Not that he was complaining. It’s not like Jamie was a Neanderthal or anything. He wasn’t the kind of guy that expected a hot supper waiting for him when he got home from a hard day at work, or else. Blah, blah, blah! The whole ‘Woe is me,’ thing was a bunch of bull. Like he didn’t know how to open a can and pop it in the microwave.
Besides, they were working on his culinary skills and Jamie was coming along pretty well, and he didn’t mind saying so. He’d already mastered certain kitchen appliances, like the blender and the crock-pot. He’d learned how to make Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo just by following the directions Charleigh had written out for him.
“Not bad,” she’d told him after taking the first bite. “I give you a B+ for taste, and A for effort. You did good, honey.”
And they were working up to using the oven.
Still, Charleigh never failed to at least have something started on the stove by the time he got there. So, what was wrong?
Jamie put his briefcase in the dining room before going upstairs to check on Charleigh. The most that could be wrong is that she had a migraine, right? Right?
He took the stairs one at a time, slowly, quietly making his way toward the bedroom so that he wouldn’t wake her up, on the off chance that she might be sleeping. The door to their bedroom at the end of the hall was ajar. Their bed covers looked rumpled, but Charleigh wasn’t in it. Corey and Amos were.
“Hey, guys,” Jamie said, taking time to scratch each dog behind their ears. “Where’s Char? Huh, guys? Is she in the bathroom?”
The doors were wide open, and he walked over to take a look. Candles were spread around on every available surface in the room; each one was lit, casting little golden circles of light on the ceiling above. A light melody played from the CD player. Sarah McLaughlin, he presumed.
And sure enough, Charleigh was in the antique claw-foot bathtub, with bubbles all the way up around her ears. Her hair was pulled back. Some kind of cream was smeared all over her face and neck. Two cucumbers covered Charleigh’s eyes. She looked completely relaxed as she leaned back, enjoying her soak.
It brought a smile to Jamie’s face as he turned to go.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Charleigh called from behind.
“Downstairs,” he answered, turning around to see one of the cucumbers was missing. “I didn’t want to disturb you. You looked so tranquil.”
“And I feel amazing, too.” Charleigh let out a little sigh, sitting up. Her body was hidden by a ton of bubbles. She reached for a bottle on the metal rack at the end of the tub and held it up.
“Did you go shopping today?” Jamie came over and knelt beside the tub.
“Yup.” She smiled. “Liz, Lauren and I had a little girl time today. We went to look at dresses for my bride’s maids and flower girl. We had lunch and did some shopping.”
“Got a manicure, too, I see. Looks nice.”
“Thank you.” Charleigh leaned in for a kiss. Some of the face cream rubbed off on Jamie’s nose and cheek, but he didn’t mind. “I got a pedi, too.” She put her feet up on the rim of the tub, wiggling her toes to show off the pale pink polish.
“That looks good, too.” He stood up. “I’ll go whip something up in the kitchen. What do you feel like?”
Charleigh wriggled her eyebrows.
“You have sex on the brain,” Jamie laughed. “I can’t help feeling so… so used. Is that the only thing you keep me around for?”
“Pretty much. So, what’d ya think?”
“Maybe later. Can’t you hear that? My stomach’s growling. How about some Alfredo?”
“Sounds good. You get it started, and I’ll come down and help as soon as I get dressed.” Because she had complete confidence that he wouldn’t catch the house on fire and let it burn to the ground.
Charleigh stood up. Jamie picked the towel up that was on the floor and wrapped it around her bubble-clad body. “Thank you.” His only response was a kiss. He lingered a little longer to inhale the new scent that enveloped the woman he loved more than life itself.
***
When Charleigh came downstairs, she was met by the welcoming aroma of food cooking in her kitchen. The sauce was on. The noodles were boiling. The chicken grilling. With his suit jacket hanging over the back of a chair, his tie discarded and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, Jamie was busy chopping fresh vegetables for a salad. She stopped just inside the doorway to take it all in. How lucky am I?
