“Shall we?”
He’d put a lot of thought into this date. He didn’t need Lucy to tell him the pressure he was under to make it special. He already knew.
He led her out to the truck, feeling a strange nervous energy he hadn’t expected.
“Thanks for agreeing to go out with me,” he said.
She smiled shyly. “Thanks for asking.”
As they drove, she talked about working with his football players, about some of the other couples she’d met, about how she’d watched Amelia in dance class the other day and how much better she seemed to be doing.
“Her teacher thinks maybe she got over her hesitation,” she said.
“Good,” he said. “That was because of you, you know.”
She stared out the window. “Or because of your bet.”
He watched her for a few seconds, then smiled. “We’ll share the credit.”
Her eyes sparkled in recognition as he made the turn into the long driveway at Haven House.
He didn’t explain. Instead, he drove straight past the farmhouse and behind the barn, where he parked the truck and turned off the engine.
“What are we doing here?” she asked.
“You’ll see.” He opened his door. “Stay there.” He made his way around to the other side of the truck, opened her door, and helped her to the ground.
He took both of her hands and found her eyes. “I forgot to give you something.”
Her brow furrowed with a question as he leaned in and kissed those lips he’d begun to crave.
When he pulled away, he found her smiling.
He took her hand and led her away from the house, away from the barn and down a trail he’d memorized a long time ago.
“I don’t know if I’m dressed for this.”
He did a once-over of her sundress and sandals. “We won’t be walking long. And I like what you’re wearing.”
She squeezed his hand and soldiered on—only a few more minutes until they came through the trees and into a clearing, with a clear view of a hidden waterfall that used to bring him comfort every time he trekked out here.
Charlotte gasped when she saw it, the light of a setting sun glimmering off the water. “What is this place?”
“Pretty, right?” He let go of her hand and she stepped toward the water, awe on her face.
“Beautiful.”
“I found it when I was living at Haven House,” he said.
“You found it?”
Cole shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, Steve and Hildy never told us about anything we might find on the grounds. They wanted us to explore for ourselves.”
Charlotte glanced over at him.
“They thought it taught us to look beyond what was in plain sight. Said if we were willing to be curious, we never knew what we’d find.”
She smiled. “I love that.”
“Yeah,” he said. “They’re pretty smart people.”
“And the picnic table? Did you just discover that too?” She turned and looked at it. He’d covered it with a tablecloth and placed a vase of wildflowers at its center. On it was a picnic basket filled with a selection of sandwiches, two with gluten-free bread, a cheese platter, a bottle of wine, and dessert.
Nerves swirled inside him as he watched her explore the space.
“Did you do all this?” she asked, pulling food from the basket.
He shrugged. “I might’ve.”
“It’s so perfect,” she said.
“Just wait till the sun sets,” he said. “You’ll never find a better view of the stars.”
They ate and kissed and danced under the light of the moon. Charlotte was so authentic, so genuine, it had taken meeting her to realize his life with Gemma had always been built on make-believe.
As the evening wound down, they lay on a blanket in the grass, her head on his chest, and he whispered a silent prayer of thanks to a God who’d likely given up on ever hearing from him again.
In Charlotte, he had everything he’d been praying for, and because of her, he’d even let go of his anger toward Gemma and Max. Truth be told, he felt sorry for his ex-wife, because she didn’t have something real to hold on to, because she’d settled for less than she deserved because she believed it was all she was worth.
He kissed the top of Charlotte’s head.
She turned on her stomach, resting her arms on his chest and her chin on her hands. “This was a better first date than I could’ve imagined.” She inched upward and kissed him.
His hand stroked the back of her arm. “Even better than the drive-in movie theater and a shared box of popcorn?”
She frowned.
He glanced down at her. “Your dream first date.”
Now she sat up. “What are you talking about?”
He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a teal envelope with fifteen-year-old Charlotte’s handwriting on it.
She gasped. “Where did you get that?”
“I have a whole box for you,” he said.
She crisscrossed her legs and opened the envelope, pulling the letter from inside. She read, one hand over her mouth, as if she couldn’t believe this trip back in time.
“I read a couple of them,” he confessed. “And I found this.” He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small photo—Charlotte and Julianna, wearing matching smiles and matching ballet costumes.
As she took the photo, tears filled her eyes. “Oh, my goodness.”
“You meant the world to her,” Cole said.
“She meant the world to me.” Charlotte folded the letter and stuck it back in the envelope. “What do you think she’d say if she knew about the two of us?”
He propped himself up on his elbow and drank in the sight of her, lit from behind by a full moon. “I think she’d say, ‘Finally, two of the most important people in my life are happy. All is right with the world.’”
She smiled. “I hope she would’ve approved.”
He took her hand. “She would’ve. She does. She loved us both, why wouldn’t she approve?”
Charlotte went completely still then, placing a kiss to the inside of his palm. “You’re more than I could’ve hoped for.”
He gave her a tug and she fell on him, their faces only inches apart, and as he kissed her, a familiar, unfamiliar phrase tossed around in his mind.
I love you, Charlotte.
Because as much as he’d fought against it, he couldn’t deny it was how he felt. He’d been blindsided in the very best way, and now that he knew her, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to spend a single day without her.
42
“I didn’t tell you, but you gave me an idea the other day.”
Charlotte smiled. They sat on the dock behind his house, staring across the water—a calming ritual she’d come to love.
They’d finished rehearsing with Amelia, who, as expected, had picked up her steps in very little time. She assured them both that she would be more than ready for this dance with her uncle, and Charlotte believed her. Amelia was a little pro.
“I did?”
He took her hand. “You’re free tonight, right?”
She squinted at him. “I should say no. I don’t want you taking for granted that I’ll drop everything for you.”