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He didn’t realize he was on autopilot until he pulled into his garage and sat for a long while. Only a repeated beep from his phone stirred him from his stupor. Peering down, he noticed the stacks of messages from Alex and Charlie.
Staring at the screen, Rick huffed a breath before blanking it out. He didn’t have the energy to answer them. He couldn’t stand the words of comfort, hating that they thought he needed consoling. What was there to console?
What he needed was to be leftalone.
Thirty
Fifteen minutes.That was how long Charlie had been sitting in her car, finding it difficult to get out. Tonight was the monthly dinner she and Ryan had with their mother.
Parked by the curb of Grace’s grand home just far enough so no one spotted her, Charlie had been battling with herself with her next course of action.
She hadn’t spoken with her mother since the disastrous night, purposely ignoring the messages and calls. Grace had acted like nothing had happened since, which infuriated her more. Charlie envied her mother’s thick skin; she didn’t inherit that.
A text ping from Ryan, asking if she was coming. She had considered not at first, but thought this was a good opportunity to set her mother straight. For Rick, she had to do something. All these years of playing slave to her mother’s demands had turned a head now that it was cutting into her chance at happiness.
As cheesy as it sounded, Rick was a big part of her recipe for happiness. No man had given her the kind of attention and consideration as he had. She had to protect him if she wanted to keep him.
A week had passed since she’d seen him. She last left him at hishouse, after spending a full day showing him how special he was to her. It didn’t work to its potential. There was a fleck of dissolution written on his face when she kissed him goodbye. They’d only been talking through messages since. She thought to give him time alone, yet her heart had been dragging on the floor at how awkward their interactions became. It was likely that she was overthinking, but the dreadful feeling of losing him was creeping up at her.
He was surely having doubts again, and she couldn’t blame his faltering, but she didn’t want him to do anything irrational before she stepped in. After all, it was her mother, so it was her responsibility to handle it.
She hated confrontations. Never had the backbone for them. Standing up to Grace wasn’t easy, but necessary.
The housekeeper opened the door when Charlie rang. She briefly heard a greeting before stalking toward the dining area where she knew Grace and Ryan were waiting. Past the tremendous foyer and the living room, she only stopped when she saw her brother lift his head at her arrival. A look of relief fell from his face when he spotted her.
“You’re late,” her mother commented. “Ryan and I are hungry, but we waited. At least have the decency to tell us when you’re stalling.”
A swollen vein in Charlie’s forehead throbbed with anger.
“I didn’t want to come,” she said dryly before dumping her bag on the table. The metal chain clashed on the wood that made Ryan balk. “And I’m not hungry. I’m only here to talk.”
“Hmm.” Grace blinked. Charlie saw her mother’s mind working in motions. It was better she got her speech over with and left.
Despite her anxiety, Charlie shoved her shaking hands between her thighs.
“Mother, I think we’ve come to a point where I have to address your unfair treatment of me,” she started. “I avoided this subject inthe past because I didn’t want the drama. Growing up with you and father was exhausting, but I let things go because you are my parents. Now, as I’m building my own life, I’m setting boundaries.”
“Boundaries?” Grace repeated.
Charlie nodded. “Boundaries. Something you’ve clearly ignored my entire life. You don’t listen when I tell you my feelings. I’m tired of it. It’s time you respect what I want.”
“I see where this is going. It’s about that man… Mitchell?—”
“Rick,” Charlie mouthed with fierceness. “And yes, it is about him. You’ve done nothing but disrespect him since I mentioned him. He had the patience and courtesy to be polite while you tore him down in the most humiliating way. Have you no shame? What does that say about you?”
Grace’s eyes rounded with shock. “Me? How could you?—”
Charlie breathed in, insisting to get all her say. “By disrespecting Rick, you disrespected me. For the first time, I’ve found a man I care about and all you do is put him down. Why? Because he’s different from you? Because he can’t pay for a maid? What has he done to you for you to be this cruel?”
“Cruel?” Grace huffed. “Now who’s being dramatic? I hardly call it cruel. I was simply observing his worth. You can never be too cautious with so many lies and cheats out there.”
“Rick isn’t a liar or a cheat!”
“How do you know?” Grace challenged. “You’ve only known each other for, what, a couple of months?”
“I know in my heart he’s a good man and doesn’t deserve your contempt,” Charlie said. “And there’s no point in going on about this. If you’re set on being a problem between us, then…”
“Then what?” Her mother sat on her seat, posture straight like she owned the throne. Ryan was silently watching, enthralled but cautious. Trying to reason with Grace was an arduous task and rarely yielded success, so this battle had to be thrilling in his eyes.
