Winning Charlotte Back. Kathy Douglass

liked it. She liked buying pillows and lamps and stuff. And clothes. Dad used to tell her to stop spending money on so much useless junk, but she would just buy stuff and hide it. Then she would pretend she’d had it for a long time.”

      Charlotte wouldn’t touch that wearing a hazmat suit. “Okay. Well, the next time you talk to her you can ask her for advice.”

      His shoulders slumped so much he looked like a turtle going into his shell. “I don’t know how to talk to her. She left and never came back.”

      Oh, no. Poor kid. “When?”

      “A long time ago.” He sniffed. “She doesn’t want to be my mom anymore.”

      “Then she’s a fool. You’re a great kid.”

      He looked at Charlotte in surprise, then wiped his arm across his eyes. She saw the tears but knew better than to comment on them. She would hate having anyone witness her break down. As far as people knew, she was made of stone. Everyone knew stone didn’t cry.

      “How come you aren’t at work?”

      He’d shared his hurt. It was only fair that she do the same. “I used to work for my father’s company. I did everything he wanted. Not just at work, either. All the time. Last week, the day you moved to town, he gave the job I worked hard to get to someone else. So I quit.”

      “Wow. Did you yell and throw stuff?”

      She had to smile. “No. I just stood up and left the meeting.”

      “Why didn’t he give you the job? Is it because you’re a girl?”

      Was it? Maybe. But she had no control over that. “No. I think it’s because he doesn’t love me. Not really.”

      Bobby grabbed her hand with his grubby one. “Then he’s a fool, too.”

      Charlotte’s heart lifted as she looked at Bobby, his words helping her to see what she had a hard time believing. The problem wasn’t with her. She was lovable. If only to a ten-year-old boy.

       Chapter Five

      Charlotte leaned back in her lawn chair and closed her eyes, basking in the quiet evening. She’d gotten used to living next to an empty house, so the earlier commotion had been a change. It wasn’t necessarily a bad change. Just noisy. The movers had driven away in the large truck, taking the smaller truck Rick had driven with them. Before coming outside, she’d heard bumping as Rick and Bobby continued to move things around. They finally stopped an hour ago when Bobby had protested loudly enough for her to hear.

      She couldn’t believe Rick Tyler was not only in Sweet Briar, but living next door to her. Unbelievably he was still trying to be friends. Didn’t he know leaving a woman standing in a church dressed in her wedding gown ruined the relationship for all time? Did he think he could charm his way back into her good graces? She wasn’t that gullible. Or forgiving. Of course, every time he saw her he apologized. He was sincere, but that wasn’t enough for her to forget that he’d humiliated her in front of every person she knew.

      He was attractive, but not that attractive. Okay, so he was sexier than he’d been a dozen years ago. He’d been handsome then but now he was off-the-charts gorgeous. Tall, dark and handsome might be cliché, but only if the description didn’t apply. And it definitely applied to Rick Tyler. His dimpled smile was almost beautiful enough to make her forget the past. Almost.

      “I was hoping I’d find you out here.”

      Charlotte didn’t turn at the sound of Rick’s voice although she did open her eyes and watch as he crossed his lawn and hopped over the rosebushes separating their properties. Without waiting for an invitation, he dropped into the chair beside her. He had two unopened bottles of water. He offered her one, which she took even though she wasn’t thirsty. He twisted the top off his and took a deep swallow.

      “What are you doing here?” She’d apologized to him for being rude the other day but that didn’t mean she was ready to bury the hatchet. There was too much pain between them for that. She was simply trying to become a better person.

      “In Sweet Briar or in your backyard?”

      “Either. Both.”

      He stretched his long legs in front of him and crossed one ankle over the other. “I’m in Sweet Briar because I’m opening a medical practice here. I told you.”

      “Cut the crap. You can open a practice anywhere. Why come to my town?”

      He sighed. “You’re different. The Charlotte I remember would never have pressed me like this.”

      “It’s amazing what being made a laughingstock in front of an entire town can do to a young girl’s personality. It cures that eager-to-please disease permanently, leaving no chance for relapse.”

      “I’m sorry—”

      She cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about that ever again. The past is over and I survived. We were discussing your sudden desire to live in a small town. Specifically this small town.”

      “A couple of reasons. First I really like Sweet Briar. I liked walking down the street and seeing familiar faces. Friendly faces. I want that for Bobby. Of course, I know I have to prove that I’m reliable. I imagine my reputation is not the best after I stood you up at the altar.”

      She raised a hand, stopping him. She didn’t need to rehash the past. She’d lived it. “You said a couple of reasons. What’s the other one?”

      “You.”

      “Me?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear this.

      “I wasn’t happy with the way I left things between us. You deserved better.”

      “So you moved here as some sort of penance? You could have just apologized in an email.”

      He winced. “An apology is only part of it. I want to try and make amends.”

      “That’s not necessary.”

      “I’m a better person.”

      “You don’t have to prove that to me.”

      “Maybe I need to prove it to myself.”

      She didn’t want to talk about Rick anymore, but suddenly she didn’t want to be alone, either. Most of her life she’d been alone. And lonely. She searched for another topic. “Bobby told me he hasn’t seen his mother in a long time.”