I reach down and pat them on the head carefully—I don’t dare go in for my usual ear fluffing move because I’ll smell like a skunk the whole night. Jim and Larry are perfectly happy with a basic pat.
“You are such good boys. If only all men were as sweet and understanding as you.” They nod in sync, and I know they understand what I’m saying.
The door swings open, startling me, and Charlie steps out. She smiles when she sees me. “Bliss! I thought I heard you out here. Come in!”
I slip off my boots and follow her inside. Jim and Larry are doing their best to dart inside, too.
“No, you little rascals,” Charlie says with a snort. “I told you to leave that skunk alone, and you wouldn’t listen.”
She shuts the door after me.
I bend down to pull my boots off, and something on Charlie’s leg catches my attention.
She’s wearing athletic shorts, and I can see a big bruise on her thigh.
“What happened to you?” It doesn’t look like a hoof imprint.
Charlie glances down at her leg. “Oh, that! I was working on the distillery space this week and forgot about my level on top of the ladder. It came crashing down on my leg.”
“Yeesh.” The bruise is a solid line along the length of her thigh.
“Max was a little mad about the whole thing.”
“Wait, why?”
“Because I was wearing shorts and sandals. He’s already ordered another pair of work boots and double-canvased pants for me. Not like I’m going to actually wear them. Sometimes you just need to check on something, and I’m not about to suit up every time I do,” she says with a laugh.
She flops down on one end of the couch, and I sit down on the other.
“Do you—” I clear my throat. “Can I ask a weird question?”
“Sure! I’ll give you a weird answer.”
I smile at that. “Do you guys fight often now that you’re married?”
Charlie studies me for a minute, and then a smile stretches across her face. “We fought all the time leading up to marriage. And we still disagree on a lot of stuff. But we’re happy, if that’s what you mean.”
“How so?”
“It might be our personalities, but I want to know he’s willing to work through something with me. And if we just ignore an issue, it’ll only grow and fester, making it bigger. And yes, on one hand I’m annoyed with him for demanding I wear a hard hat everywhere… but on the other, he’s angry because he doesn’t want me getting hurt at work. So when those disagreements come from a place of caring about the other person…it’s a lot easier to work through.”
“What if that disagreement comes from being jealous of the other person?”
Charlie sits up abruptly. “Wait. You got jealous?”
“He was flirting with a tourist today,” I grumble. “I didn’t like it.”
“Are you sure he was flirting?” she asks, leaning her elbows on her knees.
I nod. “You should have seen her moon eyes. It was ridiculous.”
“Well, maybe so. Zane’s a good-looking guy. But was he making moon eyes back at her?”
I shift uncomfortably, because I honestly don’t know. I couldn’t see his face. “Never mind. Let’s not talk about this. I’d rather talk about anything except Zane tonight.”
Charlie nods. “Of course. Sometimes you just need a girls’ night.” She glances around before whispering, “I’m happy being married to Max, but sometimes I do miss all the girls’ nights I would have with Magnolia and Piper.”
Charlie used to live with Magnolia and their other roommate, Piper, in Bend. It sounds like a fun time to live with three of your friends. I loved living with my sisters and miss them so much.