Not only did she have a gorgeous fiancé, one that catered to her every need, Charleigh had a guy who was willing to share the kitchen duty with her, which did include doing the dishes. Other than her dad and Granddad, she’d never had a guy actually cook for her. Of course, all guys, typecast accordingly, liked to grill meat—Jamie was no different in that department— but not many of them really got into it. Or enjoyed it.
Jamie enjoyed it. He liked learning how to cook. And Charleigh got pleasure from teaching him, too. He was a good and willing student.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Jamie looked up from the spinach leaves he was shredding.
“Looks like you’ve got everything under control.”
“That’s what you think,” he replied, drizzling fresh lemon juice into the bowl of vegetables. Then, Jamie wiped his hands on a towel, which he had draped over his shoulder. “How do you know when the noodles are done again? I can’t remember.”
Charleigh went over to the stove. She turned off the Alfredo sauce and picked up a fork and dipped it in to the boiling pot for one of the long, flat noodles. Jamie watched closely as she brought the pasta up to her mouth and blew on it. After a moment, Charleigh picked it up from the fork and stuck it in her mouth.
She nodded, repeating the actions. “And if you’re still not sure, you do this.” She threw the noodle up against the wall. “If it sticks, it’s done.”
Jamie was flabbergasted. He went over to where the noodle was stuck on the walk. “So, you just toss it?”
She nodded. “Just toss it.”
“And you don’t care that some of the pasta could … remain on the wall?” He pulled the noodle off and tossed it in the trash.
“That’s what soap and water was invented for, Jamie.” Taking two oven mitts from a drawer, Charleigh put them on to remove the colander from the boiling water.
“It wouldn’t bug you if I had to do it several times, just to be certain?”
She shook her head, laughing. “You know, it might have… it would have, definitely, about a year ago, but some things have changed in my life.”
Studying her face, Jamie watched as Charleigh cut a small square of butter from a stick and added it to the bowl where she had dumped the noodles. She didn’t say anything about the things in her life that had changed, but he knew it involved him and their relationship.
His life had changed. Jamie viewed the transformation as a complete one hundred eighty-degree rotation from what it had been. It didn’t exactly occur overnight. It had taken some time. But everything about his life was different, and it was accredited to his grandmother and great-aunt, and Charleigh and the couple of ass-whippings she’d given him.
When Charleigh looked up, she saw Jamie was smiling at her. It brought one to her own lips, causing her eyes to twinkle. Seeing that made Jamie’s heart skip a beat, knowing that he was the one who put it there.
“Do you why I’m smiling?” Jamie asked coming around the island to stand beside her.
“I have no idea, but I can guess that it probably has to do with… food.”
“Nope,” he answered.
“Because the latest Victoria Secret catalogue came in the mail today?”
“Oh, it did, but that’s not the reason I’m smiling.” Jamie kissed her on the cheek. “You make me smile.”
“Aw… I see now. You saw the strawberry cheesecake in the refrigerator,” Charleigh joked. “Aren’t you still on that diet? Remember, tofu and protein shakes until the wedding.”
“Yeah, but I
can afford to a little overindulgence tonight.”
“I guess, we could burn off all the extra calories later tonight.” She let out an exaggerated sigh, “Although, I do admit, I’m afraid I feel a headache coming on.”
“Yeah,” Jamie laughed, taking a loaf of French bread from the cupboard.
“Ah, I almost forgot. There’s something I want to show you,” Charleigh told him, wiping her hands on a towel as she walked out of the kitchen.
When she came back, she was carrying a thick manila folder. Coming to standing beside Jamie as he sliced the bread for toast, Charleigh removed several items from it, laying them out on top of the counter for both of them to look over. There were numerous photos of wooded areas, including one aerial.
“What are we looking at?” Jamie asked.
“This is a possible site for the summer camp,” Charleigh answered, pointing to the aerial shot. “Three hundred fifty acres of lakefront property.”
