he couldn’t get to the stage, he put on a show right here in this very lobby. Nobody in town had ever seen moves like his before.”
“And who was it?” Charlie smiled indulgently.
“A virtually unknown talent out of Mississippi named Elvis Presley.”
Charlie was wary, but that little tidbit should’ve impressed anyone with a pulse.
With Charlie’s fingers linked through mine, I pulled him to the corner by the concession area. “Did you know that Millie makes James buy a special organic blend of kernels for the popcorn machine? She’s never told anyone about it, but she says you can taste the difference over that GMO stuff. People stop in here on event nights just to purchase the buttery popcorn.”
“They get it to go?”
“And right where you’re standing is an important spot in the Valiant history.”
“Some famous actor stood here?”
“No.” I took his other hand. “You did. Christmas our senior year, the Valiant’s annual community Christmas party. Do you remember?”
His smile spread. “I kissed you here.”
“And blamed it on the mistletoe.”
“Want to relive the moment?” Charlie ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “Maybe this time your crazy neighbor won’t interrupt and threaten to make a citizen’s arrest.”
“Would’ve been worth it.” I gave him a quick kiss, then escorted him through the double doors. “And here we have the main theater. Those box seats over there are good for more than just making out during a slow third act. They had totally gone to rot over the years before James and Millie bought the place. My parents searched for an expert to restore what was left of the plaster facade, but couldn’t find anyone in the state. Then one day John Carter knocked on James’s office door. He’d lived in In Between all his life. His wife had died in the last year. He’d lost his job, and he wanted the work. James gave it to him.” The suspended seating areas were now a crowning jewel in the theater. “Mr. Carter told Millie just this year that the job had been his last hope. He’d lost everything until the Valiant. Now he’s so in demand, he’s had to hire help.”
“This way, please.” I crooked my finger and Charlie followed me to the first row, center stage. “We have four hundred seats of very cushy padding, and while the upholstery is about seven years old, the color is authentically matched to the original fabric. When the theater was vandalized after I came here, many of the seats were ripped to shreds, and Sam Dayberry taught me how to wield a staple gun and upholster. I love how every row has a supporting family’s name on it.”
“I’m not new to the place, Katie.” He seemed to be losing his enthusiasm for my tour.
“But this one means the world to me. This one is for my family. When James and Millie showed me my name was on it, I burst into tears. Even though I had been with the group who tore this facility apart, James and Millie still claimed me. I was their new foster kid, but this was their way of saying I would always have their support. And their name.”
“They were crazy about you from the beginning.” Charlie slid his hand up the side of neck. “I think we all were.”
I could’ve stood there and drowned in his gray eyes, or I could’ve kept moving and gotten to the main event.
I chose to move.
Climbing the steps to the stage still set up for the summer production, I located the spot on the black wooden floor where it was slightly faded, where the spotlights converged on center stage. “This is where I found. . .” I breathed in the scent of the memory, the powerful hold on my heart still so strong. “Where I found my life. My first role as Juliet, and I stood right here. Got my first standing ovation.”
“I remember,” he said.
It felt right to share this space with him now. “After that first show, I knew this was what I wanted to do.” My eyes misted with tears. “This was church to me. Where God spoke and moved. Where I was the best version of me.”
“It’s also where I first kissed you.”
“The night before I had gone back to my bio-mom’s house.” I hadn’t known if I’d ever return to In Between. “And you told me you were sorry you’d let me go.”
“Then I righted the wrong.” Charlie reached for me and tucked me into his arms. My own arms around his waist, I rested my head on his vested chest and listened to the cadence of his heart.
“I’d waited forever for you to kiss me.” And he finally had, at my going away party the Scotts had thrown. I’d been blown away by the huge turnout—friends, teachers, church family, and community members. But after a few hours, I’d stolen away behind the curtains of the stage, needing a quiet moment alone. “And you found me.” And once again it was the stage, Charlie, and me. “Charlie?”
He looked down into my shimmering eyes and gently wiped a tear away. “Yes?”
“I love you.”
> Chapter Twenty-Three
I had just declared my love—again.
And Charlie was still as the statue of Apollo in the Louvre.
It was not the response I was going for.
Maybe he didn’t believe me. “Charlie, when I thought we were dying on that plane, and I said those words, I meant them. It wasn’t just adrenaline or our impending demise. I have never stopped loving you. Even Ian saw that.” I watched Charlie’s eyes soften, and I took heart. “I love your strength, your kindness, your faith, and even your weird addiction to all things sports.”
I pressed my hand to Charlie’s cheek, and he covered it with his.
“I adore watching you with your little sister, the way you treat your mother, and how hard you work. You’ve seen me at my best and my worst, but you’ve always been behind me like a protector. I feel safe with you. I don’t want that to be so important, but it is.” I was rambling. Babbling like a drunk sorority girl at a rush party. “Say something. Please.” I had just reached into my own chest cavity, dug out my bleeding, beating heart, and asked him to take it. Why was he just standing there?
“You know how I feel about you.” The words tore from his lips like they pained him to say.
“No, I really don’t think I do.” I had been so certain I did. But everything about this was so off-script. I had rehearsed this evening a dozen times in my mind, and now every page, every line was so dreadfully wrong.
“I would give you the world if I could.” Charlie’s hand dropped to his side. “But you didn’t just ask me here tonight to tell me how you felt. Did you?”
“I don’t understand.” I was suddenly cold, as if I were standing there naked in front of him. Stripped and vulnerable.
“Was there anything else you wanted to ask me, Katie?”
That bleeding heart shuttered to a stop. “Yes,” I whispered. “I wanted you to see my theater. Really see it.”
“I do.”
“Do you?” My volume escalated to the lights above us.
Charlie took a step away from me, and that bloom of hope within me wilted. “I see you in every brick and board in this whole building. I see this place in my dreams every night—with a vision of you crying because I can’t do anything to save it.”
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