Talking to Caleb and Dean hadn’t gotten her anywhere. Her grandmother couldn’t answer her.
So, it seemed this was her best option.
Autumn nodded, her interest appearing more and more rapt as the seconds ticked by.
Charlotte summoned her courage as she cleared her throat. “The truth, Autumn, is that for the first time in my memory, I’m playing hooky. Taking a personal day, if you will.”
Autumn’s eyebrows moved up on her forehead in question, even though she didn’t voice anything.
Charlotte took it as her cue to continue. “The reasoning for that is…” God, where to even begin? She drummed her fingers against the marble countertop as she thought it over. Even if she could think of where to begin, she couldn’t fathom how to break it all down to Autumn. How she’d be able to spill her innermost thoughts and emotions aloud.
Seeming to sense her issue, Autumn perked up. “Okay. I have an idea. Do you have playing cards somewhere? Or a board game? I figured cards would be a safer bet.”
Confused but, admittedly, intrigued, Charlotte had to take a moment to think. Because she wasn’t someone who typically played games, honestly. Even if she had someone to play them with at her home, she never would have had the time.
Only, “Actually, I do,” she finally said. “Have cards.”
The last time Dean and Caleb had come for a visit, they’d all played poker, and then they’d left the cards when they’d gone home.
Charlotte gestured for Autumn to follow her into the living room before she started pulling open the drawers at the base of her television stand. She emerged victorious, holding up the cards as she turned to stare questioningly at Autumn. “What would you like to do with said cards?”
“When I was younger, I had some trouble… verbally expressing myself,” she settled on. “But whenever I had something going on that I didn’t know how to talk about, my mom would play games with me. Whenever something good happened to me in the game, she had to share somethingshewas thinking about, and when something good happened for her, I had to share.” She frowned then at something much deeper, below the surface, before she shrugged. “I suppose it worked because it made me feel like there was no pressure. It was just a game. We were just… talking.”
Charlotte figured it would be worth a try.
They started with rummy, and by the end of the hand, as Charlotte scored thirty points higher, she sent Autumn a questioning look.
She nodded and bit at her lip before she stated, “At Christmas, you asked me if I was going home to Rhode Island. And while you’re right in that I went to Brown for college, I’m not actuallyfromRhode Island. Home is in Ohio. And I haven’t been back there in a long time.”
Surprise slid through Charlotte at Autumn’s blatant honesty, and she could admit that she appreciated her sharing.
“Apologies for getting it wrong. The place where the person I spent at least eight hours a day with is from seems… egregious to not know.”
Autumn shrugged as she dealt their new hand. “It’s not something I like to talk about.”
When Autumn beat Charlotte by forty-five points in the next hand, she felt more relaxed. More settled in the fact that this was the time to be honest.
“I’m sure you’re aware of my personal relationship with Sutton,” she started, aiming a look at Autumn, who nodded quickly, a small smile playing at her lips, before she flushed and cleared her throat.
“I—yes. I’m aware that there is very likely something more to your relationship than is strictly professional.”
“Glad to confirm it for you,” Charlotte dryly responded, making Autumn laugh.
“I mean, it wasconfirmedfor me a few ways, but…” She rolled her lips before shrugging. “If we’re speaking plainly right now? I’ve had suspicions about you two since the first day she came into the office.”
Charlotte could only stare, which seemed to prompt Autumn to explain. “I just—you wereso… excited? To see her? That she was even just coming in to have a meeting with you. I’ve seen you ina lotof situations, Charlotte. In meetings with people you respect and admire, speaking to people you loathe, and everything in between. I was even there the day before you went on a date with that woman last year. The pharmaceuticals rep from Virginia?” She shook her head, wrapping her hands around her mug. “Andnothingwas like the way you looked the very first day Sutton came to our office. It’s only gotten even more intense since.”
Holy hell, was Charlotteblushing? “Ah,” was all she could say, which seemed to alarm her assistant.
“Is that all right to say? Because I thought?—”
“It was,” she cut in, resolutely willing her blush to go away. “Right now, what I need to hear is honesty. In all facets. So that… was good to know.”
Autumn looked relieved, her shoulders slumping slightly as she blew out a breath. “Cool.”
Charlotte couldn’t help but grin.Cool. Something Autumn would never say to her during their workday.
She shuffled the cards as she started speaking again. “So you know Sutton and I are… engaged in a personal relationship. What you might not know is that it began over a decade ago. When I was first running for Congress.”
