Charlie: Northern Grizzlies (Book 4)

by M. Merin

  “Connal…”

  “Shhh.” I gently remove the pins from her hair. “Let’s go curl up together?

  She smiles gratefully, and after she cleans up I carry her back to bed.

  Chapter 27

  Jake

  Connal had barely slipped from the bed the next morning before my Gramps, his housekeeper, and the stylist come walking into the guesthouse. Fucking staying in a hotel the next time I come back this way.

  “One of the groom’s men is ill, Blaine needs you to stand in,” Gramps leads with, holding some kind of scarf in his hand. “You have a tux, don’t you? Just put this on.”

  “No.”

  “Jake?” Charlie reaches her hand around my bicep. “Just for the pictures? For Blaine’s wedding?”

  “Was this planned?” I look him dead in the eye. He blinks and sighs.

  “Yes, actually,” Gramps says. “Blaine never thought you’d come, but when you finally committed he made room for you to be in the wedding party. That turned into a bigger battle after your comments to Muffy last night, so decide quickly but it’s up to you to tell Blaine no. If that’s your decision.”

  As much as it pisses me off to be played, I’m pleased by Gramps leveling with me. I just wish Blaine felt comfortable enough to have asked me last night. Holding Charlie close to me, I look back to him.

  “I won’t wear that thing,” I start in. “And I want you to escort Charlie.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t, it’s ridiculous in this day and age; but…Muffy.” Gramps snorts and tosses it over his shoulder; his housekeeper catches it with a little grin on her face. “I have other duties, but I’ll ride to the church with Charlie and Tabby; they’ll get to the reception together.”

  “Tabby’s not in the fucking wedding?” I growl. “She lives here, she spends time with them.”

  “Not on purpose, she doesn’t. Not for a long time.” Gramp informs me. “She turned down the honor. Your mother was furious.”

  I smile, pleased that Tabby has made her own small stand.

  “Car will pick you up in twenty minutes, Jarrett. Charlie, it’s time for your hair and make-up, if you could show Elise what you’re wearing today?” Gramp continues.

  “Jake?” Charlie looks nervously to me; I open my mouth but then Connal walks out, having showered is just wrapped in a towel and the stylist nearly, or maybe does, wet herself.

  Charlie sees red.

  “What’s going on?” Connal asks.

  “Brother, mind escorting my favorite women to the wedding ceremony?” I ask, trying, and probably failing to make things easier. Everyone in the room freezes.

  “Huh?” Connal grunts.

  “What?” Gramps asks.

  “Hi! I’m Elise, and single,” The stylist walks towards Connal on her five-inch heels.

  “Not interested.” Connal shuts her down.

  “Mr. Forsythe, I can handle my hair and make-up. Elise, you can just head out now.” Charlie turns on the stylist. Connal smirks at me before he heads back down the hallway. Charlie glares at Elise then heads back to the main bedroom.

  “Jarrett, we need to discuss something…”

  “Not now, Gramps. Got to get ready to be a fucking groom’s man.” I say, following my partners down the hallway and leaving the three intruders behind us.

  “Charlie?” I call out before locating her in the bathroom. “Are you alright with this?”

  “I liked Tabby,” Her eyes flip to me in the mirror as she continues applying makeup. “We’ll be together at the reception, so it’s not a huge deal.”

  “Do you know how much I love you?” I ask from the doorway, not wanting to touch her when she has a pencil so close to her eyeball.

  “That’s a relief!” She says turning to me. “Jake? Your family? I mean…I understand why you left.”

  I pull her into my arms, resting my chin on the top of her head; content to just stay frozen here.

  “Come on, you need to get ready.” She gently nudges me as she kisses my chest. I just hold her tighter until she starts giggling. “I’m serious, Jake.” When I still don’t move, Charlie starts tickling me; and damn, that gets me moving.

  “I didn’t know you were so ticklish, Jake!” She laughs, chasing after me.

  “Stop, seriously! I’ll get dressed.” I dart to the shower, holding the glass door closed so she can’t torture me. Backing off to the mirror, she mumbles something about ‘later’ before finishing her makeup.

