Charlotte (Marked Heart #2)

by M. Sembera

  An early morning wake up call from Penny, that originally irritated an exhausted Charlotte, turned out to be a fun day of shopping with a friend. They shopped and laughed until both found perfect dresses for Sophia's shower. It was a great day and after stopping for lunch, Charlotte and Penny headed back to town.

  Charlotte sat in the passenger seat while Penny drove them at what Charlotte considered a snail's pace. At this rate, a forty-minute drive was going to take them two hours.

  "You know you drive like an old grandma," she laughed.

  Penny pursed her lips into a smile, firmly holding the steering wheel at the ten and two position, saying, "There is nothing wrong with being a cautious driver."

  "You know they give tickets for going too slow."

  Laughing, Penny swore, "Excuse me, I go the speed limit."

  "I'm just saying you're allowed to go with the flow of traffic."

  Penny smiled, asking, "Got somewhere special to be?"

  Auggie instantly entered Charlotte's mind as she replied, "Next time I'm driving."

  "Ah, you're going to see your secret boyfriend," Penny teased.

  Rolling her eyes with a smile, Charlotte replied, "Oh please, he's not my boyfriend. We are just seeing each other."

  "I get that. So are y'all seeing other people too?"

  "No," Charlotte answered, disliking the question but pleased at what she and Auggie had decided.

  "Just so you know, that's what we call, having a boyfriend."

  Charlotte sighed with a laugh, saying, "Well, we doesn't know everything and should not make more out of this than what it is."

  Penny started to pout before blurting, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you!" Charlotte jumped a little at her outburst as Penny shared, "Sophia is naming the baby Keely but spelling it K-e-y-l-e-e."

  "Any particular reason?"

  Shrugging a shoulder at Charlotte, Penny explained, "She doesn't want people to call her Kelly by mistake."

  "Oh-kay."

  Penny gave her a scolding expression saying, "Look, I know you don't like Sophia but she is my best friend and you're my friend, I don't want that to be a problem."

  Charlotte mentally counted back from ten before she replied, "Well, you won't have a problem from me. I don't have an opinion of her at all. She's Ren's daughter, that's it."

  With a curious smile, Penny asked, "Are you still going to feel that way if things work out with you and Auggie?"

  "Things are working out with us."

  Penny laughed, shaking her head, "Long term."

  Suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation, Charlotte replied, "There is no long term. I'm leaving in a month and a half."

  Appearing sad at first, Penny nodded before asking, "Just out of curiosity, what would you do if he asked you to stay?"

  "He won't."

  "You sure about that? When the Caffrey men fall, they go down hard," Penny imparted.

  Penny's words filtered down into Charlotte's heart causing her to wonder if he was really falling hard for her and if he would ask her to stay.

  Charlotte knew they agreed to keep their relationship a secret but recognized the fact that she really needed to talk to someone about it. Since Auggie knew that Penny knew and if no real details were shared, maybe it would be okay.

  "How would I know?" Charlotte questioned before adding, "If he was falling for me."

  Rolling her eyes with a laugh, Penny replied, "Oh you mean the fact that my brother has never spent more than a few hours with a woman even once in his life and wants to spend all his free time with you isn't convincing enough."

  Hesitant, Charlotte said, "William said he loved me but once I was gone he moved on."

  With a light sigh Penny shared, "Look, I hope I don't hurt your feelings but I'm gonna be honest with you. Will moved on because he was never in love with you." Charlotte gave Penny a confused look as she continued, "There's no doubt in my mind he loved you until the day he died but... Okay, none of the girls around here would give 'Weezy Will' the time of day until you, which is a shame because as far as brothers go, I think he was the cutest one. Then here you came all blonde and long legs wanting to get with him. Do you see what I'm sayin'."

  "So he really was okay after I left?"

  Penny gave her a 'Don't be silly' look as she replied, "He was sad that it didn't work out but yea, he was fine. And... I happen to know having you go to the hospital to say goodbye was for you, not him."

  Nodding, Charlotte offered, "I thought I really screwed him up."

