Chance (26 page)

Before they hung up,
Brett took down her address and told her he'd be there by dinnertime. He said he
was looking forward to seeing her and he'd missed her. It felt so good to hear his
words. They were definitely reciprocated.

Feeling light and happy,
for a change, she was actually excited and feeling hopeful. She could barely
wait to see Brett again. After hanging up, she went to find her mother to tell
her the great news, that they'd have a guest for dinner. Charlotte's parents
liked Brett very much, and felt indebted to him for helping their daughter.

That afternoon, Charlotte
took out the new art pad and pens her parents had bought for her. For the first
time in so long, she began to work on some designs. She was trying to immerse
herself in the task, to keep herself distracted until Brett’s visit later that
evening.

As promised, he arrived
in time for dinner. Charlotte was so excited she wanted to run to the front
door to greet him. However, she deliberately paced herself on the crutches, afraid
she'd do a face-plant if she weren't careful. She felt bad enough about being as
ungraceful as she was in her current state.

Brett was wearing jeans
and a crisp white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar. He held a bottle of red wine
in one hand and a single white rose in the other. He looked tan, relaxed and
even more handsome than she'd remembered. For a moment, she stood there, tongue
tied and frozen, just staring at him. He simply leaned over and kissed her
cheek.

“For you,” he said as he
handed her the rose.

Charlotte blushed and
thanked him before remembering her manners and inviting him inside. Her parents
were only too pleased to accept him into their home. They approved of him for
their daughter. They saw him as a hero, of sorts, after saving Charlotte from
the clutches of ‘that bastard,' as her father called him.  

Brett didn’t disappoint any
of them over dinner. He came across as polite, relaxed and intelligent. She
could tell her father liked him very much, engaging him in conversations about
a wide variety of topics. Brett was clearly not just a pretty face. He had
substance, as well. He also loved talking about his job, something Logan,
simply never did. The fact Brett was so open and easy going, meant so much to
all of them.

After the main course, Charlotte
excused herself from the room to help her mother with dessert, in the kitchen. As
soon as they were alone, she couldn't help but quiz her mom about her opinion
about Brett.

“Well, what do you think of
him, Mom?” She asked, sounding like an excited schoolgirl.

“I think; why couldn’t you
have met
him
instead of Logan? He’s just wonderful.”

“You really think so?”
Charlotte blushed a little, so excited to hear her mom liked him.

“Of course. He's so handsome
and smart. He's also just plain nice. Your father likes him, too. I can tell.”

Charlotte was mortified
when, after dinner, her mother cheerfully said, “Why don’t you show Brett your
room, dear? I’m sure he’d love to have a good look around the house.”

She felt herself blush
but Brett didn’t appear to notice. If he did, he didn’t show it. He merely smiled
warmly and said, “That would be great.”

Having been publicly
excused from the table, they both got up and wandered out into the hallway.

“I'm so sorry about them,”
she said, thoroughly embarrassed.

“There's nothing to be
sorry about, Charlotte,” he grinned. “They’re great people. I can see why
you're so wonderful, now.”

“They really like you.”

“They do? Well, that’s
good to hear.”

She hesitated, wondering
whether he really did want a tour of the house.

“Shall we…um…go
upstairs?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to make it seem as if she was
trying to get him into her bedroom for something other than just a friendly
chat. Perhaps she was. Was she? She tried to put that thought out of her mind.
Otherwise, she'd be too anxious to think straight.

“That sounds fine,” he
agreed, making her feel completely comfortable and relaxed with his casual, easygoing
smile.

“Just lead the way.” He gestured
towards the stairs.

“Okay, but I warn you, I’m
a bit slow with the uh…” She nodded towards her cast. She tucked the crutches
under her right arm and used the bannister to pull herself up with her left
hand, step by step, so that her good leg took most of her weight.

“Do you need a hand?” he
asked.

“No. No, I’m fine,” she
insisted. “You’ll just have to be patient and wait.”

