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And he hangs up, just as I arrive at the gazebo. A switch clicks in my brain, and I realize where I know that woman from.
“You’re Trudy Higgenbottom!” I exclaim in disbelief. Sure, she’s a decade or two older than when I saw her on-screen, but the twinkle in her eyes is unmistakable.
“Indeed I am.” Trudy says, in her clipped English voice. “And you must be Grace, please, take a seat.”
She pulls out a chair for me, and I sink down, still stunned that this figure from my teenage years is somehow in New York City serving me cake. “What…? I mean, how are you even here?”
“I received a special request for an in-personPopping Roundexperience,” Trudy explains. “I would never usually do something like this, but, well, he was rather persuasive…”
She glances past me, and I turn.
And there’s Charlie, walking towards us. In jeans and a T-shirt, Charlie Fox is as devastating as if he was wearing a tux. I was hoping my imagination was running riot in the time we’ve spent apart, but nope.
My heart aches.
Trudy leans in, “I gather there’s been some strife, but a man who goes to such lengths to serve you my lemon-poppyseed loaf deserves to be heard, don’t you think?”
26
GRACE
Charlie walks slowly toward me.He’s got his trademark charming smile on his face, but as he gets closer, I can see the nervous shadows in his eyes. Somehow, it makes him more real. More handsome.
My stomach turns over with pure longing.
“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to keep my feelings in check. Yes, I want to fling my arms around his neck and tear his clothes off, but I force myself to remember how it felt, standing there on the deck at Griffin Lake, listening to Charlie laugh off our whole relationship like it hadn’t meant a thing. “Why did you bring me here?” I ask, sounding sterner this time. “And how on earth did you get Trudy Higgenbottom to come all this way?”
Charlie cracks a smile. “Well, luckily for me, she retired to Connecticut.”
“But he was fully prepared to fly me out from England,” Trudy adds, depositing a pot of tea beside the spread of cakes and sandwiches. She gives Charlie an indulgent smile, and it’s clear, she can’t resist him either. She looks between us. “Now, typically I would be sitting down with you for a chat now, but I think you two are best left to your own devices.”
She gives me a wink, and then withdraws to stroll the gardens, leaving us alone.
I blink. “I can’t believe Trudy just served us cucumber sandwiches.” I shake my head, trying to process the scene: not just the tea and gazebo, but Charlie sitting there across from me. “Why? I don’t understand it.”
Charlie swallows. “This is one of my favorite places in the city. I discovered it when I was in college.”
“Okay...” I say, unsure of what this means. That didn’t sound a bit likeI’m sorryorI was wrong, please forgive me.
Charlie reaches across the table and takes my hand. “I’ve never brought anyone here,” he says softly.
Not even his ex-wife?I wonder.
“Nobody,” he clarifies, eyes on mine. “It was always somewhere I kept just for me. My own private place to get away from it all and think. I never wanted to share it with anyone. Not until you. And as for Trudy… Well, you spend every day running around, making things special for everyone else. Making things memorable. You deserve someone doing that for you, too. You deserve everything,” Charlie adds, his voice thick with emotion.
Our eyes meet, and I feel a surge of hope.
Everything.
Does this mean… ?
I try to keep a grip on my runaway emotions. “What are you saying?” I ask carefully.
“I’m saying sorry,” he says simply. He holds my hand gently, regret written all over his face. “You were right.”
“I usually am,” I reply, managing to sound breezier than I feel. My heart is pounding in my chest, and that extra portion of fries I had at lunch is churning in my stomach. “Right about which part, in particular?” I ask.
“All of it?” Charlie give me a bashful smile. “I was stuck in a cycle, after the divorce. The only way I could deal with the sense of failure was to act like the problem was with marriage and commitment, not justmymarriage.” He pauses. “I thought it would be easier, drawing a line like that, staying away from anything that could hurt me. Anyone who could hurt me. But it wasn’t. Not with you.”
