His jaw dropped. They were transported to a room that wasn’t too much smaller than a smaller home. “Wow. This is larger than my apartment,” she replied, staring around the room.
He had to admit, it was lavish. He put the suitcases down and glanced around the large living room. “Want to look around?” he asked. She nodded without answering. They went to a room, and when they opened the door, they found a king size bed in the shape of a heart. He felt his face turning red as she walked around the room. The room was filled with several flameless candles. She walked around the room and stopped at a fruit basket.
Charity read the card. “To the happy couple on your honeymoon. Hope you enjoy! The hotel staff.” She turned around and glanced at him, and he mentally tried to plan an escape route, but Charity didn’t seem fazed. “Honeymoon suite? Derek if you wanted to get me alone you didn’t need to go through such great measures.”
He laughed. “Completely innocent here.” He put his hands in his pocket, looking nervously around. “I mean it if you want to bail…we can.”
She smiled. “It could be fun!” She turned away from the bed and entered a room that was adjoined to the bedroom.
Fun? That wasn’t the response he expected. He followed her into the room, and his heart skipped a beat. The room had a fireplace, another TV, a couch, and in the corner was a hot tub that would be big enough for just one couple. “Crazy,” he mumbled.
She looked up at him and smiled. “If I was on a honeymoon, then this is where I’d want to be.”
He laughed. “I guess it is impressive.”
“To say the least.” She walked around the room and stopped at the hot tub. “Impressive and romantic,” she replied with a sigh.
They left the room and then walked back to the room that held the bed. They got back into the kitchen nook and spotted another door along the other wall. They went to it and opened it up to find another bed. This time, the bed was only a full, but the size of the room was about the size of a master bedroom. “I guess this would be my room.”
He tilted his head. “You’re the hopeless romantic. You should get the larger room. I’ll be perfectly happy in here. Besides, it was a mix-up, and you shouldn’t have to sacrifice.” He meant every word. He was fine with switching her.
“Are you sure? You paid for this.”
He shrugged. “No biggie. I’m positive.” He smiled, and she seemed pleased. He didn’t care where he slept, but he did care if Charity was happy and by the looks of things…she was, so that’s all that mattered to him.
***
Charity was relieved when Derek suggested taking a nap. She was drained, and they had only had the flight to get there. They didn’t sleep long, but even the two hours allowed her to refuel her energy. When she woke up, she left her room and found him sitting in front of the television. He looked up and smiled at her. He turned the television off and stood up.
“Have a nice rest?” he asked.
She nodded. “Just what I needed.” She yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost eleven thirty,” he answered. “So, I thought we could head out and go to Jenna’s house to see if we can get that signature.” He picked up some papers from the coffee table, but she stayed motionless.
“Jenna?” she asked. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She didn’t even know why they were in California.
“Yes…Jenna Bradshaw. I have to get her mom to sign these papers. She’s my best hope, so we can tear down the house on the Elm property. I told you.”
She shook her head. “Um…no, no you didn’t. I didn’t know why you were coming to California. I know the name from somewhere, but I can’t place it.”
He shrugged. “You probably heard it at the office. I’ve been looking for the Bradshaw’s for a while now.”
Charity figured that was it. “Okay, then let’s go.”
He smiled and they headed to the hotel room door. He held the door open for her and they left the room. They took the elevator down to the lobby and exited the hotel. They got to the car and were headed to Jenna Bradshaw’s house before she could question why Derek felt the need for her to be there. She didn’t want to point it out, especially when taking the trip was the highlight of her life, but it didn’t make any sense. Getting one contract signed was something he could easily have done by himself. The GPS directed them to the house and most of the roads they used were full of life and activity, until they got closer to the house and were driving down a few country roads.
Finally after driving for forty minutes, they were pulling up to a large house, with a white picket fence. Derek parked along the curb. Both Charity and Derek stared up at the house. Nothing happened, including anyone looking outside while the two of them stalked the house. Although, at one point Charity was left with no choice but to inquire if Derek was going to get out of the car, or just stare up at the house.
He glanced at her. “Let’s go!” They both got out of the car and headed up a long and winding sidewalk. He firmly knocked on the front door, when they reached the porch. When no one came after several minutes of standing there, he heaved a sigh. “No one’s probably home. Let’s leave.”
She couldn’t imagine why he would want to leave after taking the time to go to California. She wasn’t going to let him give up that quickly. She went ahead and knocked again. Almost immediately the door opened. An older woman, probably in her mid-sixties was standing in the doorway. Charity didn’t know if that was Jenna, because she knew nothing about the woman they were about to see. When Derek didn’t make an effort to speak, Charity started out the conversation. “Hello, Ma’am. We’re sorry for bothering you…” her words trailed off when the woman interrupted.
“Derek? What on green’s earth are you doing here?” Her eyes snapped to Derek’s, then she slowly stared at Charity. “You brought a friend? How wonderful!”
Her sarcastic words were thick, but Charity was still stuck on how the conversation first started. “Hello, Victoria. I thought you were still in rehab.”