“Oh, I can wait,” he
chuckled. “You’re doing really well with those. You’ve taken to them better
than I thought you would.”

She paused about a
quarter of the way up and turned back to look at him. She found him looking at
her backside! He quickly adjusted his gaze to meet hers, looking guilty, like a
kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“You thought I’d take to
them
badly
?” she asked, ignoring the fact he'd just been studying her
bottom.

“Ah, that wasn’t what I meant,”
he backtracked with a laugh, holding up his arms.

“Yeah, I bet it wasn’t,”
she teased him.

Gently closing the door
behind them once they were finally up the stairs, Charlotte was secretly
pleased there was no awkwardness between them. They seemed to have picked up as
they'd left off in the hospital. Charlotte sat down on the edge of her bed and
Brett, always the gentleman, pulled up the chair from her desk and sat on it
near her.  

“What did you want to
talk about?” she asked him quietly.

“I want to help you get Logan
arrested for everything he did to you…for the crimes he’s committed. I want to
help get him out of your life—for good.”

“You think we’d be able
to?” she asked.

“Yes. We’ll need evidence,
though, enough to get the police involved,” he said confidently, with a nod.

“I know. We'll need lots
of it.”

“Do you know where we’re
going to get it?” he wondered.

“His house?” she
suggested tentatively.

“Yes, but it'll be
dangerous. Do you think you're up for it?”

“Yes. But are
you
?
You shouldn’t put yourself in danger for me.” She warned.

“Oh, don’t worry about
me. I can handle myself. I’ve already done a bit of digging on my own,” Brett
said proudly.

“You have?” Shock was
apparent in her voice.

“Yes. I've also thought
it through. Based on what I’ve discovered, it would be dangerous to involve the
police prematurely, with just allegations. There's no telling what he'd do if
he thought you were trying to bring him down.”

 “Well, yes he's already
threatened me. When he had me kidnapped last time, he said he'd kill my
parents...with his bare hands, if I tried to leave him again.”

“That was something else I
wanted to talk to you about, actually,” he hesitated, and then leaned forwards,
taking hold of her hand.

“Feel free to say no,
because…I know we haven’t known each other very long. But…I'd like to invite
you and your parents to come and stay with me for a while. Until this is all
sorted out.
I want you all to be safe and for you
to heal and concentrate on getting yourself back on your feet again. Then we’ll
get to work.”

Charlotte was truly blown
away by his generous offer. He was such an incredible person. She'd never expected
anything like this when he said he'd wanted to help her. Of course, she didn’t
know how her parents would react to such an offer—whether they’d agree to it.
They might be too proud and refuse, saying they’d prefer to cope with the
situation on their own. Charlotte knew her father didn’t take Logan's threats seriously.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure,” he
smiled at her.

“Oh Brett, you’re the
best. I mean, I don't even have the words to thank you for everything you've
already
done to help me,” she grinned and patted the bed beside her.

“Why are you all the way
over there? Come here,” she said.

He chuckled and moved the
chair back under the desk before sitting next to her on the bed. Once there, he
wrapped an arm around her, pulled her in close to him and then kissed the top
of her head. It was sweet, but not very romantic as far as kisses go.

She felt the heat of his
body next to hers, and she felt her body’s response. If only he’d kissed her on
the lips instead of her head. Since they met, they’d hugged, held hands and he'd
given her an occasional kiss on her cheek. She'd known he was attracted to her,
as she was for him. She never felt any pressure in any way to move forward, but
she knew it was time. She wanted more than a kiss on the head or cheek.

She twisted out of his
embrace and leaned back so she could look up into his blue eyes, for only a
brief moment before quickly leaning in, to place a small, chaste kiss on his
lips. She did it fast, before she had the time to change her mind. Then she
moved away again, blushing. He was smiling.

“That was nice,” he said quietly,
slowly leaning in towards her to return her gentle kiss.

“Yes, it was,” she agreed,
breathing heavily and feeling his own warm, gentle breath on her face...

