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“Oh.” She replied quietly. Did she think I might have gone out and bought one for the date? Maybe she did, and I probably would have if I hadn’t had this one.
Marisol scrambled into the car as soon as I opened the door, and while I belted her in, I left the door open so Charlotte could check out the seat and make sure it passed inspection.
I guess it did because she kissed Marisol’s forehead and then closed the door, turning to me, “Thank you.”
I was tempted to caress her face, but I knew if I did that, I’d want to kiss her again, and that probably wasn’t a good idea in front of Marisol, at least not yet. “Come on, let’s get going.”
After we were in our seats, I glanced back at Marisol, she was grinning at me, her blue eyes sparkling. “Do you like to watch movies?”
“Yes!” She said quickly.
I glanced at Charlotte, “Do you mind if I put one on for her to watch while we drive?”
She seemed surprised that I would ask. “No, not at all.”
“Just wanted to make sure you didn’t mind. I know some parents don’t approve of their kids watching too much television.”
“I agree, some kids watch entirely too much. I usually only allow an hour or so a day, but it’s not like she can go outside and play right now.” She chuckled. “It will keep her quiet and not asking a million questions while you drive.”
I reached behind my seat and pulled out two videos. Now, these were new, and I’d called my niece Tonya and asked her what movies she thought might be a hit with a five-year-old girl. She’d given me several choices, and I’d grabbed two of them.
“Which one would you like to watch?”
“I love princesses!” She squealed, and Charlotte snickered beside me. After I put it in, I checked the sound to make sure it wasn’t too loud and then handed Marisol the headphones. She slipped them over her head quickly, grinning all the way.
“Does your nephew like to watch Princess movies, too?” Charlotte asked as I finally turned to the steering wheel.
I laughed, “No, my niece gave me some ideas. Never hurts to have some handy.”
She was quiet, and I glanced at her to find her studying me, “You’re a very kind man, Wes. Thank you.”
I squeezed her hand for a moment, “You’re welcome.”
While we got onto the road, I asked Charlotte about her new job, and she told me about the hours she would be working, when she was starting, and what she would be doing. She also told me about working at the deli and how she had managed that while she was taking the classes for her certificate.
“Did you go to college?” I asked.
I saw her face turn toward the passenger window, and her hand fisted slightly before she released them. “I went for almost two years, but something happened, and I dropped out. I had hoped to go back and get my degree, but then I had Marisol, and well, the rest is history. It was hard enough finding time for these classes, I couldn’t imagine trying to take more than one class at a time to get my degree.”
“You have plenty of time to get a degree if you want one later, Charlotte. You’re young, what are you like, twenty-five?”
“Actually, I’m almost twenty-seven. I started school a year late, so I graduated from high school when I was nineteen.” I saw her watching me, “How old are you?”
“Thirty-four,” I told her.
“And you have siblings? I know you already said you have an older brother.”
“I do. There are six of us. Brad is my older brother, and he has two kids. Sadly, his wife passed away about a year ago. She had a rare form of blood cancer and passed very quickly after they found out. They are doing about as well as they can be doing.” I glanced at her and smiled to relieve the sting of the sad news. “I have a sister, Kayley, who is a year older than me. She lives in New York. Then there is me. Next comes Henley, who is about eighteen months younger than me, he lives about two hours away. Riley is his Irish Twin, and she was born almost eleven months to the day of his birth, and the youngest is Huntley. He just got engaged a few weeks ago. I haven’t met the fiancée, but I hope to do that soon.”
She grinned at me, “So your full name is Wesley?”
“Yeah, you picked up on the fact that all our names end in L-E-Y, didn’t you?”
Her soft chuckled warmed my heart, “Yes, I did pick up on that. And your parents, are they alive?”
“Yes, they are, David and Patricia.”
“I thought maybe their names ended in those letters, too.” A giggle drifted toward us from the back and Charlotte glanced around the seat. “She is enjoying the movie.”
