He finished chewing the bite in his mouth and swallowed hard. She felt uneasy, not sure how he was going to respond.
"Aren't most trust funds turned over at twenty one or twenty five?"
"I guess, but that's not how he set mine up."
"So, did you ever sign it?"
She nodded. "Yeah, last year on my birthday. I have a lot of money, Sam, but I still don't know anything about my grandparents other than those stories."
"Well, have you ever asked your dad or Callie about them?" He didn't bring up the fact she had money. Or even ask how much.
Not that she expected him to, but it just put her at ease and the tension in her shoulders relaxed. "I've tried a few times, but they won't tell me anything. They said it was best for me to leave it alone."
Pushing the food aside, he pulled her to him and she lay down, mirroring his body.
"Obviously, it's weighing heavily on your mind. So, if they're not willing to tell you about them, then we need to do some research on our own."
Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she reached forward, running her fingers across his perfectly stubbled chin. "You would do that for me?"
"I would do anything for you. Now, let's enjoy our food and watch the sunset wrapped in our blanket after I have my way with you. Tomorrow, we will start the hunt for your grandparents."
A grateful smile spread across her face before she leaned in and kissed him with every ounce of passion she possessed. She knew he loved her, and he continued to prove it with every little thing he did.
They finished their food with small talk and laughter right before the sun started to set. Sam moved behind Charlie and pulled her back into his embrace as they watched the colors of the evening sky change. She felt content for the first time in a while and was thankful to have him there to talk her off the ledge when she needed him the most.
✦✧✦✧✦✧
They say the way to every man's heart is through his stomach right? And food fixes everything?
Charlie finally walked up the stairs to Jules bedroom with his favorites in hand. She’d avoided this conversation for long enough. Ever since her dinner with Sam and the thought of her grandparents it had been weighing on her mind. And she knew she hadn’t been giving Jules enough attention.
She pushed the door open and found him sprawled across his bed, watching Vampire Academy.
"I thought you were out of the closet? Yet, here you are hiding in your room watching the best vampire movie ever, ya' know the one you pretend to hate." She smirked.
He lifted his head and gave her a curious stare as he eyed what was in her hands.
"What's that?"
"Oh, this double chocolate chunk cookie and venti caramel frappuccino with extra chocolate drizzle?"
He perked up and acted like he was trying to fight back a smile. "So, what are they? A bribe?"
She shook her head and crossed the room, sitting down next to him. "More like a peace offering."
"I'll accept the food, but you still suck." He took the drink and cookie from her hands.
That cookie looked really good all of a sudden and she wished she had bought two. Meh, he won't care if I take a bite.
Leaning forward, she tried to take a bite with it still in his hand, but he moved it and all she managed was to lick the side of it. Jules looked horrified like she'd just committed the worst offense ever.
"Did you just try to lick my cookie?"
She burst into laughter. Oh, man. The things I could do with that statement. "Why, yes. Yes I did. Guess you can't eat it now." She grabbed it out of his hand.
He scoffed and grabbed it back. "Then you, my friend, seriously underestimate the power of the double chocolate chunk cookie. I don't care if you'd spit on it. Nothing is going to keep me from its chocolatly goodness."
Laughing, it took her a minute to pull herself together. It was too easy. "Dude, you're leaving me with so much material right now."
"Stop trying to distract me from my destiny—and it's this cookie."
She lunged for him and broke off a giant piece, shoving it in her mouth. "You mean this cookie?" Charlie pointed to her mouth and tried to smile but it was stuffed too full for her to even chew.
"Hey! Didn't your mother ever teach you not to be an Indian giver?"
"Nope. Guess that slipped her mind when she died. But your mother taught me how to share."
"She never said anything about having to share gifts." He shoved the other half of the cookie in his mouth just as she lunged for it again.
They laughed, choked and chewed until it was gone.
"Touch my drink and I'll cut a bitch." He glared at her.
"See, this is something Sam will never understand." She gestured to his coffee. "Our food obsession and how crazy we get."
Jules sat up and took a long drink from his straw before he answered. "Well, it seems like you have Alex for that now."
"Is that why you've been so pissy with me? You think I've replaced you?" Her heart broke. The last thing in the world she'd ever wanted was Jules to think he didn't matter anymore.
"You have, haven't you? Sam is your go to guy for everything and Alex seems like your kooky sidekick now."
She wanted to laugh at how ridiculous his jealousy was, but she could tell he was really hurting.
"Look, Alex is great, but she's not you. Neither is Sam. I'm sorry if you feel like I've neglected you lately. I haven't meant to."
"I know Sam is important to you, but you don't come to me for anything anymore. I used to be your rock. Now I'm just some annoying pebble in your shoe."
Charlie rolled on her back and locked her hands behind her head, staring at his ceiling. "You'll always be my rock. You can see my shoes are still on, so you're not that annoying." She lifted her feet and wiggled them back and forth.
