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Charlotte crossed her arms and leaned on the table. “Compared to a Christmas movie, every place is shitty. Could she have just been taking that kind of angle?”
“I don’t think so. It was dark and it was cruel. She wrote about alcoholism, infidelity, wife swapping, gossip, bullying, and drugs.”
Charlotte took a deep breath. “All of those things happen here, Jack.”
“I know. I’m not blind.” I shook my head. “But she could’ve told me, told us, that’s what she was writing about.”
“That’s true,” Emma chimed in. “I sensed that there was a bit of an edge to her…you know the dahlias.”
Charlotte sipped her water. “Would she have gotten the real story if she’d done that? She’s a reporter, she needed to see people in their natural habitat.”
“It almost sounds like you’re standing up for her.”
Before Charlotte could respond, Mom showed up at the table with our lunch. She handed out the round of BLT sandwiches; mine was the one with the fries. “You’re busy today.” Charlotte seemed thankful for the distraction.
“It’s a regular lunch hour.” My mom smiled. “It’s nice to see you two ladies keeping my Jack company.”
Charlotte grinned and winked at my mom. “He’s buying. We are celebrating the closing of the Snow Ghost Lodge deal.”
She was definitely trying to steer the conversation away from Henri.
“Oh, Speaking of the Snow Ghost Lodge.” She fumbled around in her apron. “You’d better change the name Jack.”
Charlotte smiled. “We were just talking about that.”
Mom handed me the antique key to the lodge. “Where did this come from?” I held the key in my palm and studied it, trying to remember the last place I’d had it.
“That girl dropped it off.” I knew my mom was mad when she didn’t use Henri’s name. “She left this too.” Mom held up a business card. “She said something about an article coming out this afternoon. I can throw it out if you’d like.”
I nodded. “That can go in the trash can.”
Charlotte smiled sweetly at my mom. “I’ll take that card. I’m interested in reading it.”
“Knock yourself out honey. I’ve heard it’s terrible.” Mom slid the card across the table. The cook dinged the bell in the window. “Enjoy your lunch kids. I’ve got to go.”
My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since the sandwiches Henri and I had devoured in bed the night before. The bacon was perfectly crunchy and the three of us were silent as we all took huge bites of the sandwiches.
Charlotte dabbed at the corner of her mouth with the paper napkin. “Jack. I think that you might be being a little hard on Henri.”
“How so?”
“She was just doing her job.” Charlotte seemed nervous and she focused on her plate, instead of looking me in the eyes. “I feel like part of this might be my fault.”
“Your fault?” Emma tilted her head.
“Yeah.” Charlotte pressed her lips together. “I told her all sorts of terrible things about this town. I had the feeling she might be angling for a more provocative story, and I didn’t hold back. I’m sorry Jack.”
I shook my head. “This isn’t your fault, Charlotte.”
My mind went back to Freddie’s warning about Charlotte talking to Henri about life in Chance Rapids. He had been right. Charlotte had been the source for a lot of the garbage that was in the story.
Charlotte pulled out her phone. As a realtor, I was used to her constantly being on her phone. Charlotte scrolled while she ate the rest of her sandwich. She brushed the crumbs off her hands and slid her phone across the table. “You need to read this.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Instead of replying, Charlotte nudged the phone closer to me. The website was called The Platypus and it was an article by Henrietta Page. “Hmmm. At least she didn’t lie about her last name.”
“Read it.” Charlotte’s voice was stern.