“Lakefront property? Interesting. Isn’t most of that owned by the state, though?” He took the cookie-sheet and popped it in the oven.
“No, not any of this land. Several different people all privately own it, actually.” Charleigh pointed to three of the other pictures. “This plot is for sell, and so are these two.” She pointed to a fourth. “The only problem is this plot sits in the middle of everything, separating it all.”
“So, you plan to approach the owner of the land that isn’t for sell and offer a hefty price?” Jamie asked, biting on his cuticles. Seeing this, Charleigh slapped his hand away from his mouth.
“Already have.”
He stared at her. “Why didn’t you bother to ask me about this? Or my Dad, Charleigh? The owner is only out to make big bucks, and I can only imagine what the real estate agent thought when you came through the door with your big ideas.”
Charleigh waved away the insinuation that she was getting taken for a ride. “Oh, ye of little faith, stop jumping to conclusions. Because you’ve been so busy with the Thailand project, I talked to Greg and the lawyers at Davison. And Terry is going to help me to understand all the legal gobbledygook. You have nothing to fear, Pooh Bear.”
Jamie breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at the pet name. “Just making sure.”
He watched as Charleigh traced a nail over the aerial shot. “There’s enough room for about fifty cabins— I’m just guesstimating. There’ll be a main house with a full-size infirmary, a dining hall, and an auditorium. And a stable for horseback riding. And enough beach for swimming and fishing and canoeing. And enough woods for hiking trails and…”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Char,” Jamie interjected. He could see the excitement on
Charleigh’s face, but didn’t want her to get disappointed if the deal fell through. “There’s still a lot that goes along with this stuff. Wheeling and dealing. Closing.”
“I know it’s all going to turn out just fine. Trust me, I can feel it.” She gathered everything and put it back in the folder. Jamie watched Charleigh leave the kitchen with an ecstatic smile on her lips.
Chapter Fifteen
It was the most unexpected thing. Claudia called Charleigh at the feed store. Odd! What’s more, she was speaking nicely to her. As if she had never insulted Charleigh at the restaurant on Jamie’s birthday, or ever said a bad word about her. If Charleigh hadn’t known any better, she would’ve thought Claudia was her friend.
That was the tip-off. There had never been a single time that that woman had spoken civilly to her, and she presumed there never would be. Unless, she wanted something from her.
They made insignificant chitchat for a short time, only about five minutes. Claudia asked about the weather. It’s hot and humid. Charleigh asked the same about New York and got the same answer. Claudia asked how the wedding planning was going. Charleigh told her that it was coming along but didn’t give any specifics. Claudia asked how Jamie liked his job. Charleigh said that Jamie like it a lot and he got along just fine with Daniel Crane and Fred Macmillan, and she asked about Jenna and Kevin.
Finally, when she’d had enough, Charleigh wanted to get straight to the point.
“Why are you calling me, Claudia?”
After a moment of silence, Claudia answered in her snooty voice, “Can’t I call my son’s fiancée just to see how you are? Is there something wrong with that?”
“There is when you have treated me like a leper ever since the first time we met. It seems odd that with only a little more than two weeks before the big day you decide to make nice. What gives?”
“It was wrong of me. I realize this now.”
Oh, whatever! Charleigh wanted to scream. Instead, she asked, “So, what kind of epiphany did you have? I know that you don’t like me because you’ve had something against my mother for a long time— Greg explained it to me— and that kind of hatred just doesn’t change overnight.”
The woman on the other end of the line scoffed. She knew Charleigh had gotten right to the core of the matter. And it didn’t take a genius to know that Greg had informed the little twit of his undying affections for her late mother.
To this day, Greg carried a picture of Amanda Douglas in his wallet. If he could, Claudia expected that he’d buy a cemetery plot and ask to be buried right next to her. It didn’t make a bit of difference to him that the woman’s husband— Greg’s own best friend— was buried on the other side. Or that his own wife and children were living and breathing in New York.
