Easy Kisses (The Boudreaux Series Book 4) (28 page)

“You haven’t spoken to her?” I’m surprised. I figured Charly would call her sisters first thing. I know that they’re her closest friends.

“No.” She shakes her head and sits on the sofa now. Her eyes, so much like Charly’s, are worried. “That’s usual for her too. When she needs to think, or if she’s sad, she stays mostly to herself. Especially since our father died.”

She looks at me now. “I want to hear where your head is, but I also want to give you some insight into Charly. I don’t see this as speaking out of turn because she loves you, and I think you love her too.”

“More than anything.”

She smiles softly. “That’s lovely. Charly was the closest to our father. Don’t get me wrong, we all thought we were the closest one, but in hindsight, I can see that Charly and Dad had a very special relationship. They had many of the same interests. She idolized him. Losing him was hard on all of us, but I think that a piece of Charly died that day too.”

She wipes a tear away, and I sink into a squat next to her, listening to her intently.

“Our parents were married for the better part of forty years, and for all we kids knew, it was a wonderful marriage. I still believe it was good, but having been married once myself, I know that no marriage is perfect. They made sure they never fought in front of us, and Dad took care of things; the business, us kids, and our mama. He loved her so much. And he used to tell us girls that we deserved nothing less than the fairy tale of love at first sight and happily ever after.”

She smirks and some of the pieces begin to fit together in my head.

“Love at first sight and happily ever after are for fairy tales,” she says softly, “but I think Charly believed in them. That’s why she’d never been in a serious relationship. She was waiting for that instant burst of passion, that immediate recognition that she’d met the man of her dreams, all in the first five minutes. And it wasn’t until she met you that she realized that love can be a slow burn, starting low and building into something wild and passionate.

“She had that with you. She was…
careful
. I don’t think she understood what was happening with you at first, but once she did, well, she fell hard.”

“And I was a broken prick who broke her heart.”

“Well, those are strong words, but I’ll take them,” she says with a laugh. “I don’t think you’re a prick, Simon. I think you fell truly in love for the first time too, and maybe you didn’t know exactly what to do with it.”

“That’s a simple, and accurate, way to phrase it.”

She nods, and the pain in her eyes is blinding.

“What happened to you, love?”

She just shrugs and smiles through the tears. I have a feeling she’s been doing that for a very long time.

“I’ve had my own hurt. And Charly watched that, too.” She looks up at me now and swallows hard. “Sometimes love is disguised as something evil. Something horrible.”

“Yes. It is.”

“So when you find true love, that makes your heart swell and comforts you, that makes you feel safe and protected, you fight for it, Simon. You fight.”

“She said she needs time to think.”

“Give it to her, but then you go after her and you fight for her. Nothing in this world will be more worth it.”

“I know.” I lean in and kiss her cheek and pull her in for a tight hug. “Thank you, Savannah.”

She nods, wipes her eyes, and stands to leave. When she reaches the door, she looks back at me. “Daddy would have liked you.”

And with that, she walks out.

Chapter Twenty-Two

~Charly~

It’s been a long day. Maybe the longest day of my life. I’ve finally just got home from work, and it’s almost midnight. I didn’t go to Beau’s because I need to think this all through on my own. The one person I would normally go to about these things is gone.

My dad would know what to say. God, how I wish I could talk to him, just one more time.

But I can’t.

I’m exhausted. I spent all day deep in thought. I was so preoccupied that I finally had to call Linda in to help me because I had to ask customers to repeat themselves two, sometimes three times. So I went into the back and spent the day placing new orders, balancing the books, and looking at real estate in Miami to keep my mind occupied.

I undress and flop into bed. I wonder if Simon is asleep, and then shake my head. What does it matter? I’m not going to call him over, and I’m not going to show up at his place. I wanted to ask him to stay so badly this morning. Seeing him, feeling his touch, almost made the last month of agony disappear.

Almost.