  "You're not Lily," Penny cheered with a smile.

  Letting go of something she didn't realize she was still carrying around, Charlotte exhaled, leaning back in her seat.

  The car was silent for a few moments before Penny decided to share some background information on the Braden and Lily situation.

  "By the way you know how I said we're forgiving people, that doesn't apply to her."

  Charlotte found that somewhat interesting. She honestly couldn't see Penny disliking anyone.

  "Lily?"

  Nodding, Penny had an irritated expression as she shared, "She didn't just break my brother's heart, she crushed him."

  "Braden doesn't come off as wounded," Charlotte replied.

  With a heavy sigh, Penny informed, "That is because he's the dumbass brother." Charlotte started to laugh before Penny continued, "I'll admit we all loved her at first, even mom. She cheated on him a few times in high school. She complained he was too busy playing every weekend, wasn't paying attention to her, but that was between them and he forgave her, so it was whatever. High school stuff."

  Listening to Penny, Charlotte tried to remember what she had overheard between Auggie and Braden when she was hiding in his bedroom.

  "Lily always made a big deal about marriage. She said it was just a piece of paper and she didn't agree with labels or institutions. So they got a house together. About three years ago Braden and the rest of the band had the opportunity to be the opening band for six months on a tour. Everyone was so excited for them, except Lily. He wanted her to go with them, Sophia was going too. Lily said no and told him they were done if he went."

  "He went anyway?"

  Shaking her head, Penny answered, "Nope. He didn't want to lose her. Ailin and Brooks didn't want to go without him so they turned down the offer. They were bummed but we're a pretty understanding bunch, Lily was his girl and he had to do what he felt was right."

  A thought quickly occurred to Charlotte as she blurted, "Wait, isn't she married now?"

  Making a 'Mmhmm' face, Penny said, "Hold on, I'm getting to that," before continuing, "About two months after that, Braden bought her a ring. He thought even though she didn't want to get married he could still make it official, ya know. Mom drew out his heart and he left work early to go surprise her. He walked in and caught her cheating with Keven. He went back the next day and found all his stuff packed and on the curb. A week later Lily and Keven got married."

  "So Lily's house, down Auggie's street..."

  "Was the house Braden bought and he just gave it to her. He moved in with Brooks but it was horrible. For six months he didn't leave the house, play or anything. Finally, we had an intervention. It was mostly Auggie cursing at him and shaking him until he got mad enough to take a swing. They got in a fight and then we had our Braden back."

  "And now?"

  "Keven's in jail. There are rumors but I don't know what really happened. She told Braden that Keven beat her up. He probably did, he had steroids and some other stuff on him when he was arrested. At least that's what I heard."

  Charlotte sat straight up, suggesting, "We should go kick her ass."

  With a laugh Penny replied, "Gah, if my brother doesn't fall for you I will," before taking a more serious tone saying, "We've all tried to talk him out of her. He just won't listen. Still carries the heart mom drew around in his wallet. You know how they say love is blind? Well, I know Braden can see so apparently love's a dumbass and so is my brother." />
  Feeling sad for Braden, didn't stop the laughter that poured out of Charlotte as they pulled up to her house.

  Penny dropped Charlotte off at home with a cheerful goodbye and an invitation to hang out anytime. Finding it hard to believe that she actually did William a favor as Penny had implied, by hurting him, she was relieved she hadn't ruined his life. Feeling like a little less of a bad person, Charlotte planned on hanging out at the house for a while. However, when she walked into the house, Silvia burst into tears. More howling and violent crying ensued before Charlotte decided she had to get out of there.

  The disappointment Charlotte felt in not getting to use the key Auggie gave her was quickly replaced by excitement. His truck was in the driveway. When she turned the knob and found his front door locked, she was excited all over again. After using her key to open his door, Charlotte stepped inside. Closing the door behind herself, she glanced at Auggie asleep in his chair and smiled.