The thoughts caused bile to rise in Claudia’s throat. She wouldn’t tolerate to have that woman’s child married to one of her own. It just wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t allow it, absolutely not!
“Fine. I’ll be direct,” she said. “I’ll give you five million dollars to break your engagement to my son.”
Charleigh laughed. She didn’t think the woman could stoop any lower, but she had “You want to buy me off? That’s not going to happen.”
Very well. She’d just up the price. “Six and a half million.”
“No.”
“Eight.”
Charleigh could hear the venom in the other woman’s voice. “I’m sorry.”
“Twelve million dollars and you’ll never see or speak to Jamie again.”
The nerve of that woman! “Absolutely not, Missus Matthews! I can’t believe you’re asking me anything of the sort.”
“Twenty million dollars is my last offer. You’ll never want for anything ever again.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Charleigh sighed, “I don’t want your money, because you can’t buy love. If you loved your son half as much as I do then you’d understand that money isn’t everything.”
“Come on, Charleigh. Everyone has a price.”
“Not me.”
Claudia was really beginning to get angry. She’d never met anyone like Charleigh Randall. Everybody has a price. Everybody! Some people are just more greedy than others, and this one was the most covetous of all who she’d ever met— whether she wanted to admit it or not— because Claudia had met a lot of materialistic people over the years. She didn’t have a single friend that couldn’t be bought for a Cartier diamond bracelet. The difference was all in the number of carats
“You strike a hard bargain.”
“I’m not trying to make any kind of bargain, Claudia. I don’t want your money. I don’t need it.” Charleigh tried to make it as clear as she could. “So, I’m going to make you a deal. If you leave Jamie and me alone and let us be happy, then I’ll never have to tell him about this. He seems to have a few issues with you already; wouldn’t that beat everything if he broke off connection with you all together?”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Claudia warned. “You don’t have the guts.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Charleigh asked. “Are you sure, because Jamie’s happiness matters a lot to me, which you can’t seem to say the same.”
“You are spiteful,” Claudia screamed into the phone before hanging up.
***
Fo
r a long time after she got home, Charleigh sat out in the den— they’d converted the sunroom that she’d used to paint in into an extra office and television room. The television was on but she stared past it, out through the glass panels at the setting sun in the distance. The sky was painted a multitude of pastel oranges and pinks and purples.
She felt… drained. It was the best description Charleigh could come up with. Weary of everything Claudia Matthews did and said. Every little stunt she tried. None of them worked; her relationship with Jamie was unbreakable. That just made his mother try a little harder each subsequent time.
Twenty million dollars. ‘You’ll never want for anything ever again.’ Charleigh didn’t want for anything as it was. Twenty million dollars. Her life was full now that Jamie was a part of it. Twenty million dollars. Why did Claudia think that everyone could be bought? Did the woman ever want anything in her life that money couldn’t buy? Did she ever love anyone in her life? It was a fact that she hadn’t loved her children? Twenty million dollars.
So why was it so important that Claudia keep them separated? There had to be more to the story than just a grudge against Amanda. It didn’t make enough sense to Charleigh.
“Charleigh? Where are you, babe?”
Jamie.
“I’m back here,” Charleigh called back, sitting up straight on the wicker loveseat. She shook away the dark rain cloud hanging over her psyche.
A few moments later he appeared in the doorway. “Hey.” Jamie smiled, hands on his hips.
“Hi.” She looked up to find that his jacket and tie were gone. The top button of his shirt was undone. His hair was tousled, probably because he had the top off the Jeep. Charleigh smiled back.
But there was a heaviness on her heart, and she hoped it didn’t show on her face. Charleigh wasn’t going to tell Jamie about her conversation with his mother. She wasn’t.
Jamie came over to sit beside Charleigh. He cupped both sides of her face, tilted it gently to the side as he looked deep into her eyes. There was something there, or rather not there. The light in her eyes looked dimmed. The bright green of her irises looked faded.
You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) Page 12