Autumn nodded. “Thank you, Sen… Charlotte.” She seemed to correct herself, which amused Sutton every time she heard it. Autumn looked between them before she cleared her own throat. “I hope you have a good weekend, too.”
They waited a few moments to make sure Autumn returned safely to her car.
“Is that Hamish?” Sutton asked, squinting at the tinted driver’s window of the car. “How did he pick Autumn up and meet us here so quickly after he dropped you off?”
“No; I ordered a different car for Autumn before you exited the mall,” Charlotte answered as they walked toward Lancaster’s entrance.
As Charlotte opened the door, though, Sutton could only stare at her. “You—how did this happen?” she asked, still in disbelief even as they walked into the store.
The automatic lights turned on as they entered, and Charlotte pulled the door closed behind them and locked it as she responded, “Ah, well, when we started talking, I thought about how this Lancaster Play Land–”
“Emporium,” Sutton cut in softly. Charlotte didn’t even know the propernameof the place, and she had still managed to pull these impossible strings.
“Emporium, right.” She nodded as they walked toward the toy store area of the large building’s layout. Sutton could feel Charlotte’s arm wrapping lightly around her lower back as they went, a move that was so automatic for her that Sutton was never certain if Charlotte was aware she did it or not.
“The Lancaster PlayEmporiumis owned by Kim Lancaster,” Charlotte continued her explanation as she unlocked the door to the toy store.
It was a surreal experience to be walking through a dimly lit, gigantic, completely deserted toy store. It felt like something out of a movie. Then again, so many things about being with Charlotte did.
“And wouldn’t you know? Kim Lancaster is married to Georgina Huffman, who just so happened to be my last campaign manager. I’ve met Kim many times—a very sweet woman, who has, quite enthusiastically, regaled me with tales of her business here over many, many dinners.” Charlotte clicked her tongue against her cheek in a quiet celebration of her success as she slid the key into the door to the back room. “She hasalsotold me many, many times that she is an avid supporter of mine and has offered her connections in the event I ever decide to procreate.
“We both know that is likely not in my cards in this life. However, I am not above calling in such a favor for my favorite child,” Charlotte finished, opening the door with a flourish.
There on the desk, stacked in their new-shipment boxes, were three RealJam Guitars.
Sutton shook her head in utter wonder as she walked toward them.
“Apparently, she kept these off the shelves to raffle off the week before Christmas,” Charlotte spoke softly, still standing in the doorway behind her.
“Charlotte…” Sutton trailed off, swallowing around the lump in her throat. That seemed ridiculous, but it was what she felt when someone went so far out of their way for her like this.
WhenCharlottewent so far out of her way for her like this.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” she whispered, turning around to face Charlotte, who was watching her with eyes Sutton could only describe as soft.
“It was just a few simple texts.” Charlotte waved her hand as she spoke, but there was an unmistakable, quiet happiness emanating from her as she did. “If there’s something I can ever do for you, I want to do it.”
Sutton swore her heart seized in her chest at the words, and she had to try make a valiant effort to not let them take a deep root in her heart.
“Thank you. So,somuch.” She meant it. A part of her felt like it wasn’t right to use Charlotte’s connections like this. In other circumstances, she might stick to those beliefs.
But…
“I hope I don’t sound unsympathetic,” Charlotte said as she stepped closer to Sutton. “Because I, too, want Lucy to have a wonderful holiday. Clearly. But I have to say, I think you’ve done a wonderful job raising a daughter who wouldn’t have a meltdown if she was missing this gift on Christmas morning.”
Sutton swayed closer to Charlotte, unthinkingly. She just wanted to be in that warmth, something she’d not been able to control very well since they’d truly restarted sleeping together.
She cast her eyes over the guitar again as she thought about really what it would mean to her to be able to give it to Lucy.
“It might sound… silly,” she hedged because, in a way, she did feel silly that a gift had this much emotional meaning for her, that she was so driven to get it for Lucy. Especially because she was talking to Charlotte, who, in her own words, didn’t have an inclination to be a mother.
But they were here, and Charlotte had done this for her, and more than feeling like she owed any explanation, Sutton found that shewantedto tell Charlotte anyway.
“You’re right; I think Luce is going to be very occupied with the other gifts she’ll have received for the holiday,” she acknowledged. “Lucy and I are having our ‘Christmas morning’ on Christmas Eve this year.” She gave a small, self-conscious smile to Charlotte. “Which, in the grand scheme of things, is not a big deal. I know that.”
She’d been repeating it to herself enough in the last couple of weeks. Since the first week of December, when Layla had called her to talk about holiday scheduling.
“But Lucy is going to spend the night with Layla on Christmas Eve this year. She’s going to have Christmas morning there, with Layla and Arianne. It’s the first time I won’t be with her on Christmas morning. The first time I won’t wake up to her footsteps when she thinks she’s being sneaky, peeking at the tree before dawn. The first time I won’t be there to see her examine how many cookies Santa ate and make sure the reindeer ate all of their carrots. The first Christmas Eve I won’t be the one to read ‘T’was the Night Before Christmas’ two and a half times because she always asks to hear it more and always falls asleep during the third read.”