  Charlie

  Jake gets ready and nearly runs to meet the car coming for him; a moment later he runs back in to kiss me and tell me I look beautiful, before darting out again.

  “You do,” Connal states, watching me from the doorway. He's dressed to escort Tabby and me to the church, neither man would agree to let me go without one of them being with me. He’s in the same suit with a different tie on today.

  “Men have it so easy,” I sigh, thinking of the money Jake spent on my clothes for the weekend.

  “Cause we can pee standing up?” He quips, crossing to me to help with the clasp of the necklace I’m fighting to get on.

  Laughing I turn in his arms, staying there until we hear a knock on the front door. Grabbing my shoes and a clutch, I head out to see Tabby waiting in the doorway.

  “Gramps left already but we have a car and driver here for us.” She informs me, tearing her eyes away from Connal as I get closer. “WOW! You look amazing, Charlie.”

  “So do you, Tabby,” I great her warmly, even if she was checking Connal out. “I love that color on you.”

  “God, wait until you see the bridesmaid dresses! They’re a horrible color and not made for my figure at all; glad I dodged that bullet, even if mom nearly had a stroke over it.” She laughs, indicating her full hips and thighs as we follow her out to the driveway. The driveway that covers more land than any home I ever lived in.

  Tabby is great fun, even if she is a chatterbox; I can see Connal rolling his eyes in frustration though. Getting to the church, we all slide into a pew and she continues to tell us about everyone who walks by. The ceremony seemingly goes off without a problem, though I see Muffy’s eyes bug-out once she notices that Jake isn’t wearing the assigned neck-scarf thingy.

  Connal rides to the reception with us, escorting us inside prior to getting a ride back home in the driver. Tabby completely takes me under her wing until we get to Jake in the receiving line; he immediately peels out of it once he sees me, coming to wrap me in his arms.

  “Come on, let’s get drinks.” He nuzzles into my neck.

  “We’ll need them,” Tabby agrees and I follow, moving away when I see a table that has place cards with seating assignments.

  “Unbelievable!” I whisper to myself, taking our three cards I cross to catch up with Jake and Tabby.

  “Jake, you’re seated with the wedding party,” I announce, showing him that Tabby and I are seated at the same table but he’s at table number two.

  “Think I give two fucks about where she wants me to sit?” He shrugs, handing me a glass of champagne. “Someone will move; I’ll sit with you two.”

  “Wow.” Tabby looks to me, wide-eyed. “He just spoke two full sentences. I call him and he just grunts into the phone until I get frustrated and hang up.”

  Laughing, I smile up at Jake. He quickly guides me to a quiet corner while Tabby wanders off to talk to other guests.

  “Tabby checked Connal out,” I fill him in when we find a table to stand at in the corner. “I decided she could live, though.”

  “Fuck,” Jake smirks. “It’s like there’s a goddamn sign on my back for these other women and it sure as shit isn’t: Married.”

  I smile back and he leans in to kiss me. From time to time various guests approach us, but as he leaves me to answer most questions; they all walk away soon enough.

  “Have you seen my Gramps?” He asks, right after they dim the lights to get us into the ballroom.

  “Holy shit, Jake!” I had meant to mention that M
r. Forsythe left right after the ceremony but once I see the room I freeze up.

  “Come on,” He quickly takes my hand and leads me in search of the table I’m assigned to; he sits down in the seat between Tabby and me, tossing the other name card away.

  “Muffy will have a stroke.” I mock whisper to him, getting a kiss in return.

  Chapter 28

  Charlie

  The dinner goes well, even after Jake sends a cousin to his assigned seat and eventually we notice his grandfather entering with an older couple. He quickly has them seated and takes his own place, right in time for the cake to be cut.

  When the dancing starts with various groups being called on, Jake escorts me to the floor instead of the bridesmaid he was partnered with. She eventually finds someone to escort her but burns me with her eyes.

