If The Shoe Fits (16 page)

Suddenly, the door blew open. Mrs. Royale
sailed in. “Oh, there you are, my dear.”

Charlie forced another smile as the older
woman sank down beside her in the next seat.

“My, my,” she said. Plucking a nearby tissue,
she brushed it under her nose. “How sweet, isn’t this all? Alex’s
parents would be so proud of him.” She stopped and sniffled
delicately. “Oh, don’t mind me. Memories and all that.”

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to
say.

Mrs. Royale sucked in a deep breath. “I
mustn’t be sad, now. Why, I’m thrilled that Alex finally took the
plunge. We’d been hoping he’d settle down for years.” She leaned
close, whispering, “It’s better for business, you know.”

A quiver of unease shot through Charlie’s
middle. “No, I didn’t know that. How so?”

The older woman snapped open her tiny clutch
and pulled out a tube of lipstick. “Why, he’s more stable. There
were some business opportunities that fell through because he was
portrayed as such a playboy.”

Charlie swallowed hard.

“And, of course, we had to be careful that no
unsuitable girl got herself in the family way. There were
accusations once.”

This time Charlie’s stomach lurched.
“Really?”

“Gold digger.” She pressed a hand to her
mouth and looked up briefly. “Please, forgive me.” Then she went
right on talking. “She was only one of several. But this one, you
see, her father wanted Royale Enterprises. He couldn’t have it, or
buy it, so he planned on his daughter sleeping with Alex. A few
months later, she claims she’s expecting.” She whispered the
last.

Charlie pressed a hand to her middle,
suddenly feeling queasy. “Of course, she wasn’t?”

Mrs. Royale waved her hand. “Oh, no, no.
Thankfully not. Then there was the one, I think she was a few
before that one. Well, her family’s business was drowning in debt
and, of all things, to rescue them, she tries to hook Alex. My
goodness, what a mess that one was. She tried to sink Royale
Enterprises to save their necks.”

Looking at her own reflection, Charlie
watched in horror as the blood drained from her face. “But,” she
licked her parched lips, “Royale Enterprises is fine now,
right?”

It seemed to be the older woman’s turn to
turn pale. “Well,” she hesitated, “I guess since you’re family, you
should know.” She held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.
“It’s just a teensy-weensy bit, um, not at its best, if you know
what I mean?”

She must have mumbled something.

“But Alex is going to fix it, just you wait
and see. He’s going to sew up that California deal.” She shrugged.
“Millions upon millions, you know? We’ll have to move, make some
adjustments-” She cleared her throat. “But, everything will be
right as rain.”

“Of course.” It all made sense now. She was
just like the others, expecting to salvage her company by marrying
Alex.

But she’d assumed the marriage was to appease
her stepmother and finally have the woman agree to the many changes
to update King’s. She’d had no idea her stepmother would bargain
for her and in doing so, Alex would jeopardize his own
business.

Guilt and shock warred in her middle.

The older woman babbled on about the guests,
hinting at possible romances for her stepsisters. She even thought
one of Alex’s older, distinguished business associates had an eye
for her stepmother.

Bile rose in her throat.

After applying the creamy, rose lipstick, the
older woman drew her lips in and distributed the rich color. Next,
she smiled widely, and then rubbed a finger over her teeth.

Once done, she turned to Charlie. “You know
what the guests were saying before you arrived, my dear?” She
reached out and poked Charlie’s bare middle with her index finger.
It wasn’t quite a jab, but she felt it nonetheless. “That you and
Alex had to marry. They said you were expecting. I guess you showed
them, didn’t you? Why, in an outfit like that, you’d never be able
to disguise a little bump, now would you?”

Smiling weakly, Charlie forced herself not to
throw up.

***

Charlie’s head spun at the ongoing
commotion.

The makeovers were a huge success, as she had
predicted. But on the last day, she’d had enough of the constant
female chattering, arguing over the best look for them, clothes
tried on and discarded in a pile, and the whirl of people coming
and going. Rico’s occasional temper tantrums and Andre’s hissy fits
only added to the stress.

