Page 56 of Second Chances

“Josh says he hasn’t heard yet, but if she does, I don’t know how I can see her without wanting her again. But how can I trust that she won’t hurt me?”

Henry was familiar with Liam’s anguish; it’s why, after being crushed by Melanie, he’d spent years hesitant about opening himself up to anyone. Until Charlotte. “If she’s messaging you and maintaining that line of communication, it sounds like she regrets what happened between you.”

“I keep replaying how she pushed me away after I told her I loved her…after I proposed. But I miss her so damn much, it’s tearing me apart.”

Henry knew the pain of having love rejected. He’d tried over and over with Melanie to prove his love. Aware she wasn’t thrilled with living in his hometown above his parents’ garage, he’d been determined to make the best of it for them. Together, they’d decorated their small apartment to get ready for the baby. Then Melanie got her period, and the reason for giving up college had disappeared. Newlyweds who had not expected to be married became teenagers who had impetuously erased their futures. Despite this, Henry had loved Melanie and tried his best to make her happy, through blood, sweat, and tears. Nothing worked, though; she’d been resentful and resigned until she’d gotten pregnant with Josh a few years later. Through the birth of their son, Melanie transformed into a doting mother. She’d taught Josh to count when he was only a year old, and because she’d read to him constantly, he could read by the time he was three. If not for her vigilance, Josh might not have become the brilliant surgeon he was today. After Josh was born, their married life became what Henry had wished for. They were happy. Until DD came back to town as a widow with a five-year-old daughter. In tiny Clover Lake, tongues wagged, with people remembering how love-struck Henry had been for the captivating Diadema. He denied any accusations Melanie tossed at him, but nothing he said made any impact. Melanie spiraled, pushing him away and shutting everyone out, until one day she was gone. No note, no goodbye, no word of any kind. He blamed himself solely for his marriage crumbling, but would never forgive Melanie for abandoning their only child.

His issues weren’t the same as his nephew’s, so he advised Liam, “Think about what your life would be without Lana in it. If you can’t live with that, you do whatever it takes to change it.”

Dear Charlotte,

All I can think about is last night.

How you looked waking in my bed.

How you felt next to me.

All I want is you.

Reading the text from Henry, Charlotte blushed. She ran her thumb over his words, wishing he were here so she could touch him. Fresh out of the shower when her phone pinged, Charlotte assumed it was Amy letting her know she was almost to Beverley. To her delight, the message was from Henry, whose scent still remained on her skin. Her fingers fluttered over her shoulder, recalling his touch. With a sigh, she dropped onto her bed.

Her phone rang then, and she answered immediately without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

“I’m getting married, Char.”

Thoughts of Henry made it difficult to place the voice on the other end of the line. “Excuse me?”

“I’m getting married, Char,” the voice repeated. “We had dinner with Isobel last night, so she knows.”

A few seconds elapsed before she said, “Brady?”

He chuckled. “Who else calls you Char?”

“I’m sorry, did you say you’re getting married?” Even as she said it, she didn’t think she’d heard him correctly.

“Yeah, we haven’t set a date, but as Harmony pointed out, we’re too old to wait around.”

“But,” she finally managed, “you said when we divorced that you didn’t think you would ever marry again.”

“Everything was still so raw then. Even though I had already met Harmony, our divorce still hurt,” Brady told her. “Char, I will never regret us and the life we made, but I was in denial for so many years. I knew you didn’t love me anymore. You always loved me, I know, but you weren’t in love with me. And I’ve never said it, but when we found out you were pregnant, it wasn’t fair of me to assume that I would be the one to go to college. You were looking forward to it as much as I was. Part of me, I think, was scared that you would figure out a way to have your life with the baby without me.”

“Oh, Brady, I never wanted that.” Who was this Brady, finally voicing what she had held in her head for thirty years? “I just wanted the same choices you had.” After she found out she was pregnant, she raised the possibility of continuing on to college. The baby wasn’t due until February, which meant Charlotte could have a semester under her belt before Isobel was born. She explained she’d take the second semester off and then go back the following fall, with their infant in daycare. Brady had adamantly opposed it, as had his parents. Hers had agreed, but Brady’s parents were younger and more forceful than hers. “How did Isobel take the news?”

“She’s happy for us. I asked her not to say anything because I wanted you to hear it from me.” Ahh, that explained why Isobel hadn’t called to tell her about it; she disliked going against either of her parents, and as close as she and Charlotte were, she’d been a daddy’s girl since her tiny fist wrapped around his teenaged finger. “She and Harmony have grown close.” Close? Except for telling Charlotte that her dad was doing well, Isobel rarely ever mentioned Brady’s girlfriend…now fiancée, she supposed. “And I should probably add that Amy knows, also.”

“What? How did Amy find out?” Furthermore, why hadn’t Amy told her? Charlotte could excuse Isobel for remaining silent, but her best friend?

“We ran into her after our engagement dinner.”

“Engagement dinner?” When Charlotte and Brady had gotten engaged, she had been four months pregnant, and dinner was a box of store-brand macaroni and cheese she’d made after her lifeguarding shift at the town pool. Her parents had been in Des Moines for the weekend for a family reunion, something that her mom had pleaded with her to attend as well, but Charlotte, irritable and hormonal, refused to find someone to cover her shift at the pool. For years, she had regretted not going with her parents, believing that if she had, maybe Brady would not have proposed; that was how emotionally immature she had been. “Where was your dinner?”

Brady paused before admitting, “Il Giardino.”

“Il Giardino?” Charlotte repeated. “That’s our place.” Inexplicably frustrated by his announcement, she reminded Brady, “We had our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary there…the staff knows my order by heart.” Always the sixteen-layer lasagna, made with their legendary red sauce and topped with melty mozzarella. Why couldn’t he have found somewhere else to celebrate? Was the life she had lived in Sioux City being erased, simply because she was out of town?

“Char, I’m sorry. I…I thought you were moving on…that you had moved on. Isobel raves about your life in Beverley.” Which, yes, Charlotte adored, but did that mean she was never going back to her old one in Sioux City?

“I love living here…but I don’t know if it’s forever.” And yet, Beverley was where she was flourishing: in her career and now, finally, in the arms of Henry, exploring elements of herself she’d not known existed.