Jules chuckled. "I just feel like you don't have time for me anymore and when we do hang out, you're just counting down the seconds until you can run off with Sam."
"I'm sorry. I guess this last year has been so crazy that I've done a shit job trying to manage everything. I get to be with you all the time and I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time with him? I don't know."
"I'm not trying to sound like a whiny bitch boy here, but what about lost time with me? You seem to forget I just got you back too. I've waited a hell of a lot longer than he has. I'm not saying you have to spend every moment with me. It would just be nice to have my best friend back."
"Well, I'm here. I'm yours one hundred percent right now. I need to know, though. You don't hate him, do you?" She rolled her head to the side and looked at him, praying he didn't.
"No. I don't. I just miss you. Sorry for being a dick. By the way, you owe me a cookie."
Charlie smacked the bed and sat up, pointing at him. "I only owe you half of a cookie."
"Whatever. So, what's going on with you?" He rested on his side, faced her, and sucked down his drink.
"Well, I think I'm going to try to find my grandparents."
Jules almost choked on his drink. Jumping up, she beat him on the back until he seemed to breathe regularly.
"Are you stoned? Why would you want to find them? They're evil rat bastards that could die a thousand deaths and we wouldn't bat an eye, remember?"
She tried to smile, but she couldn't force it. Not this time. "Look, there may be more to the story than we really know. I just want to look them in the eye and meet them. I mean, they may be evil, but they at least had enough of a heart to set up a trust to make sure I was taken care of, right?"
"I don't know, Charlie. Everything we've ever been told about them hasn't been good. I mean, they won't even tell us their names. I'm usually all about rebelling, but don't you think our parents have kept you in the dark about them for a good reason?"
Defeated wasn't even the right word. You wonder why I go to Sam. At least he listens to me, even if it is Charlie logic.
She sighed and shook her head. It was obvious he wasn't going to understa
nd. "I guess I need to talk to your mom."
"Yeah, I guess."
For the first time in as long as she could remember, there was an awkward silence. She rolled over just in time to catch her favorite part of the movie that was still playing in the background. They didn't say anything else about her grandparents, but she felt like things between them were still far from okay. She went home later that night alone questioning everything she knew about the people in her life and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
CHAPTER FOUR
No matter what she did, Charlie couldn't get the image of those grandparents and that little girl out of her head. Even though Jules had discouraged her and she tried to focus on other things and not think about it, she couldn’t ignore all the questions that continued to nag at her. She pulled into Callie's driveway and sat on her bike for a few minutes while she collected her thoughts. The chance of them getting into an argument over the coming conversation was likely and the one person she hated to fight with more than anyone was Callie.
With a huff, Charlie pushed her kickstand down with the heel of her boot and laid her bike over. She didn't even bother hanging her helmet. She just carried it with her as she walked in the front door.
The smell of apple pie assaulted her senses as soon as stepped inside.
"Jules, is that you?" Callie called from the kitchen.
Charlie set her helmet down on the stairs and headed to the kitchen. "No, it's me."
"Hey, honey," Callie said as she rounded the kitchen island and pulled Charlie into a hug. "I didn't know you were stopping over. What a nice surprise."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something, so I thought I'd stop over instead of call."
Callie pulled away and held Charlie at an arms length, never letting go of her hands. "Is everything okay? You're not hurt or sick are you?"
She shook her head. "No. I just have a few questions and thought maybe you could answer them for me."
Relief seemed to wash over Callie's face. Her smile reached her eyes and she pulled Charlie in for another hug. "I'll do my best. Have a seat; I just pulled a pie out. Do you want vanilla bean with yours?"
"It's like you can read my mind," Charlie said as she pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Well, if I really had that super power, I wouldn't feel like you're about to drop a bomb on me. So, spill it, missy." Callie pulled two plates out of the cupboard, carefully cut the pie, and scooped each piece onto a plate.
Charlie watched her walk over to the freezer and pull out the ice cream. "I want to know about my grandparents."
Callie froze in place with the freezer door wide open. She closed the door and made her way back to their plates on the counter, quietly scooping out their ice cream. "What are you wanting to know?"
"Everything. For starters, their names. I have Google-searched everything I can and there is nothing online about them in relation to my mom, and my dad refuses to even speak their names."
A clang rang out as Callie tossed the ice cream scoop in the sink. She brought their plates over to the table and sat down, sliding one over to Charlie. "I don't really think this is a conversation you need to have with me. You should talk to your dad."
Charlie let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "I've tried. His answer is always the same." She lowered her voice to mimic his. "Charlotte, they're not the kind of people we want to associate with. It's better to just leave it alone."
She needed Callie to give her something, anything, but not knowing where she came from or why the people that were supposed to love her the most just threw her away was starting to eat at her.
Callie laced her fingers together and propped them under her chin, resting on her elbows. "Why the sudden interest? Last year you couldn't have cared less about them. You felt like they'd bought you with your trust and now all of a sudden you want to know about them. What changed?" She had her poker face on and the fact Charlie couldn't get a read on her was making her uneasy.