  Late nights and early mornings had Charlotte worn out also and she hadn't spent the last two days doing manual labor. Imagining how tired he must be, she decided not to wake him. Looking him over while thinking she might take a nap, she noticed not only was he wearing plaid pajama bottoms, of course, his hair was still wet. She couldn't help herself as she set her purse down and stepped closer.

  Running her fingers through Auggie's damp hair, Charlotte leaned closer. Just as she was about place a light kiss against his temple, Auggie pulled her over the arm of the chair sideways onto his lap.

  "I was trying not to wake you," Charlotte shared with a smile.

  Resting his forehead against the side of her head, Auggie whispered, "Stay here with me."

  Closing her eyes, Charlotte drew in a slow breath before asking, "For how long?"

  "I set an alarm on my phone."

  Feeling both relief and disappointment, thinking to herself, 'Damn Penny putting that in my head' Charlotte curled into him, resting her head against his shoulder.

  ~

  Slowly opening his eyes, it took Auggie a minute to figure out what was going on. Charlotte was on top of him in his chair. The recollection of waking up to her fingers running through his hair had nothing on the feeling of her soundly sleeping against him. Wrapping his arms around her, Auggie kissed her forehead.

  Her eyes fluttered open as she whispered, "Don't get up."

  "I gotta open the bar."

  Charlotte pulled away with the most beautiful still half asleep expression on her face.

  "You suck, I was sleeping good."

  Auggie wanted to laugh but instead blurted, "Wait," as she stood up.

  Stretching her arms high above her head, she yawned, "I need to go."

  Slowly getting up, Auggie asked, "Are you coming back?"

  "We'll see. Depends on how Silvia's melt down is going."

  Auggie looked at her and nodded before a sudden realization struck him.

  Pulling her to him, he slid his arms around her and leaned to her ear, quietly informing, "We just slept together."

  Charlotte's voice was soft and low as she shared, "That makes you my first."

  An unbelievably territorial instinct caused him to tighten his arms around her. Wondering if he should admit to the same for him, he'd never even passed out next to a woman much less snuggled to sleep with one.

  Surprised that a word like 'Snuggle' entered his mind, Auggie cleared his throat and let go of her saying, "You got a key now so come by whenever."

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. As she flashed a sarcastic smile and reached down to grab her purse, Auggie knew he was a jerk for responding that way. Instead of making it right or even telling her goodbye, he turned and walked to his room to get ready for work.

  25

  Retribution

  Day three of Silvia and Neck Tattoo's breakup saga continued on to reach new levels of ridiculousness. Charlotte had her own things to think about. She needed to quit being silly about things and just have sex with Auggie already. Knowing she was holding out because she liked being around him and in the back of her mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that all the craziness with him would be over as soon as she did. She didn't want that and talking to Penny didn't help at all. She had let Penny's take on what she and Auggie had going on cloud her thoughts.

  Charlotte heard the 'My life is over because I'm not with you' song restarted for the millionth from Silvia's room and snapped. Marching out of her room and up to her sister's door, she flung it open.

  "Gah, would you just get over it already!" Charlotte shouted.

  Silvia's face was red and swollen as she screamed, "I can't!"

  Snatching Silvia's iPhone out of its speaker dock, Charlotte threw it at her, griping, "At least change the damn song then."

  "You're glad this happened! I hate you! You wanted us to break up!"

  Charlotte had started to walk out when she whipped around, asking, "Excuse me?"

  Wiping fresh tears from her eyes with her comforter, Silvia cried, "He hooked up with Lee-Lee."

  "What is a Lee-Lee?"

  "He swore there was only me and to trust him. You made me not trust him and he had sex with her. I hate you! You made me question him and he...he... I hate you! You made him have sex with her," Silvia spit out in a new anger induced crying spree.

  After briefly considering the 'shake and curse' approach Auggie took with Braden when his heart was crushed, Charlotte decided on a more compassionate route.

  "Think about what you're saying. Do you really think someone like him wasn't already screwing around?"

  And then came the howling.

  Shaking her head, Charlotte realized that wasn't the best thing for her to say as she asked, "Did you really love him?"

