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He’s tall and thin—thinner than I remember—and his blond hair is a mess. He wears jeans and a polo shirt, and he looks a little weary.
“There you are,” he says. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to see me.”
“What are you doing here, Charlie?” I ask.
“I came to see you. I know we haven’t talked since we ended things, and you were very clear about the breakup, but…”
“Yeah?” I ask when his voice trails off.
“I miss you,” he blurts out. “I want to try again.”
I shake my head. This is too much to take in. “How did you find me?”
“The news is full of the Jackson wedding. Or the Atkins wedding. Or whatever. And I knew you would be here since you and Stacey are so close. I just had to see you. I didn’t want to wait until you got back.”
I shake my head again.
“I don’t know what you think should happen,” I say. “We didn’t break up just because I was in a mood. I had real reasons, and they’re not going to go away. We’re still the same people.”
“But I can change,” he says.
I shake my head yet again. “It doesn’t work that way. And you’re not supposed to change who you are for someone. You’re supposed to find someone who fits without you changing at all.”
Charlie looks disheartened. “I know you don’t think I’m serious, but I am. I can do this. I want to be better for you.”
I sigh. “Don’t drag this out, Charlie. We’ve been through this. It’s not you. You could have changed all these things when I brought them up the first time. And the second, and the third. But it’s not who you are, and it’s not who I am to just let it slide when I want more. It’s better this way.”
“You said that when we broke up, too.”
“And I mean it. I’m not going to change my mind. We had a great thing, and I’ll be lying if I say I don’t miss what we had sometimes. But—”
“Then give us a shot,” he says, grabbing onto me with both hands, but I shake my head.
“It’s a very endearing gesture to come all this way to see me, Charlie. Really. It must have been expensive, too. But I can’t just go back to how things were.”
He looks hurt.
Movement at the door catches my eye, and when I look up, I see Brett. He eyes us, his face serious. Is he going to come over? Is he going to cause a scene? A part of me wants him to come over and run Charlie off, fight for my honor. Another wants him to stay away because this is none of this business.
He walks out of the hotel, and I guess I get what I want. Sort of.
“Please, think about it,” Charlie says. “I’ll stay in town for a few days, and if you change your mind—”
“I won’t.”
“Well, you can reach me anytime. I’ll be here until the day of the wedding before I fly back, okay?”
I nod, and he turns to leave. I groan when he walks out of the door.
As if I need this.
When I turn, the girls come from the dining room. They all look like they know exactly what was said.
“So, that was…nice of him,” Stacey says.
“Yeah, very.” I feel miserable for running him off.
“He made such an effort,” Nina says.
