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Charlie made the popcorn and then grabbed her cell as she made her way to the family room. Connor was already in his spot on the sofa, with a pillow and a blanket at the ready. She offered him some popcorn, set the movie to play and then settled in beside him.
She tried not to think about Rick or his friend Donovan. And she sure as hell tried not to think about the fact that she’d allowed herself to fall in love with him. That right there was pretty much the stupidest thing she’d ever done, because it wasn’t just about Charlie.
Charlie and a broken heart would eventually mend. Maybe. But she had a little boy to think about. A little boy who’d already lost so much and if he was already this upset because Rick had to go away, what would he do when he left forever?
“I have to break it off,” she whispered, fishing out her cell phone once more. She fingered her phone for a few moments and then shoved it under a pile of magazines on the coffee table. There was time for that.
It’s not as if I’m going anywhere.
Tonight she would pretend to enjoy this movie. She would tuck her brother into bed and tell him that she loved him. Then she would walk across the hall to her empty bedroom. She’d have a good cry because, dammit, she deserved one.
And then when Rick called her, she would tell him that whatever it was that they had wasn’t working anymore. She’d give him the it-was-nice-while-it-lasted, spiel and then she’d move the hell on.
She settled back, eyes on the TV though her mind was on something else.
Charlie thought about his smile and the way his eyes got dark when he kissed her. She thought of how he liked to twirl her hair and how he loved to talk dirty when it wasn’t appropriate or how he sang the Sponge Bob theme song in the shower.
She thought of a lot of things, but mainly she thought that she needed to dig deep and find some kind of strength. Because now she knew what she had to do. She had her plan.
She just had to stick to it.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Sometimes life throws the worst kind of crap at you. If you’re lucky, the damage is minimal. You deal with it and move on.
But sometimes no matter what you do, it sticks. Sometimes there’s nothing to do except to face it head on and hope for the best. In the last week, Maverick had done a hell of a lot of hoping. He’d even done his fair share of praying, and Maverick hadn’t been to church since confession in the eighth grade. So that was saying something.
He was dead tired and in bad need of some good news.
For the hundredth time, it seemed like, he checked his phone but there was nothing from Charlie. He’d had one conversation with her on the Tuesday after he’d flown to Florida. Not for lack of trying. But they just hadn’t been able to connect until then.
So one conversation and he’d known something was wrong.
Oh, Charlie had said all the right things. She felt incredibly sad for what Donovan and Jack were going through, and she knew that Maverick needed to be there for his friend. Her words and emotions had been genuine. He knew that.
And yet his gut had told him that the shit was gonna hit the fan. And it had.
He glanced back at his cellphone once more and saw her name. She’d called the night before, but he hadn’t listened to his voice mail until this morning. He slammed his eyes shut as he heard her voice once more.
“ Rick I hope everything is all right and that Donovan’s baby will bounce back. I’m sorry to do this over the phone, but I can’t do whatever it is we’re doing anymore. I just can’t. I hope you understand. And well, I guess that’s all I wanted to say. So…If you come back, drop into the shop.”
If he came back? Charlie actually thought he would just never come back? Anger flushed his cheeks a ruddy color and mouth tight, he shoved his phone back into his jeans.
He was going back all right and she better damn well be prepared because he was pissed the hell off.
“Any news?”
He took a moment before glancing up at his cousin Grace and shook his head. “Maybe. The doctors are in with Donovan and Jack right now. I’m just waiting to hear.”
“Oh my God. That’s good right?” Grace asked. “I mean, the baby came out of the coma yesterday. That’s a good sign.”
Maverick nodded. “That was a very good sign.”
Grace took a sip of her coffee and sighed. “I hate hospitals.”
“I know.”
Her hair was now jet-black and it made her eyes pop more than ever. They were huge as she stared up at him. “The baby will be fine. We just have to believe that.”
