C&A Novella (Marked Heart #2.5)

by M. Sembera

  With an excited nod, she questioned, "Are you going?"

  "Ah...no. Your brother would never forgive me for dragging him to one of those things and honestly, my bridal shower they hosted today was enough to remind me why I gave up my chair."

  "Oh." Penny pouted as she looked down at the floor.

  "But... If you want, I can give you some pointers."

  Nodding enthusiastically, Penny started to say something and then appeared to change her mind.

  There was a slight scowl to her expression as she looked at Charlotte.

  "Did you ever talk to Auggie about having kids?"

  Shaking her head, Charlotte had been so busy, she honestly forgot all about that particular concern.

  "I think it's better if I don't. If he's not thinking about it, I would rather not put the idea in his head."

  "Aren't you curious?" Penny questioned before sharing, "It seems like that would be important to know."

  Shaking her head, Charlotte replied, "Concerned is more like it."

  "But he's crazy about you."

  Charlotte couldn't help smiling, knowing he was, before letting a serious expression take over.

  Sure he was head over heels now, but after a few years, who knew what would happen.

  "Auggie said Liv and Kieran had one of those love at first sight things, but look at them."

  Charlotte noticed Penny glance off to the side before saying, "Their problem isn't new. It started a long time ago, just lately, it's gotten worse."

  Narrowing her eyes at Penny, Charlotte blurted, "You know what's going on with him, don't you."

  Purposely avoiding eye contact, she replied, "Sorta."

  "Is it really all over a stupid tattoo?"

  Shaking her head, Penny appeared sad as she replied, "No, it's over a mark."

  Knowing what a big deal that was to them, Charlotte dropped the subject.

  Focusing on a happier relationship, she smiled at Penny.

  "So, exactly how awesome is Seth?"

  With a slight grimace, Penny replied, "He was fixing to show me the other morning and my mom showed up."

  "Wait! What?"

  Nodding with her eyes wide, Penny explained, "Yeah, she busted right in my bedroom door just as we were about..."

  Quickly cutting her off Charlotte, questioned, "Your mom came to our apartment?"

  Hesitant, Penny nodded.

  "Did she say anything about the wedding? Is she coming?"

  There was a long pause before Penny answered, "She mostly just fussed at me and Braden."

  "Oh, Okay..."

  "Sorry." Penny genuinely assured, walking to turn off the lights.

  Following her, Charlotte wondered if Auggie knew his mom had come by and if he did, why wouldn't he tell her?

  13

  Braden was sitting in the manager's office of The Dog House when Charlotte walked in to get her night started. Instead of being seated in the chair facing the desk, he sat on the one right inside the door.

  After giving him a quick once over, Charlotte shook her head at him as she walked to her desk.

  "What's up?"

  Shrugging, he replied, "Auggie sent me in here."

  Trying her best not to laugh, Charlotte asked, "He put you in a time out?"

  "Can't you lift the sex ban before he actually bites someone's head clean off?" He replied with a smirk.

  "Did he seriously send you back here to talk me into having sex with him?" She snapped.

  With a wide smile and a laugh, Braden swore, "Hey, I'm just tryin' to keep all us innocent bystanders safe."

  "Champion of the people sorta thing?" Charlotte laughed.

  "Somethin' like that."

  Rolling her eyes, she sat down behind her desk and flipped her computer on.

  When an hour went by and he was still sitting by the door in her office, Charlotte thought it might be nice to talk to him. Although she had known him for a while now and he was basically living on her couch, not once had there been a real conversation between the two of them.

  Standing up behind her desk, she walked to the chair that sat in front of it and took a seat.

  "So, how's it going?"

  "How's what going?" He question, appearing confused.

  "Life, I guess."

  Braden's usual careless demeanor was replaced by a somber one as he shrugged and stared at the floor.

  "Do you need someone to talk to?"

  With an appreciative yet dismissive glance, he shook his head answering, "I can't talk to you."

  "Not me." Charlotte agreed, almost laughing before suggesting, "You should talk to your brother."

