Читать книгу Winning Charlotte Back - Kathy Douglass - Страница 11
ОглавлениеThis could not be happening.
Charlotte stared at the man who’d left her dressed in her wedding gown and standing alone in front of a church filled with everyone she knew twelve years ago. He had to be a figment of her imagination. A trick her mind was playing on her after the horrible day she’d had. She blinked as if she could make him vanish. No such luck. Rick still stood there, a stunned expression on his face. In that moment she once again felt the embarrassment and horror as what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life had turned into a living nightmare when she realized her fiancé really wasn’t going to show. Her heart sped up and her knees nearly buckled. Pride had her stiffening her spine and lifting her chin. She hadn’t fallen apart then and she wouldn’t fall apart now.
“Rick.” She infused the word with all the displeasure she felt.
He smiled cautiously as if not sure how she would react to seeing him. Could he really be in doubt? “Charlotte.”
She only glared at him, hoping he’d see the anger in her expression and leave.
“Wow. You look great.” He put his foot on the bottom step as if to close the distance between them. She moved back until she bumped into her door. Was he serious? They weren’t old friends about to embrace and catch up on the past. He’d left her at the altar. Didn’t he know that callous act had wiped out their previous friendship, making them enemies for life? Heck, their descendants would be enemies for generations to come.
“Dad. I thought we were going to unpack and get something to eat. I’m hungry.”
Her eyes immediately shifted to the boy who was staring at her, a frown marring his face. The kid looked to be about ten or eleven. Pain pierced her chest. Rick couldn’t have waited long after dumping her before he’d met someone else and started a family. Charlotte wondered if Rick’s father had chosen that girl as well or if Rick had done his own choosing. He’d sworn he hadn’t been ready to marry. He said he had plans and dreams and marriage didn’t fit into them. Apparently he just hadn’t wanted to marry her.
“Bobby, say hello.”
The kid muttered the most unfriendly greeting she’d received in years. Given the fact that she was universally disliked, that was saying something.
“Hi yourself.” Her tone wasn’t any friendlier and the kid gave her an odd look. His eyes widened in surprise and the corners of his mouth twitched. For a moment she thought he might smile. Instead, he tightened his grip on the box and trekked across her grass, smashing a couple of flowers in the process. She didn’t even wince. She felt like smashing a couple herself.
“We’re moving in next door,” Rick said unnecessarily.
She’d figured that out on her own. “Why?”
“We’re looking for a fresh start.”
“And of all the places in the world, you chose my town?”
He shuffled his feet. “I always liked it here. The people are warm and welcoming, which is what Bobby needs right now.”
“The same could be said of many small towns across America.”
“Maybe, but we’d be strangers somewhere else. I have friends here.”
“I hope you don’t count me among them.”
He had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I’d like to apologize again.”
“Again?” Her voice rose and she struggled to control it. “I must have missed the first time. Surely you don’t think sending a note by your best man saying ‘Charlotte, I’m sorry you don’t agree we shouldn’t get married’ qualifies as an apology for not showing up at the church.”
He hung his head for a minute before straightening. To his credit he met her eyes. She saw shame there. Good. He should be ashamed. “You’re right. It doesn’t. I’m sorry, Charlotte. But I couldn’t get you to agree that we shouldn’t get married just to please our fathers. I felt the walls closing in and I panicked. That’s not an excuse and it doesn’t make me look good, but it’s the truth. I know I hurt and embarrassed you. You didn’t deserve that. Please forgive me.”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Charlotte,” he began, but she cut him off. Whatever he had to say would be too little too late.
“But don’t worry, Rick. I won’t tell your wife what a jerk you are. If she hasn’t discovered it yet, I’m sure she will soon.”
“I no longer have a wife. I’m divorced.”
“I guess she figured it out on her own. Clearly she’s smarter than I was. Good for her.”
His lips compressed, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he turned on his heel and followed his son across the grass and into the house.
Charlotte watched him leave, telling herself her blood was pounding through her veins because she’d been shocked to see Rick again, and not because she had any residual feelings for him.
As if pulled by a force stronger than her will, she went inside her house and headed toward the third and mostly unused bedroom. She always kept the door closed as if that would hold the memories at bay. Most days it worked. But not today. Not after seeing Rick. The memories were swirling around her head, poking her battered heart from every direction.
Turning the knob, she walked to the closet and opened the door. There, hanging in heavy plastic, was her wedding dress. Covered in lace and beads, it had been the most beautiful gown in the entire store. She’d known when she’d laid eyes upon it that she would feel like a princess wearing it. And she had. Until the minute when she’d been forced to face the fact that her groom wasn’t coming.