Charity frowned, still watching the interaction between the two of them. The woman, known as Victoria, just laughed. “Just got out! Does Jenna know you’re here?”
Charity seemed to disappear all at once. Derek answered the question, Victoria asked. “She doesn’t. Is she home?”
The woman shook her head. “Nope, but it’s a good thing she doesn’t know you’re here. She doesn’t want to see you, Derek and frankly…you’ve already wasted my time.”
The woman started to close the door in their face, but he quickly reached out and stopped the door from closing. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I have business to tend here and I can talk to you…or I can talk to her. You choose.” She let the door swing back open. “I’ll give you five minutes,” she replied, glaring at him.
Derek glanced at Charity, but Charity couldn’t even make eye contact. Slowly things were started to fall into place. He turned back to Victoria. He started to open the envelope, when he hesitated and his voice softened. “First of all, Victoria, I want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss.”
Her eyes widened. “My loss?”
He nodded. “Marcus. I heard he died.”
Victoria’s mouth opened, before she started laughing. “That son of a bitch…you’re calling him my loss? He’s an asshole that will rot in HELL.”
“I don’t understand. The obituary said surviving was his wife, Victoria.”
She shrugged. “I guess he died, living with lies.”
“Oh.” Derek closed the envelope back up. “Then I guess it is Jenna I need to speak with.”
Victoria threw up her hands. “Good luck with that. She doesn’t want to see you. You didn’t follow her, Derek. What kind of man are you?”
Charity saw the anguish on his face as he quickly glanced at Charity. “I’m not getting into this, Victoria. Just tell her I stopped by.”
“Whatever!” Victoria replied, closing the door in their face.
Charity looked up at him and shook her head, before spinning on her heels and heading back to his car. “Charity, wait!” he argued, rushing after her.
She waited until they got to the car, before she turned to him and demanded answers. “Jenna Bradshaw is your ex? Why am I here, Derek?”
“I needed you here,” he replied softly.
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. Am I here so that she believes you’ve moved on? Are you trying to make her jealous?”
“No!” he hissed. “Let’s talk somewhere else. Please just get in the car.” She reluctantly agreed and took her place in the passenger seat. Once he was in the car, he turned to her. “Where do you want to eat?”
“I don’t care!” she mumbled. He put the key in the ignition and started it, then pulled away from the curb.
***
He hoped he did get a call from Jenna, but really the most important thing was for him to get Charity to understand why he wasn’t completely honest with her. He chose a hamburger joint that was only a couple of minutes from their hotel. They went into the diner and took their seats. The menus were already at their table. They looked through the menus and had their orders placed when the waitress came to the table. When she brought them their drinks, she stayed around for a moment.
“New around here?” she asked them.
Derek nodded. “Business trip,” he answered.
The woman nodded, pouring his coffee into the cup. “I recognize everyone, and when I saw you, I could tell that you weren’t from around here.”
“Do we stick out that much?” Derek asked.
The waitress smiled. “I can sense these things about people. Enjoy the rest of your trip.” She left their table, and Charity took a sip of her water. When she put her glass down, Derek took the initiative to start the conversation.
“I know this looks bad and I realize that you probably think I only wanted to use you, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
“So, you don’t have a past with Jenna and you brought me here so she would see you with another woman?”
“No…yes…” he argued. “Jenna is my past, but I didn’t bring you so you would appear to be my future.” His words rushed out and he hesitated. “That came out the wrong way. The truth is, I do like you Charity. I’m attracted to you and even though I wanted to fight it, I’ve discovered that it’s a losing battle.” She looked down at her drink, but didn’t reply to comment. “I didn’t think by having you come here, it would be using you. I would’ve never invited you if that was the case.” She looked up at him and it seemed like she believed him, if at least a little bit anyway. It encouraged him to continue. “I’ve been looking for Jenna so she would get her mom to sign these papers, but since it appears Victoria and Marcus were divorced, then I guess it’s Jenna that needs to sign them. This has been a long journey to find this closure, but I’m close and that’s all I’m look for.”
In the back of her eyes, he could tell she was thinking. After a few moments of silence, she did ask him a question. “So, you didn’t come to win her back?”
He shook his head. “Have I ever consider it? Yes…I have, but my whole attitude about Jenna has changed and that’s partly due to you.”
This time she blushed and he sighed with relief. “Victoria acted like you’re the problem and you broke her heart.”
He snickered. “Well, she’s a mother…can you blame her?”
Charity smiled, relieving him. “I suppose you’re right.”
“The truth is…she came to me and told me she wanted to leave Maine. I told her that I was happy living the small town life. I didn’t think I’d follow in my father’s footsteps, but if I had to go back again and rewrite history, I wouldn’t change anything. I’m happy with my decision, but she didn’t want to stay and fight for our relationship. She had aspirations for something bigger all her life and being a wife wasn’t something she wanted.”