“I’ve been wanting to do
that for a while,” he admitted.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you?” she
asked.

“Because of the situation,
I didn’t want to rush anything,” he shrugged, looking down at the floor. “I wanted
to be sure it was something you actually wanted to do.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking
about it for a while, too,” she smiled.

 “Well then. Shall we do
it again?” He grinned.

 “Yeah, I think we
should.”

They shuffled a little
closer to each other and shared another kiss. This time, it was longer, more
intimate. Their lips parted tentatively, as they used their tongues to explore each
other's mouths. It was quite a liberating experience for Charlotte. It was also
the most enjoyable and warm kiss since she'd kissed Logan, that very first
time.

In fact, she thought to
herself as they continued to kiss, it was even better than the first time she'd
kissed Logan. This was different. Everything about Brett was so different and
wonderful. He was so considerate, even with his kisses. It was as though he'd
listen to and respond to her, to her body and to what she wanted, rather than
just taking what
he
wanted.

Their kiss became increasingly
more intense and urgent. Their breathing grew ragged. Charlotte gasped when
Brett’s hands began to explore her lower back. It felt so good. She wanted to
lose herself in him forever. She moaned in disappointment when he broke away, chuckling
a little as he wiped the corner of her mouth with his finger.

“You do realize this is
entirely inappropriate, right?” he looked at her and raised his eyebrow, as he
tried to slow his breathing. “You’re my patient and I’m your doctor. Not to
mention the fact your parents are right downstairs.”

“Ooh, it’s like playing doctors
and nurses when we were kids,” she teased.

“I’m serious!” he
chuckled.

“I know but…you’re not my
doctor anymore, are you? I mean, I've been discharged, remember? And we never
did anything inappropriate when you
were
my doctor,” she reminded him,
trying to assuage his guilt.

“I spent much more time
in your room than I should have. I’m surprised none of the nurses complained,”
he looked sheepishly at her.

“No one noticed, did
they?”

“No. I guess not.”

“Well then.”

“You’re encouraging me,
aren’t you?”

“Of course,” she winked
at him and then took his hand again, breaking eye contact and looking down, as
a more serious question crossed her mind.

“You…you said you weren’t
ready to move on yet…after your wife.”

“No, if you remember, I
said I might be…
if
I'd met the right person,” he corrected her.

He took a deep breath and
continued, “Charlotte, I know she would've wanted me to move on…in fact, she
told me so. She didn’t want me to stay single forever. She wanted me to love
again.”

“And am…am I the right
person?” she asked him cautiously, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

“I…don’t know,” he shook
his head slowly, giving her a truthful answer, but still holding her hand. “I
honestly don’t know. But I do know I haven’t felt the way I feel about you, for
anyone, in a very long time.”

“Oh.” Charlotte couldn’t
hide her disappointment at his doubt.

“Please, can we just give
it some time,” he asked quickly, before shuffling a little closer to her and grasping
her chin, gently raising it so they were looking in each other’s eyes.

He continued, as he
looked into her eyes, “I care about you…a lot. I have feelings for you I’m not
sure I can control, and they keep growing every time I see you or think about
you.”

She opened her mouth to
say something, but he continued speaking.

“It scares me,” he said. “It
scares me because you’re the first person I’ve had these kinds of feelings for
since…well…since she died. Up until recently, I’d been convinced I wasn’t ready
to move on yet. Then you came along and…I started to change my mind.”

“I’m sorry,” Charlotte
said.

“Don’t be.” He gave her
hand a squeeze. “Because at the same time, I’m also excited. Really excited…about…about
the future, and about how this might pan out. It’s just, I think we both need
to be sure, not just me. Remember, you’ve just come out of a bad relationship,
and part of you may be looking for someone to cling to, just because you need the
comfort and the closeness of someone other than your husband. It might just be
me because I was there for you when you were most vulnerable.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Don’t try to answer now.
Let’s just take things as they come for a while. If it's the real thing, we’ll
know soon enough. Anyway, I want you to think about the move I suggested. Talk
about it with your parents, and let me know when I come back.”