  "Yea, sure." He sarcastically replied.

  "He's worried about you."

  Standing up out of his chair, he took a step towards her as if he was about to argue then took a deep breath and stepped back.

  Leaning his back against the door, he folded his arms in front of his chest and admitted, "I know he is."

  "So talk to him." She urged.

  Shaking his head, he relaxed his arms, dropped them at his sides and shared, "He doesn't understand."

  "Isn't that the point of talking about something?"

  Serious in expression, he replied, "It's not in him to understand."

  Charlotte knew Auggie wasn't the most understanding person. Regardless of how he would approach whatever Braden's problem was, she knew he loved his brother.

  As she started to press the issue of them talking, Braden informed, "Everyone in this family is doing exactly what they were always meant to do. Except me."

  Feeling as though he was just having a pity party for himself, Charlotte stood up and advised, "Stop letting people take who you are away from you then."

  Glancing up at the ceiling, Braden nodded before explaining, "That's the part that no one understands. Every cord I ever played is a moment and all the memories I have from it I don't want."

  "So, go make new memories instead of punishing yourself?"

  "With who?" Braden asked in a strained voice before saying, "Maybe not everyone has a purpose," as he reached for the door knob.

  Charlotte's heart started to ache for him as she offered, "Maybe you just haven't found it yet."

  A humorless smile spread across his face as he replied, "Or maybe I have and it belongs to someone else."

  Caught off guard by his statement, Charlotte was just about to ask what he meant by that when Auggie opened the door and walked in.

  Pausing for a moment, Auggie scowled between the two of them before stepping all the way into the room.

  Turning to Braden, he informed, "Pat's out there."

  "What's he doing here?" Braden asked, appearing surprised.

  With a shrug of his shoulders, Auggie replied, "Said he's lookin' for you."

  Braden nodded as he turned and walked out.

  "Who's Pat?"

  "Ol' friend of Braden's." Auggie replied before asking, "Was I interrupting?"

  Rolling her eyes, Charlotte laughed.

  He smiled at her, taking a step closer before reaching out to take her hand.

  "Ten days."

  Squeezing his hand, Charlotte smiled back and wrapped an arm around his waist.

  The position they were now in, reminded her of the last two items on her checklist, prompting her to say, "The dance."

  "You wanna dance?"

  Shaking her head at him, she corrected, "I just remembered, I haven't picked a song for our first dance or the ceremony."

  Letting go of her hand, he slid his arms around her.

  Leaning his forehead to hers, he offered, "I already picked them."

  In disbelief, she blurted, "Really? When?"

  "Last month." He replied in a low tone while brushing his lips against hers.

  The corner of her mouth curled into a smile as she said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I didn't want you to know." He answered kissing across her jaw.

  Charlotte let out a soft sigh as she whispered, "Ten days
."

  Auggie nodded into her cheek before kissing down the side of her neck, then back up to her lips.

  14

  Waking up to a text message from Charlotte that let him know she would be shopping with Liv and Penny all day before meeting him out at Kieran's, freed up a good bit of the day for Auggie to tend to a few post wedding related things before his bachelor party.

  Without a whole lot of guidance, growing up in the romance department, Auggie spent most of the day wandering around The Store trying to pick out things he thought Charlotte might like. The idea he had come up with to make their first time as a married couple special, he knew was a good one, but he wasn't exactly sure how to pull it off. Just as he started to get frustrated with himself for not being able to figure it out, he turned a corner into home decor and was inspired.

  Auggie pulled up to Kieran's feeling proud of himself. In one week from tomorrow, he was going to marry a woman he knew was going to be just as impossible to live with as she was to live without, then he was going to show her the definition of special with a hell yeah, damn straight Auggie's the mother effin' man.

  As soon as he got out of his truck and reached the porch, Kieran stepped outside.

  "Awfully chipper for a man about to meet his demise, aren't ya?" He laughed.

  "Hell yeah, I'm goin' down a happy man."