He’d talked for days about calling off the whole thing, becoming more persistent as time passed, but she’d thought he’d just had cold feet. He’d wanted her to go with him to tell their parents they didn’t want to get married, but she’d refused. Sure, their fathers had engineered the whole thing, enamored of the idea of joining their families as well as their businesses, but she hadn’t minded. She’d fallen in love with Rick and thought he’d felt the same. He’d seemed to enjoy being with her and they’d come close to making love on more than one occasion. She’d been sure that had meant something. She’d believed when he had time to think about their future together and how happy she’d make him, he’d come to his senses and they’d get married as planned and live happily ever after.
She’d been wrong.
She brushed her hands over the plastic bag protecting her dress from the elements then closed the door on the reminder of what happened when she followed her heart instead of her head. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Rick rang Charlotte’s doorbell then inhaled deeply as he waited for her to come to the door. He knew she was home because her car was still parked in the driveway and the sounds of Motown filtered through her open front window. He couldn’t believe they were neighbors. He’d been planning to look her up in a day or two and apologize to her, but this was better, if unexpected. He’d seen the pain in her eyes that she’d tried to cover. Guilt had clogged his throat, making it difficult to breathe.
He could tell his presence hurt her, something he didn’t want to do. After seeing her reaction, he’d contacted his rental agent about getting out of his lease, but it was ironclad. Even if he could get out of it, he’d have to find another place to live, disrupting Bobby yet again. Somehow he had to heal the wound he’d inflicted so Charlotte wouldn’t be uncomfortable with him living next door.
He’d tried to apologize earlier, but even to him the words had fallen short. How did he express how sorry he was for leaving her alone on what should have been their wedding day? He’d known at the time that the note he’d scribbled at the last minute had been insufficient, so he’d called her the next morning, but she wouldn’t speak to him.
When the two letters he’d written to her had been returned unopened, he should have taken that as a sign of just how hurt she’d been and kept trying to reach her but he didn’t. He convinced himself that she didn’t want to hear from him and that he should honor her wish. That was a poor excuse and he’d known it at the time. His only explanation was that he’d been young and dumb and looking for an easy way out of a difficult situation. Twelve years later he was older and hopefully wiser. He wouldn’t walk away after one effort to beg her forgiveness. So he hadn’t let more than the hour it had taken to unload the truck and talk to his Realtor pass before he made a second effort.
The door swung open. “What are you doing here?”
“I hoped we could talk.”
“I hoped to never see you again, yet here you are.”
“Charlotte, we were friends once. I know I ruined that friendship and that you don’t owe me anything. But can we talk for a few minutes? Please?”
She was quiet so long he wondered if she had any intention of replying. “Five minutes. I’m only agreeing to this so you’ll leave me alone. Got it?”
He backed up, letting her step outside. Although she had two chairs on her front porch, she leaned against the wall and folded her arms over her chest. Despite the serious conversation he wanted to have, he couldn’t help noticing how sexy she was. How good she smelled.
He steered his mind back where it belonged. Five minutes wasn’t long, so he cut to the chase. “I shouldn’t have left you alone at the church, Charlotte. I should have been there beside you.”
“So why’d you do it?” Her voice was so soft it barely carried to him, but the pain and confusion came through loud and clear. Regret made his heart ache.
“Honestly? I was scared that I’d give in to the pressure. I wanted my father’s approval in the worst way. The same way you wanted your father’s. But I came to realize getting married and sacrificing our dreams in order to fulfill theirs was too high a price to pay.” He heaved a sigh as he remembered the pressure he’d been under at the time. Even at twenty-two he’d known a marriage under those circumstances was doomed. He just hadn’t known soon enough. “We would have been miserable. I thought if we presented a united front and told them we didn’t want to get married they’d have to agree we were making a mistake. But I couldn’t convince you to stand with me.”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault you didn’t show.”
“No. Not at all. The fault was all mine. I took the coward’s way out and you were left all alone to face everyone. No one could ever fault you for what I did.”
Charlotte blew out a breath. “My father accused me of doing something to drive you away.”
“What? That’s insane. You didn’t do anything wrong. We shouldn’t have been forced to marry just to suit them. They didn’t need us to be married in order to merge their businesses.”
“And yet the merger didn’t happen.”
“Not our fault.”
She shrugged. “Are we done?”
“Do you accept my apology?”
“What difference could it possibly make now?”
He looked into her beautiful eyes, hoping he could see some emotion there. He didn’t. If she felt anything, she wasn’t willing to share it with him. “Haven’t you ever done something you regretted? Hurt someone you cared about? Wouldn’t you want their forgiveness, no matter how late your apology was in coming?”
