Chapter Thirty-five

Charlie

A slight breeze rustles my hair, and I look out at the street. My heart is sitting at the bottom of my chest, and all the cracks are starting to separate. It won’t be long until it shatters into a million pieces again, and this time, there’ll be no putting it back together.

My ex-fiancé is sitting on the porch next to me, waiting for his ride to come pick him up. He cheated on me. Embarrassed me. But it’s not him who’s hurting me.

It’s Owen, and I don’t understand how I could have been so wrong. Again. Things were so perfect between us. And then he didn’t even have the decency to call me. I need to get Tulip from his place, and it’s going to be so fucking awkward.

“I can put in a good word for you at another firm,” Todd says. “It’s the least I can do after…after…”

“After fucking your assistant while you were in a relationship with me?”

“Yeah. That. I’m sorry. Really, I am.”

I hold up my hand, stopping him right there. “What do you want me to say? That it’s okay and I forgive you? It’s not okay and I don’t. Live with that.”

“I miss you.”

“Too bad.” I let out a breath. The only reason I’m sitting out here is because I don’t want my niece and nephews asking about Todd. They’ve met him and don’t need to see him again. Because it doesn’t matter.

“If you’re handing out second chances…”

“I’m not.”

“Really? You’re back in town less than a month and you’re with your ex.”

“That was different.

“What’s so different about Owen?”

“Yeah,” a deep voice comes from the sidewalk. I turn and see Owen’s handsome face. His eyes are filled with hurt and his jaw is tense. “What is different about Owen?”

“What are you doing here?” I get off the swing, heart swelling in my chest when I see Owen. “You…you ditched me.”

“I didn’t, and I don’t know what that asshole has been telling you, but it’s his fault.”

“You’re supposed to be in jail.” Todd gets up and rounds on Owen.

“What?” I go down the porch steps, putting myself between Owen and Todd, hoping to prevent a fight from breaking out. Because Owen looks like he wants to tear Todd apart limb from limb.

“I told you, Charlotte. He hit me and got himself arrested.”

“Is that true?” I ask Owen.

“Yes,” he says and takes a step closer to me.

“Because he caught you with another woman?”

Owen makes a face. “No. There is only one person for me, Charlie, and it’s you. It’s always been you. He threw the first punch and then fell onto Marty Pickens. It’s all on camera. Irrefutable evidence right there.”

I look back at Todd and squeeze my eyes closed. “You lied to me?”

“Char, look at him. Look at this town. You don’t belong here. You belong in New York, at a real firm with real cases. Making real money.”

I put my face in my hands, head spinning as I try to process everything. “You came all this way just to manipulate and lie to me?”

Todd lets out a nervous laugh. “When you say it like that, it sounds bad. If we rephrase—”

“Shut the fuck up, Todd. I’m not a client.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Todd snaps.

“It’s true,” Owen says. “I don’t deserve you, Charlie. I never thought I did, and that’s why I broke up with you all those years ago. I was certain you’d be disappointed if you stayed with me. I felt selfish making you settle, so I ended things. I’ve regretted it every single day since then, but I thought it was the right thing to do. That I was holding you back and you’d someday resent me for it.”

My lips part and tears fill my eyes. My emotions are all over the place.

“I missed dinner tonight because I was in a holding cell while this prick had some fancy lawyer putting in calls and pulling favors that held shit up and not even Weston could get things smoothed over right away.”

I blink and a tear rolls down my face. “I wish you told me sooner.”

“About the fight?”

I shake my head. “About why we broke up. All those years, I thought it was something I did. That I wasn’t enough.”

“No, Charlie, that’s not it at all.”

I wipe away a tear and shake my head. A black Toyota pulls in front of the house to pick up Todd.

“Charlotte,” he starts.

“Just go,” I say, voice thin.

Hanging his head, he walks down the sidewalk and gets into the car. A sense of relief washes over me when the car pulls away. Owen steps up next to me and takes me in his arms. It feels so good to be here again. It’s where I belong.

But I can’t. Not yet. Not right now.

“Owen,” I start, pushing away. “I…I need some time.”

“Okay,” he says, voice shaking. “Like a minute? Fifteen?”

“I…I don’t know.”

He runs his fingers through my hair. “Okay,” he says again. “Whatever you need.”

Sniffling, I turn and walk into the house. Tears fall as soon as the door closes behind me. Mom, who I’m sure heard the whole thing, comes rushing to me from the kitchen. She takes me in her arms and guides me to the couch.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” I say as she hands me a tissue. “He didn’t really do anything wrong, did he?”

“What happened, honey?”

“I thought Owen blew me off on purpose, but the situation was really out of his control. But then he told me the only reason he broke up with me was because he thought I could do better. That’s not fair, though. Who is he to decide what’s good enough for me?” I blow my nose. “I spent years, Mom, years wondering what I did wrong. Why I wasn’t enough. Why he left me when we were so happy and in love. He was everything I wanted.”

“I know. And I agree with you. It’s not right to decide what someone else does or doesn’t deserve. It sounds like he had your best intentions at heart, though.”

“How can you say that? Because we broke up, I moved to New York and almost married Todd. Everything that happened after Owen broke up with me is all his fault.”

“You won’t agree with that after you calm down,” Mom says gently. “But I see your train of thought. If Owen hadn’t broken up with you, you wouldn’t have left Eastwood.”

“That’s exactly what I just said!” I grab another tissue and lean against the back of the couch. “I wish he hadn’t told me. Because now I’m mad and questioning everything.”

“Do you think he cares about you now?”

I nod. “Yeah. I do.”

“Can you forgive him for breaking up with you?”

Swallowing hard, I shake my head. “I don’t know. I hurt so much for so long after.”

“I remember.” Mom lets out a deep breath. “I wish I had better advice, honey. You’re happy when you’re with him, and people make mistakes in the past. Especially when they’re young.”

I just nod and mop up more tears. Mom puts her hand on my shoulder and stays with me.

“Charlie?” Carly says softly, coming downstairs. “Are you okay?”

I glare at her with tear-filled eyes. “Peachy.”

“I was listening to what Mom said, and I agree.”

“Then we all can agree we don’t know what to do. Great.”

“Only you can decide what to do.” Carly sits on the floor by me.

“That helps me even less. Maybe the only thing Owen and I are good at is hurting each other.” I’m being dramatic right now and don’t care. Not at all.

“You were blaming Owen for Todd, but right now, we can blame Todd for Owen. If Todd hadn’t shown up, Owen wouldn’t have missed dinner. And you wouldn’t have assumed the worst, right?”

“Right.”

“What if he told you about why he broke up with you during dinner? If he said the same exact words. What would you have done?”

I shake my head, trying to really think about it logically. “I don’t know. I think I’d still be upset for having to go through years of my life feeling like I let the only person I ever loved down.”

“But would you go home with or without him?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “I don’t know.”

“Look, thinking he knows what’s good for you is shitty. But breaking up with you hurt him too, especially if he did it because he loved you enough to let you go.”

I take in a shaky breath. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

“Good thing I’m here.” Carly smiles. “You should talk to him. Get everything out in the open. If you can’t move past the past, then you can’t go into the future.”

Nodding, I wipe my eyes and smear the rest of my mascara down my cheeks. “Where’s my phone?” I ask. “I’ll call him.”

“No need.” Carly winks. “He’s still on the porch.”