“All right,” she agreed.  

“In the meantime, I’ll go
around to the house and see what I can find.”

“You’re going to
WHAT
?
Brett, please don’t…”

She pleaded, suddenly
filled with fear for him. “
Please
…he’s a dangerous man, you don’t know
what—”

“Relax, will you,” he
smiled and placed a hand on her knee. “Can I let you in on a little secret?
Well…it’s really not a secret, to be honest; I’ve just never mentioned it
before.”

“What? What is it?” she
asked, intrigued about what he'd tell her.

“When I was twenty five,
recently out of medical school…I signed up to join the army.”

“You did?” She was
genuinely surprised. He didn’t seem like the type. He was so gentle and kind
hearted.

“Yeah. I wanted a bit of
excitement, not just working in an office every day, as a doctor. So, I became
an army medic in Iraq for ten years. I learned how to use a gun and how to
fight. I was never sent to the front. I dealt with injured soldiers that came
back from battle. I saw some atrocious injuries, things you couldn’t even
imagine.”

“I can’t imagine…”

“The point is…I’m not
just some mushy doctor here to sweep you off your feet and make you fall in
love with me. There’s more to me than that. I know certain techniques and I
know how to handle myself.”

She felt slightly
reassured by this, but was still concerned about the possibility of him running
into Logan.

“But he's crazy and he
has guns…and his goons all carry them, too. They’re all armed…”

“Charlotte…first of all,
I’m going to go there in the dead of night. I’ll just do a quick recon of the
house, make mental notes of any weak spots and find places we might be able to get
in to collect evidence. Then I’ll start to watch him for a while, whenever I
can. I might even employ a friend of mine to watch him. He would take note of
his movements.”

“A friend of yours? What
kind of friends do you have?”

Suddenly, she was a bit
worried she might be getting mixed up with another guy with criminal contacts.
If indeed, he had a friend who specialized in surveillance.

“He’s an ex-police
officer,” he explained with a smile. “I knew him from my army days. After we
left the force, he signed up with the police. I went back to being a doctor
but…I did what I needed to do to become qualified to work in hospitals. It was
a bit more exciting than working in a private practice.”

“That’s…a useful friend
to have, in this case,” she grinned, feeling less apprehensive. Maybe there was
a chance that together, they could pull this off, after all.

“He certainly is, and I
can trust him. I still see him on a regular basis, we take judo together.”

“You know judo? Wow,
you're full of surprises.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled.
“Every couple of weeks, I go back…I like to keep my skills up.”

“Are you like a black
belt?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes,” he laughed. “So, please
don’t worry about me…I’ll be fine. I’ll wear a Kevlar vest anyway…just in
case.”

“Let me guess, you got
that from your friend, too?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jim Halbert.”

“Will I get to meet him?”

“If he agrees to help us,
then certainly. He’d be helpful in terms of getting a conviction, too. He’s
well respected by the police. It's even possible if we obtain evidence
through…slightly dubious means...they might be able to find a way around it for
him…just because it came from him.”

“That’s great,” she
grinned excitedly and squeezed his hand.

“It is,” he smiled and
leaned in to give her another gentle kiss on the lips. “I should probably go
now.”

“Oh…” She was
disappointed. “You’re not going to stay the night?”

“Well, I’m on your parent's
good side, right now,” he laughed. “I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Honestly, they won’t
mind. I'm an adult.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got the
car anyway. I’ll come back and see you soon. And we’ll be in touch on the
phone, remember? I'm only a phone call away?”

“Yeah.” She smiled, still
sad to say goodbye.

After a few more words
and another chaste kiss, she led him back downstairs. He said warm goodbyes to
her parents and then he left. She was sad he insisted on leaving. She wanted to
spend more time with him, but she respected his decision.

Charlotte's parents
continued to sing his praises long after he'd gone. She was already sold on him,
but she was still thrilled they liked him.