"What? I'm not allowed to wake up one day and have questions? What are you guys hiding?" Her cheeks felt flush as her frustration grew.
Just answer my damn questions already.
"Look, I'm just going to be completely honest with you here."
"That's all I'm asking." Charlie cut off a piece of pie, scooped up some ice cream, and shoved it into her mouth.
"They're not the kind of people you want to seek out. I know you have questions and I knew one day you'd want to know more about them. But, I can't let you walk into that nightmare. They said some really horrible things to your parents and treated your mom like she was trash."
"Like what? What kinds of things did they say?" She wasn't going to give up that easily. If there was a valid reason for them wanting to keep her away from them, she needed to know what it was.
Callie sighed and shook her head. She took a bite of her pie and by the look she wore, Charlie knew she was having an internal battle.
"I don't want to get into it, Charlotte. I can't stop you from seeking them out. You're an adult and God knows you're going to do what you want anyway. I just wish for once, you would listen to what we're telling you and not question it."
"I have. I've been the good little girl that always did as she was told and not ask questions. I'm done with that. I need answers and they're the only ones that can give them."
Callie choked. "You are so far from the good little girl that never asked questions, honey. You always needed to know every ounce of information you could get your hands on."
"Why are you so dead set on protecting them?" Charlie pushed her plate away, no longer hungry.
"I'm protecting you. They're not nice people and I'm afraid you will get a false hope and I don't want to watch them crush you like they did to your mom. She never got over it, no matter how much she tried to."
It made sense. They probably were trying to protect her, but they couldn't put her in a bubble and protect her from the world. She deserved to know why.
The front door opened and Jules walked in. "Hey, there better be pie left for me," he called as he strolled into the kitchen, unaware of what he was walking into.
Charlie stood. "Thanks for the pie. I'm going to go."
"Charlotte, please let this go. I'm begging you."
Jules looked back and forth between them, confused. "Let what go? Why are you leaving? What the hell is going on here?"
"Nothing. I just need to go." Charlie grabbed her helmet off the stairs before she walked out. Jules was right on her heels.
"Hey, dip-shit. What's going on? What are you and my mom fighting over? Is this what I think it is?" He crossed his arms over his chest.
"They still won't even give me a name. All I want is a fucking name, Jules. I'll find them myself, but it would have been a lot easier with a name."
He shook his head. "I don't know what the big secret is either. I tried looking through her old pictures and stuff the other night after you left, but I couldn't find anything. Did anything come up on your Google search?"
"Yeah. A thousand people have the same name as my mom, although none of it goes back to the year she died."
"The year you were born." He corrected her.
"Oh, bite me, Positive Patti." She shoved him playfully.
"I'll save the biting for someone I actually like, Negative Nancy."
"Bitch, please. I'm Realistic Rita and how the hell did we get so off track?" She asked and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well, I say start at the bank. They have to have their names on your trust fund somewhere. If not, go to the library. I know they have like every single newspaper for the last fifty years on microfilm.”
Charlie groaned as she sat down on her bike. "This is going to be harder than I thought."
"No pain, No gain." He gave her a sheepish grin.
"I'll give you pain, when I kick you in the vagina." She laughed and started her bike.
"Just because I'm out of the closet does not make me h
ave vagina envy. They're ugly little Venus fly traps, anyway." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
"They're like lotus flowers and you wish you had one." She slid her helmet on, muffling whatever else he said. Revving the engine, she cupped one hand around the ear of her helmet. "What's that? I can't hear your stupidity anymore," she shouted.
Jules dropped his arms into a 'X' over his crotch and thrusted at her. She flipped him off and pulled out of his driveway.
The best part about having Julian for a best friend was that he always knew how to diffuse a situation and make her forget for a few minutes. She sped off toward the bank, glad he'd given her direction when she felt completely lost and hoping she'd find some answers.
✦✧✦✧✦✧
Their names have to be on the trust. Don't they? There wasn't anyone in line for the next teller, so Charlie walked up to her, wearing a small smile.
"Hi, Charlie. What can I do for you?"
"Hey, Laura. Is it possible to get some information off of my account?" She drummed her fingers on the counter and shifted her weight back and forth between her legs. Could it really be this simple to finding out who they are?
"Sure. What did you need? An account balance?"
"Um, no. Actually, I need to find out the other names that are on my trust."
Laura pulled her brows together and stared at her screen while her fingers danced across her keyboard. She pursed her lips. "Hmmm."
"Hmmm, what?" Sweat beaded on Charlie's forehead. She didn't like the look on Laura's face and it made her heart double tap in her chest.
"I'll be right back," Laura commented as she disappeared from behind the counter and into an office around the corner. A few moments later, the bank manager walked up to her with Laura in tow. Charlie remembered dealing with him when she had to sign all the paperwork to transfer the deed to the house into her name.
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