I thought about him all day today, and I still don’t know what to do. I want to be with him, but I knew from the beginning that he wasn’t my forever, even though I’d started to hope that I was wrong. He was much more than a Mr. Right Now. And then the way he ended things just hurt so badly, how do I trust that he won’t do it again? He says he won’t, but I don’t trust words. I barely trust actions. But I always believe in patterns, and he jumped to conclusions before.

I don’t know what to do. I yawn again and turn onto my side, enjoying my soft bed after so many nights on Beau’s couch. I don’t want to think anymore. I just want to sleep.

“The fish sure don’t seem to want to bite today.”

“We’re even using the good bait,” I reply and grin at my dad. I really don’t care if the fish bite, I just like being out on the river with him. This is our alone time, when the other kids don’t get to come along. He does this with all of us.

“I guess we won’t have any fish for dinner,” he replies and winks at me. “But that’s okay. It’s a nice day to be on the boat.”

“Yep,” I reply and set my pole in the holder thingie, then stretch my legs out so they can get some sun while I sip on a Coke.

“How are you doing, baby girl?”

“I’m doing just fine,” I reply. “School is hard, but it’s almost summer.”

“Time sure flies,” he says and sets his pole aside as well so he can turn and look at me. He takes a package of peanut butter cups out of the cooler and hands me one, then munches on his. My dad is a big man. Super tall. I think my brothers will probably be tall like him. “Tell me about your Simon.”

And suddenly, I’m not a child anymore. I’m a woman, and the poles are gone. But my dad still looks young and full of life, and my heart bursts with love for him.

“He’s not the one for me,” I reply with a shrug. “I should have known better from the beginning.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it wasn’t love at first sight.”

“So?”

“What do you mean
so
?” I ask. “You’re the one who always told me to wait for the love at first sight and happily ever after.”

“You were a child, Charlotte,” he replies with a soft smile. “Of course I would say that to a little girl.”

“I was waiting for a love like yours and Mama’s. I wanted the perfect love.”

“Love is never perfect,” he replies and narrows his eyes on me. “Your mother and I loved each other to distraction. I still love her, and while I’m anxious to have her with me again, I’m content to sit in this boat and wait for her to finish what she needs to do with you and the others. But Charly, there was many a day that your mama wanted to beat me over the head with her cast iron pan.”

“You were wonderful together. You never fought.”

He tips his head back and laughs. “Oh, darlin’, of course we did. But we tried not to in front of you kids. Maybe that was a disservice to you.” He rubs his hand over his mouth. “There were some hard years in there, especially when the babies were small and I had to work, or chose to work, more than I should have. We fought a lot, and she threatened to leave me.”

“She what?” I’m shocked.

“She said I either needed to be a father and help her with you kids, or I could go be married to my empire. And you know, she was right. Scared the shit out of me, though.”

“Which was probably her goal,” I mutter, utterly shocked that my parents had issues that I didn’t know about.

“We’re all human, darlin’. We make mistakes. I guess you have to decide if what your Simon did was so bad that you can’t forgive him.”

“I can forgive him. He explained why it happened, and I believe him. But what if it happens again? And again? I don’t think I could survive it, Daddy.”

“Seems to me, Simon might be the kind of man who learns lessons after the first time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have fallen in love with him.”

I blink at him and nod slowly. “He’s a good man.”

“And he loves you back.”

“He says he does.”

“Do you trust that too?”

I think about the look in his eyes when he told me he was in love with me, and when he apologized for hurting me. He looked tortured inside.

“I do.”

“Well, then I don’t see where the problem is. It’s important to forgive, darlin’. Doesn’t mean you have to forget. If you forget, you didn’t learn anything.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” I say and climb over the seat to settle next to my dad and lay my head on his shoulder. “I’ve needed this with you.”

“I’ve missed you too, baby girl. I’m so proud of you and what you’ve done with your business.”

“You can see it?” I smile up at him, so happy that he knows about Head Over Heels.