Charity listened to him more intently than most people had listened in their life. “Relationships are hard,” she quietly admitted.
“You’re telling me,” he mumbled. He had briefly heard about how her relationship had ended so quickly. While he most of the time chose to not get into her business, he found himself wanting to bring it up. “Your fiancé broke it off right before the wedding, right?”
She looked up, wide-eyed and like she wanted to bolt. Then suddenly her expression lightened. “A week before the wedding. He ran off with his best friend.”
“Um…this best friend…is it a woman?”
Charity snickered and nodded. “Yes, it’s a woman.”
He sighed. “I thought maybe he decided to swing the other way.”
Charity laughed, her eyes brightening up and he found himself joining in. He enjoyed hearing her laugh and seeing the expression on his face made him not worry so much. It was a better version of her, than the one had only a few minutes earlier. “No…he didn’t,” she replied softly.
“Well, that’d be the only way I could understand why he did what he did. He’s a fool,” he slowly replied.
A tint of red hit her cheekbones. “You don’t regret letting Jenna walk out your life, yet you say something like that to me? I don’t know if I’ll ever understand you, Derek.”
He smiled at her. Janet brought them their food, but neither one of them made an effort to eat. When Janet left the table, he replied to her question. “Jenna and I were so young and following after her, didn’t seem practical at the time. However, if I were at the point of asking someone beautiful to marry me, I wouldn’t be so stupid to risk it all by having an affair. He’s the one that lost out, and you should be grateful you dodged that bullet.” He looked down at his food and started to eat his hamburger and French fries. After what felt like an eternity, she started to eat her own food, and he relaxed again. Any awkwardness between them faded, and it became two people that were friends…no longer boss and employee.
***
“Was everything to your liking?” Janet asked them as she laid the bill down on their table.
“Absolutely. Thank you, Janet!” He removed his wallet and handed her a twenty, then told her to keep the change and she nodded, waving to them and leaving them. Charity laughed and he inquisitively at her. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“That just reminded me of the time you came into Bill’s Diner. The only difference you gave me a fifty dollar bill. Did you just feel sorry for me? That is a question I’ve always wanted to ask.”
His mouth opened, and he appeared embarrassed, then a smile slowly landed on his lips. “I almost forgot about that day. No, like I said…you were just an exceptional waitress.” He winked at her, and she caught a breath in her throat. He didn’t appear to be giving her a line, but it seemed all too easy for him to say something like that. “Besides, I suppose I was little taken back by the beautiful waitress.”
“Janet is pretty,” Charity replied.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re right. I wonder if she’s available later,” he teased.
His phone rang, interrupting their flirtatious banter and completely killing the mood. He seemed discouraged by the call, as well. “This is Mayor Worthington.” There was a long pause, then his face went white, and he shot her a look. “That’s right.” The longer he talked, the surer she was who he was talking to. She hated feeling slighted by him talking to his ex, but she couldn’t get past the jealousy that rushed through her. “I understand. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Right. See you then!”
He hung up the call, and Charity asked him the inevitable. “Was that Jenna?”
He nodded. “She wants to meet.”
“Great!” Charity replied, hiding her less than enthusiastic reaction.
He nodded. “There’s one more thing. She wants me to come alone.”
Charity chuckled. “It’s like a ransom, and they don’t want the cops involved.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me, as long as you’ll take me back to the hotel.”
He nodded. “Of course!” She was disappointed. Even though she didn’t want to see Jenna, she honestly didn’t want Derek to see Jenna and leaving him unchaperoned could easily make him fall back into her. She couldn’t believe how much she didn’t want him to get back together with her. Charity wanted him and each minute that passed, she was reminded just how much. Yet, she couldn’t tell him and find herself in a situation where he didn’t feel the same way. Even if he admitted to her that there’s attraction, didn’t mean he would be up for a sexy tryst with her.
They stood up from the table and things inched towards even more than awkwardness. Their interaction between one another was no longer there. He drove her to the hotel, and it was like they were two strangers caught in a painful situation together. When they got to the hotel, he offered to walk her up to the room, but she quickly denied him that option.
“I’ll see you when you get back.” She jumped out of the car and nearly sprinted into the hotel and into the elevator. When the elevator opened, she ran in. The door closed, and tears started to fall. “Oh my God…” she breathlessly exclaimed, covering her mouth. She was in love with him, and she didn’t want to lose him.
Chapter 19
Derek sat in his car. He stared up at the hotel. Charity’s attitude had changed so suddenly, and he wondered if it had something to do with the phone call. He considered running after her and making sure she was alright, but as his hand was on the door handle, he slowly released it. He had to take care of business and then he would worry about why Charity was so upset.
He put the park’s name into his GPS and drove out of the hotel parking lot. He only had ten minutes to make the meeting time, but the park was only six minutes away. When he pulled into the parking lot of the park, he spotted Jenna right away. She was sitting at a picnic table. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun on the top of her head. When he got out of the car, she stood up. He walked over to the table and greeted her with a hug.
The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) Page 22