She closed her eyes. “Fine. I forgive you. Now if there’s nothing else...”
He wished he believed her, but he knew she was saying whatever it took to get rid of him. Gaining her forgiveness would take time.
“Just one more thing. I want you to know that I contacted my Realtor and tried to get out of my lease. I can’t. So as much as I hate to do it to you, we’re stuck as neighbors.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “That it? Or do you have some other bad news to drop on me?”
“No. That’s it.” He’d pressed her as far as he dared. He needed to give her space. Besides, he needed to get back to Bobby. “Good night.”
She didn’t answer, but then, he didn’t expect her to. After the way he’d hurt her, he didn’t deserve forgiveness that easily. But it was a start. At this point, he would take it.
“How long is this going to take?” Bobby asked as Rick parked in front of the medical building the next morning. Bobby had been grumbling since Rick told him he couldn’t stay home alone. The town was small and safe, but Rick wasn’t comfortable leaving his son on his own for more than a few minutes. Once he and Bobby got settled, he was going to find someone to watch Bobby until school started.
“Not long. I told you I want to get a look around and see what I need to do.” Agreeing to set up the practice sight unseen had been risky, but Rick saw this as both a professional and personal opportunity. He’d relied on information provided by the mayor in conversations over the past several months and photos provided by the real-estate agent. This was the first time he would see his building in person. Hopefully those pictures were accurate.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I told you to plan on occupying yourself. You could have brought a book. If you don’t plan—”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll get waylaid and end up where I don’t want to be. Like here.”
“Bobby.”
“Never mind. I’ll just sit in the car and listen to the radio.”
“Not a chance.” Rick removed the key from the ignition and stepped out. After fixing Rick with a glare and heaving a sigh so heavy he must have pulled oxygen from his toes, Bobby got out of the car and slammed the door just in case Rick hadn’t picked up on his annoyance.
A man of about Rick’s height was walking in their direction. He smiled. “Are you Dr. Tyler?”
“Yes.”
The man offered his hand. “I’m Lex Devlin.”
“Mr. Mayor. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Call me Lex.” He turned his attention to Bobby. “Hi. You must be Bobby.”
To his credit, despite how annoyed he was with Rick, his son was polite. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
Lex nodded. “I’m here to answer any questions you might have.”
“Thanks. We were just about to have a look around. You’re welcome to join us.”
The inside of the building was as tidily kept as the outside. Although it hadn’t been used in some time, there wasn’t the grime he expected. He ran a finger across the counter separating the empty waiting area from the examination rooms. Not a speck of dust.
“Sweet Briar is a great place to live, but lately we’ve had a hard time keeping a doctor. Our last doctor got married and moved to Boston after six months because his wife wanted to live near her family. The one before only lasted three months before deciding that although she wanted to live in a small town, she didn’t mean one this small. Everyone was so excited about having a doctor make a two-year commitment that several people got together and cleaned the offices last week.”
“Wow. Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything. But I will pass your appreciation along to those who actually did the work.”
Rick walked past the counter. There was enough space for two workstations as well as file cabinets. He continued down the hall and opened the first of six doors. The room was large and the sun streamed through the big window on the far wall. He could envision two examination tables as well as a desk, scale, guest chair and other equipment fitting in the space. Three other rooms were the same size, and there were two smaller ones that could be used as offices.
A second hallway led to a bathroom and a room that could be used as a break room. Although the walls could use a fresh coat of paint, he was pleased by what he saw.
“When do you think you’ll be ready to start seeing patients?”
“I hope within the next three weeks. I need to hire a nurse and a receptionist, but I can muddle along without them at first if need be. The truck bringing my office furniture should arrive in a few days.”
“I’ll put out the word about the employees you need. It shouldn’t be hard for you to find someone qualified around here.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Rick let the mayor out then walked through the offices once more. Excitement swept through him along with the desire to share the experience with someone. His ex-wife was long gone. Not that he and Sherry had shared much toward the end of their marriage. Bobby was here, but he was too angry to share Rick’s happiness. Charlotte had been his closest friend in Sweet Briar, and once upon a time she would have been beside him, sharing his joy. They weren’t friends now. He’d ruined that years ago with his selfish behavior.
He blew out a breath, his excitement diminished by regret.
“Can we leave now?” Bobby asked. “All you’re doing is staring into space. You can do that at home.”
Rick threw his arm over his son’s shoulder. There was no sense looking back at a past he couldn’t change. He needed to concentrate on the present. “Yes. We can leave.”
Rick locked the door, glad for the moment that Bobby hadn’t shrugged off his arm. Things were looking up.