“I can see everything y’all are doing. Expanding is a good idea, and I’m glad you finally realized that I left that money for you to use rather than resent.”

“I don’t resent it, Daddy. I just… I want to do this on my own.”

“And you are. But it’s okay to let your old man help you now and again.”

“Will I see you again?” I ask, afraid that he’ll say no.

“If you need me,” he says. “I’m always right here, for all of you. But you’re going to be just fine, baby girl. I’m proud of you.”

I smile and kiss his cheek. “He’s going to be good for me.”

“You’re good for each other. There will be more good than bad; you just have to adjust your sails and ride through the rough waters to get to the smooth ones.”

“We’ve all been adjusting our sails since you’ve been gone.”

“Me too, baby girl. Me too.”

“I don’t want to go yet.”

“I’m always right here.”

***

It’s four in the morning and I don’t care. I need to see him right now.

The woman at the front desk didn’t love the thought of letting me up, but I assured her that he’d want to see me.

And she seemed like a bit of a romantic, and finally agreed to let me up, as long as I was quiet and didn’t wake the other customers.

I knock on Simon’s door and wait. He’s usually a light sleeper, but what if he doesn’t hear me? I should have called. I should have waited until morning rather than rushing over here like a crazy woman.

I turn to slink away and hear the door open behind me.

“Charlotte?”

I bite my lip and spin around and stare at his sleepy, messy haired hotness.

“Hi.”

“Come in.” He backs up and I get a good look at him in the glow from the lamp beside the bed. He pulled on shorts, but he’s shirtless. He’s tousled and sexy and his blue eyes are bright, not sleepy at all. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I reply, surprised that it’s the truth. “I know it’s late, or early, but I didn’t want to wait—”

“You’re fine. I told you to come anytime. Let’s sit.”

“Okay.” I nod and follow him into the suite and sit where he gestures on the sofa. He sits across from me on the coffee table and takes my hands in his.

“You’re cold.” He rubs my hands vigorously.

“I’m nervous,” I say with a chuckle.

“Why?”

“Because this is a big deal.” His gaze whips up to mine.

“Go on.”

“I love you, Simon. I think I fell in love with you in Montana, and then when you were here, well, I just… I felt things I never had before. And it scared me. It still scares me.”

“We’re in agreement there,” he says with a soft smile. His eyes are full of hope and love.

“I think I had some misguided notions about love,” I continue, thinking of my dream about my dad. “And I think I expected a lot.”

“You should expect a lot,” he says and squeezes my hand. “When you love someone you should expect
everything.
”

“But I can’t expect you to be a mind reader, or to be perfect. Because none of us are perfect.”

“I’m far from it,” he says. “I’m just a man, Charly. I’m a man who loves you fiercely, and I’m going to fuck up. I can’t promise that I won’t.”

“But we’ll learn from it when we do,” I interject and revel at the feel of his stubble on my palm as I cup his cheek. “There’s a learning curve involved here.”

“Are you saying that you’re willing to give this a try?”

“No,” I reply and lean closer when he frowns. “I’m saying that I want to commit myself to you. I’m not a tryer, I’m a doer. We can’t pick it up where we left off, Simon, but we can grow from it and move forward.”

“That’s more than I deserve and everything that I’d hoped for,” he replies and pulls me into his arms, rocking us back and forth. “God, I missed you, love.”

“I missed you, too.” He kisses my temple.

“What made you decide to come here now?” he asks softly.

I swallow hard. “My dad. I had a great conversation with him.”

He pulls back to look in my face. “Did you now?”

I nod. “He likes you.”

“Savannah thought he might,” he replies and brushes a piece of hair off my cheek.

“You saw Savannah?”

He nods.

“What did she say?”

“To fight for you.” He grins and kisses me, softly at first, and then more passionately, waking up parts of me that have been asleep for more than a month. “And if you hadn’t shown up here when you did, I was going to come to you in about four hours.”