  I have never danced with a man before, but hold tight to Jake; secure in his arms, I feel like a princess and all my nervous energy melt away. At the end of the song, his grandfather signals to us to join him.

  Approaching he and the older couple he arrived with, my heart starts to pound and I’m not sure why. The look of expectation on their faces, then the satisfied look on Mr. Forsythe’s face as he looks at Jake and I must also trip Jake’s instincts because he removes his arm from around me.

  Taking my hand in his, he walks a little in front of me and I try to keep from dragging my feet.

  “I’d like to introduce you to my grandson, Jarrett Forsythe,” Mr. F. starts as we near. “But here is the young lady I’ve told you of. His new wife, Charles Scott Forsythe – Charlie.”

  The older couple is looking at me with such expectation, though they both have gray hair they seem extraordinarily pale and the woman has tears in her eyes.

  “Jake, Charlie,” He continues and I’m clutching at Jake’s arm. “This is Charles and Mona Scott.”

  The world spins and I understand the panic I felt when I saw them. I look like her. I have her face and her, well, dammit; Mona Scott has some big jugs. Jake ushers me to the nearest chair and although Mona steps forward as if to comfort me, I turn away from her, clinging to Jake.

  “Do you really think this is the best place…” Jake begins until he sees a waiter and orders water for me.

  “Please, we just want to find out…” Mona starts before her husband grasps her arm.

  “We’ve had the news for three days. Give the girl a moment, Mo.” He says although he is looking at me every bit as hopefully as she is.

  Pulling two chairs around, he motions to her to sit; before sitting beside her.

  “Baby?” Jake looks to me. “We can put this off…” He and I maintain eye contact and in an action, I’ve seen between him and Connal dozens of times, he blinks. He perfectly understands that I need a moment. I may still get up and flee, but I need to focus. Jake leans his forehead down and presses it against mine, giving me the time I need.

  Long moments tick by as a thousand questions fly through my head; eventually, I deeply exhale and pull away from Jake, nodding at him.

  “Gramps,” Jake looks at him, eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

  Clearing his throat, the man who is most likely my grandfather says; “If I may?”

  Awaiting my nod, he continues.

  “I was the CFO for one of his companies for most of my career. Mona and I are not tech savvy and we eventually lost touch after I retired and we had moved away. Until he tracked me down a couple days ago, well…I need to start with our son, I suppose.” He looks to his wife, then back to me.

  “We, well we always pushed him in the direction we wanted him to aspire to. He wanted to ski, we wanted him to play an instrument; well, that was many years ago, but the examples go on like that. His first year at college was a disaster. We forced him to come home, I got him an internship and he’d go to school locally or be cut off. He tried it for a week and looking back, I just didn’t know another way. We fought terribly and said we’d cut him off if he didn’t comply.

  “He left. He left his phone, he’d withdrawn a large sum but just walked away.” His breath is shaky and Mona is silently crying. “A month later, he sent a long email to us; detailing grievances. I was too hurt to reply. After a year, we started to, almost, demand he call us. He finally replied, told us to chill; that he was working as a ski instructor. Nearly another year goes by and he sent word he was in love and thinking about getting married. We responded, asking if he tell us where he was, if we could visit him but we never heard from him again. Eventually, we hired a private investigator.”

  “Two months later, we found out he had died.” Mona takes over when Charles becomes overwhelmed. “We simply never knew he had married, or…” She tentatively reaches out to lightly touch my hair, smiling kindly. “Well, we don’t need a blood test with you, do we? You, my son, and I are nearly…wait, do you have a small red mark just above your hairline on your neck?”

  Jake

  “She does,” I answer for her. I often kiss it when I see it. “It’s the size of a nickel.”

  Charlie has yet to say anything, and I don’t think she will. I look back to her and she nods at me; still looking like a deer in headlights. I open my mouth to excuse us when Tabby’s voice comes from behind me.

  “Here, I bribed the bartender. Don’t know what’s happening over here but from the look on Charlie’s face, I thought shots for all of you would do.” She’s at my side before she notices the tears streaming down the Scotts’ faces; barely pausing, she shrugs and offers them the pickings from the tray first.

