After placing the can down on a shelf, Beth followed Charlotte to the front end, where Charlotte wedged open the front door for fresh air.
“So.” Beth perched herself on the counter by the register. “I’m glad to see you here and smiling. How are you after . . . you know?” She lowered her voice to a hushed whisper on the last two words, obviously referring to the spectacle Charlotte and her family had made at the baseball game yesterday.
Once Charlotte had climbed into Roman’s car, she’d forgotten all about Beth, dinner, and everything else. “I’m fine,” she said in equally hushed tones before catching herself. She glanced around the empty shop and rolled her eyes. “Why are we whispering?” she asked loudly.
Beth shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Well, I am fine. I didn’t appreciate being ambushed in public, though. If Dad—I mean, Russell—wanted to talk to me, he should have called. Or come over. Or gotten me somewhere alone. It was humiliating.”
Beth glanced down at her nails, not meeting Charlotte’s gaze as she asked, “Would you have given him the time of day if he had?”
Charlotte rolled her shoulders, where tension courtesy of this conversation had lodged. “I don’t know. Would you give Dr. Implant the time of day?” She immediately sucked in a sharp breath, disgusted with her comeback. “Good God, I’m sorry, Beth. I don’t know why I’m taking things out on you.” Charlotte ran to the counter and gave Beth an apologetic hug. “Forgive me?”
“Of course. You don’t have a sister to torture and your mother’s too fragile. Who else is there but poor me?” Despite the harsh words, when Beth pulled back, she had a smile on her face.
“Actually, you asked an interesting question. I would give Dr. Implant the time—long enough to thank him for opening my eyes to my insecurities. Then I’d dump ice water on his lap.”
“You’re really feeling better?” Charlotte asked.
“How do I explain it?” Beth glanced upward, as if searching for answers. “I’m feeling aware,” she said. “All I do lately is think, and I can see a pattern in my past relationships now. All the men I’ve been involved with wanted to change me, and I let them. I easily adapted to whatever they wanted me to be. David was the most extreme case. But no more. And I have you and Rick to thank for helping me on the road to recovery.”
“Me?” Charlotte asked, surprised. “What did I do?”
“I told you the other day. You offered me this job because you knew better than me where my talents and interests lay. Now I know it too. And that’s just for starters.”
“Well, I’m glad to be of service. And what about Rick?”
“He talked and he listened. Most men don’t talk. They watch television, grunt, maybe burp a few times before nodding their heads and pretending to pay attention. Rick listened to the stories about my past and he helped me draw the right conclusions.”
“The man’s born to rescue damsels in distress. Maybe he should’ve been a shrink, not a cop.”
“Nah, the law-and-order thing makes him sexy,” Beth said with a laugh.
“Please don’t tell me you’re falling for him.”
Beth shook her head. “Nohow, no way. I’m on my own for a good long while.”
Charlotte nodded. And she believed her friend. Beth’s eyes didn’t take on a dreamy cast when she spoke about Rick. She didn’t seem to swoon over the sexy officer. Not the way Charlotte swooned when she thought about Roman. Her insides churned with anticipation and excitement at just the idea of seeing him again.
“I need to learn more about myself,” Beth said, interrupting Charlotte’s thoughts, and not a minute too soon. “I want to figure out what I like and what I don’t. Not what’s expected of me. So for now all I need is my friends.”
“You’ve got us, hon.” Charlotte clasped Beth’s hand tightly and Beth returned the gesture. Charlotte only hoped she wouldn’t be the one needing her friend’s shoulder next.
“So what are you going to do now that you can’t hole up in your office and do paperwork? Crochet again upstairs?”
She cringed at the thought. “No. My hands hurt. I need to spread out that kind of work. First I’ll stop by the Gazette offices and talk to Chase about an Easter sale ad. I can’t believe the holiday’s only two and a half weeks away.”
“Know what the best part of the holiday is?”
Charlotte tapped one finger against her forehead. “Hmm. Let me think. Could it be the chocolate Cadbury Bunny commercials?” she asked, referring to her best friend’s weakness.
“How’d you know?”
“Are you forgetting I sent you wrapped chocolate every holiday? I know you like I know the back of my hand.” Charlotte picked her bag up off the floor where she’d left it earlier.
“We get to pig out together this year.” Beth licked her lips in chocolate-heaven anticipation.
Charlotte laughed. “I’ll stop by when I leave the Gazette. If it’s quiet, I may just take the paperwork and bills upstairs.”
“I knew this would happen.” Beth shook her head sadly. “One day at home crocheting, and you’re hooked on the soaps.”
“Untrue.”
“Are you denying you’re going to watch General Hospital while you work?”
Charlotte gestured as if she were zipping her lips. She refused to confirm or deny. Of course she’d watch General Hospital. Because one certain sexy actor reminded her of Roman.
Man, oh, man, she was in deeper trouble than she thought. “See ya later.” She waved and walked out the front door into the fresh air and inhaled deeply. “Much better,” she said aloud. She hiked her purse onto her shoulder and started down the road.
As she passed the outskirts of town and the final median of grass, daffodils, and other assorted flowers, she saw Samson weeding the flower beds and called out to him. He didn’t hear her, or chose to pretend he hadn’t.
“Oh, well.” She shrugged and continued on, grateful for the fresh spring air. As she walked, her thoughts drifted to Roman. Tingling anticipation mixed with trepidation over the words they’d exchanged and the level of commitment those words implied.
She wondered not only what Roman meant by working out a compromise, but whether she could trust in the love he’d given and the marriage he claimed he desired.