  Silvia nodded wiping her comforter down her face again.

  With a slight huff, Charlotte sat down on the side of Silvia's bed, "This is going to sound mean but before you start bawling again, think about what I'm saying, okay." Silvia nodded before Charlotte offered, "It's pretty clear he doesn't feel the same." She could tell another outburst was coming as she held up her finger, "Don't. No crying. Only thinking."

  Silvia nodded again, frowning as she blinked her tears back.

  "Now, I know it must hurt but since he doesn't love you and y'all are not going to live happily ever after, what would make you feel better?"

  After a few minutes of sniffling, Silvia replied, "I want this to hurt him too."

  Charlotte thought for a moment before informing, "Sit tight. I think I can help with that."

  Silvia gave an interested look as Charlotte hopped off of her bed and ran out of the room.

  Grabbing her cellphone off of her dresser, Charlotte looked at the time and called Auggie.

  "Hey," he answered.

  "I need a favor," she asked.

  "What's up?"

  Huffing into the phone, Charlotte answered, "You know that guy that thought I was checking him out at Ren's."

  Auggie's tone was angry as he replied, "Yea."

  "That's the kid that broke up with Silvia."

  "You serious?"

  "Yep, so I was thinking you could scare him a little or something. You know, let him know it's not okay to hurt my sister."

  There was a hint of humor in his voice as he replied, "Sure. Let me call Oran to give him a heads up and see where they're at."

  "I'm going back to Silvia's room to see if she has any special requests. I'll text you."

  Laughing, Auggie said, "Okay."

  Pleased with herself, Charlotte headed back across the hall.

  Silvia was sitting up, waiting for Charlotte when she walked back into the room.

  Smiling, Charlotte sat down next to Silvia on her bed, "How hurt do you want him?"

  "What do you mean?" Silvia asked with eyes wide.

  Charlotte rolled her eyes, saying, "We're going to teach him a lesson."

  Glancing at the phone in Charlotte's hand Silvia shouted, "Oh my gosh! Who are you going to call?" />
  "It doesn't matter," Charlotte snapped before saying, "Do you want him hurting or not?"

  Silvia sucked her bottom lip into her mouth before nodding.

  "How hurt?"

  Looking down, Silvia replied, "It would be nice if he cried."

  "Make him cry, it is," Charlotte confirmed before sending a text to Auggie.

  C: Make him cry. You can rough him up too if you want ;)

  Auggie texted back.

  A: You got it.

  C: Thanks!

  A: I'll call you in a few.

  Charlotte nodded at her cellphone feeling like a good big sister.

  ~

  Auggie was cleared to be on the property and once Oran confirmed that the property owners were gone, he let the crew know what was going on. Auggie hopped out of his truck, making a beeline straight for Shawn.

  Charging up behind him, Auggie grabbed him by the back of his shirt, swinging him around as he warned, "We got a problem."

  The crew gathered around them at a distance as Shawn tripped and fell backwards.

  Quickly scrambling back to his feet, Shawn shouted, "What's your problem?"

  "You're my problem," he snapped, giving him a little shove.

  Trying to act hard, Shawn took a step back, "Man, I ain't even trying to fight you."

  "And you're not gonna. You're gonna cry like the little girl you are when I kick your ass for doin' Silvia dirty."

  Shawn looked around at the crew before smarting off, "That prissy trick. She's lucky I was puttin' it to her anyways."

  Auggie stepped forward as Shawn took another step back.

  "You talk big, why ya backin' up?" Auggie questioned, knowing he was scared.

  The crew laughing apparently gave Shawn a burst of confidence as he announced, "The only one backin' up was your girl last night on my..."

  Before Shawn could finish the most hazardous statement of his life, Auggie grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting him off of the grown as he growled, "What about my girl?"

  Practically screeching, Shawn apologized, "No! I'm sorry! Please! No! Please! I'm sorry!"

  Releasing Shawn as he hunched over, Auggie instantly shoved him backwards as hard as he could.

  "Ah, what the f..."