  Kieran smiled as if he were still joking but Auggie caught the seriousness of his tone as he replied, "Damn shame, I always thought you knew better than the rest of us."

  There was no more humor in him as he asked, "You gotta problem?"

  Tilting his head to the side, Kieran questioned, "Do you?"

  With a hard scowl, Auggie replied, "If you got somethin' to say, say it."

  Holding his hands out to his sides, he shook his head saying, "No problems here."

  "You sure?"

  Kieran stared at him for a minute before walking to the porch swing and sitting down.

  Following him, Auggie took the chair next to the swing and waited for Kieran to answer.

  "You ever have a thought that gets in your head and you can't get it out? It just digs itself deeper, gnawing at you as it grows?"

  Instantly, the thought of Charlotte with his brother Will entered his mind.

  "Yea, I do."

  Nodding, Kieran shared, "I can't sleep next to her. Every night I wait for her to fall asleep. Then, I stare at her, wondering why the hell I married her."

  Auggie was so startled by what his cousin said, he felt like he'd been slapped.

  "And I ask myself, if I believe in the legacy, my legacy, then why did I do it. I love her, I know I do. But I can't help thinking if she's the one, I would have taken her mark instead of doing what I did."

  "You messin' around on Liv?" Auggie questioned, ready to take a swing the second he said 'yes'.

  "Nah, but that's another thing. I think it's more 'cause I'm faithful then I don't want anyone else."

  "What the hell is wrong with you?" Auggie growled, finding himself well past irritated with Kieran.

  "I've come too far to go back and it's suffocating me."

  Standing up, Auggie barked, "No, you're a self-absorbed dick who needs his ass kicked for not appreciating having the woman you do."

  On his feet too, Kieran griped, "Sell that self-righteousness to someone who doesn't know you lied about who drew out your mark."

  "I lied to spare Charlotte's feelings not because I needed a plan b in case things don't work out."

  An unexpected smile formed on Kieran's face as he patted Auggie on the back saying, "Don't get all pissy. You know me."

  Glaring at his cousin, Auggie wondered if he really did, because nothing he had just said sounded like it came from his family.

  "Let's get about celebrating one of your last nights as a free man."

  Just so there were no misunderstandings between them, Auggie replied, "My last night as a free man was the one before I met her."

  15

  For the first time in Auggie's life, he didn't want to be at his cousin's house. He didn't care about freedom or being a bachelor. If he did, he sure as hell wouldn't have proposed to Charlotte. As he glanced around the porch at the company he was keeping, Kieran, his dumbass brother Braden, and Penny's boyfriend Seth, he started to wonder why he was there in the first place.

  He was six beers into the evening when he decided as soon as Charlotte got there, they would leave.

  Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he started to text her when he heard Braden gripe, "This is the lamest bachelor party in the history of bachelor parties."

  "Take off then." Auggie suggested without looking in his direction.

  For whatever reason, Seth felt the need to speak up on Auggie's behalf.

  "Probably because this isn't a real bachelor party, it's celebrating him about to get married."

  Glaring at Seth, Auggie knew he was right but still, he didn't need some guy that was trying to get down with his little sister, defending the lameness of the evening.

  "What the hell do we do for that then?" Braden questioned before Kieran suggested, "Get drunk and shoot each other?"

  Braden's face lit up while Seth's fell into a fearful expression as he blurted, "What?"

  Glancing at the three of them as Kieran pressed, "What do ya say Auggs?" He nodded.

  "Hell yeah!" Auggie agreed, thinking I'd like to shoot every damn one of you.

  Dusting off a large box in the shed behind the house before opening it, Kieran looked around before stopping and turning to Auggie.

  "You know what I was sayin' before, I was just talkin' outta my ass."

  Crossing his arms across his chest, Auggie agreed, "Damn right, you were."

  "I have regrets. And your brother showing up with the damn tattoo...it's screwin' with me. Knowing I marked him." Stopping to shake his head at himself, Kieran continued, "I shoulda told him no."

