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Charlie turned off the shop vac and surveyed the floor. Satisfied that it looked good, he nudged the shop vac to the corner of the room with the toe of his boot. Time to slap some paint on the walls. Well, tomorrow. Right now, it was time to knock off for the night. The first thing he intended to do was find Tatum and make sure she was okay. He’d hated walking away from her earlier, leaving her with her sister. When he grabbed a quick lunch, he’d ducked back inside the coffee house, but she was gone. Even her things were gone from her usual table.
His mom had seen him looking for her and told him she’d left with her sister.
He walked outside first, through the back door of the restaurant. The drywall dust had mixed with his sweat to make him sticky and gross. He’d sent Mal and Sev on home at the top of the hour, telling them both to shower before doing anything else. With a laugh, Charlie told himself the same thing now.
Before he could go into the coffee house, the door opened, and his mom came out with her keys in hand and her purse slung over her shoulder.
“You’re a mess,” she announced.
He aimed a grin at her and shrugged. “I know. Did Tatum ever come back?”
“No.”
Nerves twisted into a knot in his gut.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“She just said she had to do a few things for her sister.” His mom turned away to lock the door. “She’s not my employee, Charlie. I couldn’t demand answers.”
“Fuck.” He groaned and rolled his head on his neck.
“That girl’s the reason even Tatum’s smiles are sad, isn’t she?”
He nodded when his mom looked at him. “That’s part of it, yeah.”
“Well, then, you need to get home and showered. And then go see her.”
“How did she seem when she left?”
“A little bit angry.”
“This is what happens. She settles somewhere. Makes friends. And then her sister shows up making demands. And she runs.”
“To get away from her sister?”
“No. If she runs this time, it’ll be to get away from me.”
“That’s ridiculous, Charlie. She’s in love with you.”
“She doesn’t think she’s good enough for me, and her junkie sister showing up at Murphy’s Brews like she did today is going to be a problem.”
His mom moved closer to him and reached out to pat his face. “Well, convince her it’s not a problem.”
He jammed his hand in his pocket and pulled his keys out. His mom called to him as he headed across the alley to the parking lot.
“Shower first.”
Charlie rolled his eyes as he hurried across the lot. Once at his truck, he pulled his phone from his pocket to send Tatum a text.
How about dinner? I’ll cook for you.
He didn’t expect an answer, but the buzz of his phone a few minutes later as he headed home made his shoulders relax a bit. At the next stoplight, he glanced at the screen and took a deep breath when he saw she had answered him.
She didn’t want dinner. In fact, she said she wanted to be alone.
Charlie worried over that through the rest of his drive. Was he supposed to respect her wishes and leave her alone? Or should he shower and go over to see her? It was a no-brainer for him. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her.
On the other hand, what if her sister was still with her? Charlie didn’t want to interrupt their time together. What if they were having a good, productive talk? But what if they weren’t? What if they were arguing, or what if her sister had stormed out to disappear again? He couldn’t sit at home all night just wondering what was going on.