  Charlie reaches past me, mumbling ‘God, yes.’ before snatching one, holding it up and shooting it. This gets a bark of laughter from her grandfather before he does the same; I smile at Tabs, suddenly thankful for her interruption.

  Mona delicately sips hers; I take mine and place it in Charlie’s hand before Tabby downs her own shot.

  “We haven’t met. I’m Jake’s sister, Tabitha.” She finally thinks to introduce herself.

  “Tabby, a word?” Gramps calls from behind the Scotts.

  “Charlie?” Charles gently probes her once Tabby has walked away. “This is sudden for all of us; but when offered, we couldn’t pass the chance to come here, to see if it was possible that we have a granddaughter. We aren’t asking for anything but the chance to know you and to say, that if we had known about you…” His voice chokes off again.

  “We would have done anything to be a part of your life.” Mona finishes, taking another delicate sip of her shot. Evidently, Gramps has filled them in on her past.

  Charlie looks between them and then hands her second shot to her grandfather. He grins, readily accepting and downing it.

  “Maybe we could talk tomorrow?” Charlie finally offers and relief flashes across their faces. I get the name of the hotel they’re staying at and give them my number; as we all stand together, they quickly move to embrace Charlie while she still clings to my hand.

  When they release her, she nods, not making eye contact with any of us. I tell them I’ll call the next day, then lift her into my arms and carry her out into the night. Luckily, Gramps’ driver recognizes me and calls out as he breaks away from a pack of other drivers.

  I follow him to the car, apologizing that he’ll have to make a couple trips.

  Chapter 29

  Connal

  Getting back from the ceremony, I grab a bottle of tequila from the guest house and wander out to the pool. The rest of the evening I enjoy on a float, sipping tequila fancier than anything I could ever afford.

  Fucking don’t mind visiting this but couldn’t imagine living it. More than ever, the differences between how Jake and I were raised are clear as day. Thing is, we’re just the same.

  We can’t tolerate routine. We need to be out, riding, enjoying life; but now, we both need Charlie, also. Need to make her family, make sure she’s safe and secure. But the thing is; her spirit matches ours. She likes to fix things, fiddle with machinery like I do. Jake likes to build, and perfect his craftsmans
hip in the bathrooms and kitchens he works on.

  As I walk into the guest house, I hear my phone buzz. Crossing and looking at it, I’m filled with dread. Jake sent me our code for shit hitting the fan.

  I quickly dress and wait for them, feeling somewhat relieved when I see him crossing the terrace to the guest house. When Charlie sees me, she smiles and reaches a hand out. I quickly take her from his arms.

  “I can walk.” She says, giving me a quick kiss.

  “How many times we gotta tell you, we like you in our arms?” I smirk back at her.

  “I think I met my grandparents tonight, Connal.” She announces and I almost drop her, whipping my head around to Jake.

  “Fucking Gramps. I told him her name and background the day we got married and something must’ve clicked.” He says, looking pained. “He brought them in for the wedding.”

  “Is that why he was gushing over her last night?” I ask, pissed off. Charlie tenses in my arms then holds me tight even as I try to set her down in the master bedroom.

  “Jake? He was so nice to me. I mean last night? Your parents were…” Charlie pauses, and I’m sure is trying to figure everything out.

  “Come here.” He pulls her into his arms, and I push up against her back. “Love you, Baby.”

  “He was only nice because…fuck, Jake. I liked him. And I thought he didn’t judge…but he knew and…tonight”

  “Stop it!” I bark at her, grabbing her chin so she has to make eye contact with me. “This isn’t our life, Baby Girl. Remember that. Jake loves YOU. I love YOU. We fly home Monday and if he was being fake as shit with you cause of that; then fuck him.”

  “I didn’t know, Charlie, and Connal’s right. I don’t give a shit about anything else than us being us.” Jake softly vows. “You two, you’re my family.”

  Charlie takes a deep breath before leaning back to kiss me. When I release her, she meets Jake’s mouth.