  With a heavy sigh, Auggie shared, "Should have, but you didn't. Everything else that's going on in your head though, that's on you."

  "I wanna believe that Auggs, but..."

  Braden's voice interrupted Kieran and startled them both as he shouted, "You sure Liv's not gonna get pissed we brought her furniture out here?"

  Glancing at Auggie, Kieran hollered back, "Nope, why do you think I had you do it."

  Hearing Braden curse Kieran as he walked off, Auggie started to laugh.

  "We good?" Kieran questioned holding his hand out.

  Nodding, Auggie shook his hand before helping him with the box of paintball guns.

  Lying on his stomach behind a mattress, propped against a large tree, Auggie waited for his brother to peek out from behind the couch far enough for him to catch him in the shoulder. Just as he was aimed and ready, a pair of headlights shown bright coming up the gravel driveway causing Braden to pull back out of sight.

  The second Charlotte's car stopped, Liv jumped out hollering. While Kieran promised to buy her a new couch, Seth ran across from out of nowhere announcing that Penny was his hostage.

  Laughing when Braden shouted, "She's not a hostage if you're the only one that wants her." Auggie caught sight of Charlotte.

  Standing there with her back to him, in navy blue heals and a tan skirt that showed more of her legs than he felt anyone other than him should see, he couldn't resist the moment. Drawing in a deep breath, he slowly blew it out and pulled the trigger.

  The blue paintball splatter on the back of her skirt was immediately followed by a yelp.

  "Augustus Caffrey!" She shouted, swinging around and glaring right at him.

  He wanted to laugh, but the look on her face warned him, he'd better run instead. Dropping his gun, he hopped up and took off around the side of the house, hearing her not far behind him.

  Years of hide and seek back when they were kids and when Kieran's parent's owned the farmhouse, gave Auggie the advantage over Charlotte in the dark. He watched her slowly glance around searching for him. As soon as she was close enough
, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her behind pallets of bricks stacked almost as high as the roof.

  "You shot me in the ass!" Charlotte growled at him as she tried to elbow her way out of his arms.

  Laughing, he held her tighter offering, "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

  Clearly not amused, she fussed, "That hurt, you jackass."

  Trying to keep his laughter at bay now, Auggie assured, "I'm sorry, I figured I was far enough away, that it would just sting a little."

  "Well, it stings a whole hell of a lot more than a little." She insisted as she smacked him in the back of his head.

  Unable to keep from smiling, Auggie reached down and slid his hand up the back of her thigh and under her skirt.

  "Better?" he asked gently rubbing her wounded behind.

  Relaxing in his arms, Charlotte closed her eyes.

  Pushing her back against the pallet of bricks, Auggie heard her sigh as she leaned her forehead onto his chest. It was dark and the thought that no one would see or hear them provoked him to move his other hand up the back of her skirt.

  "Seven days." She whimpered, reminding him, he was about to take things too far.

  Letting go of her, Auggie remained close, swearing, "It's a date."

  16

  Five days before the wedding, things slowly started to go wrong. Penny and Seth broke up and although Charlotte took Penny's side, because that's what best friends do, she realized Penny could be just as stubborn as her big brother. When convincing her to hear Seth out didn't work, Charlotte tried to talk Auggie into stepping in, but all that was accomplished was that there was a pretty lengthy argument between Charlotte and her ass of a soon to be husband.

  Her only hope was talking Braden into getting Seth to go talk to Auggie, which to no surprise he agreed to, but at the same time she could tell he was still struggling with his own problems.

  Now with just two days until the I do's and Auggie's youngest brother Ailin and his wife Sophia down for the wedding, Charlotte could feel herself cracking under the pressure of the upcoming event and the stress of everything that was going on around her as she stood in the kitchen at Ren's house.

  Charlotte made sure there was as much distance between her and Sophia as possible. She still couldn't stand her, so while Sophia sat on the couch in the living room with Penny, no doubt making her feel worse than she already was, Charlotte stayed in the kitchen watching the clock until it was time to go.