that way, and he was used to it. He’d bungle a relationship, which was why he avoided them.
“Well,” Charlie said. Her one word accompanied a surprised expression on her face.
“That won’t happen again,” he said by way of an apology.
“Oh? Was it so bad you don’t want to risk repeating it?” she asked. She sounded as if she was teasing, but Dan could see that he’d hurt her.
“No, it wasn’t bad, Charlie,” he said gently. “It’s just not going to happen again. Nothing could develop between us.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re too different.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Charlie, I live my life on my own terms. Those terms don’t include a girl who can’t make up her mind about what she wants.”
“I made up my mind when I left the church.”
“But you could very easily unmake it. You’re . . . how old did you say?” He didn’t really need to ask. He remembered everything Charlie had told him, but he wasn’t about to let her know that he knew.
“Twenty-seven.”
“Twenty-seven,” he repeated. “And you still are trying to buy your mother’s approval by marrying a man you didn’t love. Your birth certificate might say one thing, but in actuality, you’re still very much a girl. When I get involved, it will be with a woman.”
“I see,” was her flat response.
“Good. That kiss was a . . .” He paused.
“An aberration,” she supplied.
“Right. And it won’t happen again.”
“Fine.”
The words you’re still very much a little girl burned like acid in the pit of Charlie’s stomach. They’d haunted her through the rest of the day and through the night, making sleep hard to come by.
For twenty-seven years she’d accepted the roles people cast her into. She tried to bend, tried not to be herself, to be too different. For twenty-seven very long years she’d tried not to make waves. All that had changed at her wedding that wasn’t. She hadn’t just made a wave—she’d made a tsunami, a tidal wave of gigantic proportion.
And what Charlie Eaton had discovered was that she liked the feel of waves. She only had one life, and from this day on she was going to live it to the fullest.
Maybe Dan was right, maybe she’d been a little girl trying to win her mother’s approval, but she’d grown up. Her wedding-that-wasn’t day ended up being her graduation from childhood to adulthood. Charlie had come to realize that she didn’t want to fit in anyone’s mold.
Not her mother’s.
Not Winslow’s.
And certainly not Dan’s.
Before her wedding, she might have simply accepted Dan’s words and believed that he didn’t want her. But she’d felt his need in his kiss. A need that was echoed by her own. Maybe Dan had been right about her, but he was wrong about who she was now. And he was also a liar. He wasn’t pushing her away because he didn’t like her, didn’t want her. No, he was pushing her away because he was scared.
Well, Charlie was scared too, but she wasn’t just going to walk away from this man who made her feel . . . who simply made her feel.
Charlotte Damaris Eaton, the little girl who tried to live up to everyone’s expectations, was dead, and Charlie Eaton planned to dance at her wake starting today.
Suddenly invigorated despite her lack of sleep, Charlie jumped out of Doug’s borrowed bed and into the shower. It was going to be a glorious day.
It was going to be a day from hell, Dan thought miserably.
“No, Molly. Nothing’s wrong. Just put Con on.”
Rather than using hold, Molly slammed the receiver onto her desk. Judging from the volume of the bang, it was going to be at least a month before she brought him coffee.
Dan sighed.
“Dan?” Con said over the line.
Molly’s receiver slammed down on its holder.
Con repeated, “Dan? You there?”
“Here.”
“But not at the office.”
“Yeah. I’ve got some personal business. Can you hold down the fort?”
“The same business that kept you out on that Columbus
“Well,” Charlie said. Her one word accompanied a surprised expression on her face.
“That won’t happen again,” he said by way of an apology.
“Oh? Was it so bad you don’t want to risk repeating it?” she asked. She sounded as if she was teasing, but Dan could see that he’d hurt her.
“No, it wasn’t bad, Charlie,” he said gently. “It’s just not going to happen again. Nothing could develop between us.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re too different.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Charlie, I live my life on my own terms. Those terms don’t include a girl who can’t make up her mind about what she wants.”
“I made up my mind when I left the church.”
“But you could very easily unmake it. You’re . . . how old did you say?” He didn’t really need to ask. He remembered everything Charlie had told him, but he wasn’t about to let her know that he knew.
“Twenty-seven.”
“Twenty-seven,” he repeated. “And you still are trying to buy your mother’s approval by marrying a man you didn’t love. Your birth certificate might say one thing, but in actuality, you’re still very much a girl. When I get involved, it will be with a woman.”
“I see,” was her flat response.
“Good. That kiss was a . . .” He paused.
“An aberration,” she supplied.
“Right. And it won’t happen again.”
“Fine.”
The words you’re still very much a little girl burned like acid in the pit of Charlie’s stomach. They’d haunted her through the rest of the day and through the night, making sleep hard to come by.
For twenty-seven years she’d accepted the roles people cast her into. She tried to bend, tried not to be herself, to be too different. For twenty-seven very long years she’d tried not to make waves. All that had changed at her wedding that wasn’t. She hadn’t just made a wave—she’d made a tsunami, a tidal wave of gigantic proportion.
And what Charlie Eaton had discovered was that she liked the feel of waves. She only had one life, and from this day on she was going to live it to the fullest.
Maybe Dan was right, maybe she’d been a little girl trying to win her mother’s approval, but she’d grown up. Her wedding-that-wasn’t day ended up being her graduation from childhood to adulthood. Charlie had come to realize that she didn’t want to fit in anyone’s mold.
Not her mother’s.
Not Winslow’s.
And certainly not Dan’s.
Before her wedding, she might have simply accepted Dan’s words and believed that he didn’t want her. But she’d felt his need in his kiss. A need that was echoed by her own. Maybe Dan had been right about her, but he was wrong about who she was now. And he was also a liar. He wasn’t pushing her away because he didn’t like her, didn’t want her. No, he was pushing her away because he was scared.
Well, Charlie was scared too, but she wasn’t just going to walk away from this man who made her feel . . . who simply made her feel.
Charlotte Damaris Eaton, the little girl who tried to live up to everyone’s expectations, was dead, and Charlie Eaton planned to dance at her wake starting today.
Suddenly invigorated despite her lack of sleep, Charlie jumped out of Doug’s borrowed bed and into the shower. It was going to be a glorious day.
It was going to be a day from hell, Dan thought miserably.
“No, Molly. Nothing’s wrong. Just put Con on.”
Rather than using hold, Molly slammed the receiver onto her desk. Judging from the volume of the bang, it was going to be at least a month before she brought him coffee.
Dan sighed.
“Dan?” Con said over the line.
Molly’s receiver slammed down on its holder.
Con repeated, “Dan? You there?”
“Here.”
“But not at the office.”
“Yeah. I’ve got some personal business. Can you hold down the fort?”
“The same business that kept you out on that Columbus
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