The bright lights and flashing cameras
weren’t helping the pounding in her temples. Before and after shots
were necessities. But really, couldn’t things calm down, even if it
was just for a moment?

In the back of her mind, a fusion of fear
snuck through.
Will it always be like this?
One campaign
after another?
Will it ever be enough?
Will I ever
have time to just sit back and enjoy it all?
The questions
nagged at her.

The one she didn’t want to face reared its
ugly head. When would she be able to design again? An ache of
longing shot through her.

Sketching, dreaming up dress designs, had
taken a back seat to all the other things she’d had to juggle
recently.

“Holy Toledo, boss, call for you.” Peg shoved
the cell phone into her hand.

Instinctively, she grabbed for it and
answered, “Charlotte King.”

“You forgot the Royale,” Alex reminded
her.

“Alex, is that you?”
Of course it was,
silly
. His voice eased the tension in her body.

“Unless you have another husband I don’t know
about.”

She chuckled at his joke. “No. I can’t seem
to get the knack of this one yet.” It came out more serious than
she’d planned.

Silence reigned.

Mentally, she berated herself. “Sorry, that
slipped out.”

“I guess it’s the truth for both of us, isn’t
it?” A tinge of sadness colored his words.

“Business.”

“Family,” he added.

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Charlie
said, “Obligations.”

“Loyalty.”

“Promises,” she pointed out.

“Spoken and unspoken ones.”

“Dreams.” Her voice caught. “Fulfilled and
unfulfilled.” She thought of both their families’ dreams.

“Theirs or ours?” He must have read her
mind.

Another round of silence stretched for a
long, uncomfortable moment.

“This is depressing,” she said without
thinking.

He chuckled. It came out strained. “Tell me
about it.”

She sighed.

“Look, I called to apologize.”

Apologize, for what? The last time they’d
seen each other he was making love to her. Slow, steady, wonderful,
passionate love all night long after the party, she recalled
dreamily. An ache, low and deep, curled through her. She wanted
him. She wanted to touch his face, to look into his eyes again, and
to feel his arms around her. He couldn’t be sorry for their last
night together, could he?

“I won’t be able to make it today.”

She shook off the wave of disappointment.
“California calling?”

“Business in California calling, yes. I can’t
drag myself away. Important meetings.”

Pressing past her hurt, she said, “Alex, you
have to do this. Don’t make it any harder for yourself than it has
to be, all right? Believe me, I understand. I’m not going to be
pulling you in one direction while your family and the business
pull you in another. I don’t want to do that to you,” she said
softly, blinking back tears. “I love you too much for that.”
Quickly, before he answered, she folded the cell phone shut, ending
the call.

“Honey, what do you think?” Dolly asked as
she waltzed out of the salon chair.

Focusing through the blur of tears, she
spotted her friend. “Dolly!” She rushed up to her and gave her a
quick, hard hug, and then pulled away. Gratitude at the diversion
swept through her. “I can’t believe the new you.”

Gone were the curls and in its place was a
smart, modern style with soft bangs and with slightly flipped-up
layers. The gray had been replaced with a dark blonde shade with
lighter highlights framing her face. “It brings out your eyes even
more. And it makes your skin look radiant. Just beautiful.”

Dolly giggled. “You think Eddie’s gonna like
it?”

“He’ll love it.”

“Good, cause we got a date tonight and I plan
on some smoochie smoochie.”

Chuckling, Charlotte hugged her friend again.
This time a little longer and a little tighter. Thank goodness she
had Dolly. She might be the only person she had left after all the
dust cleared in a week or so.

Once she pulled away, Dolly eyed her closely.
“You okay, sweetheart? You’re losing too much weight and you look
like you could collapse at any moment for the lack of sleep.”

She brushed it off. “Long week. Too many
campaigns so close together.”

“Too much work for one body.”

All she did was nod in agreement; she was too
tired to talk.

“Well, you go take a break and I’ll help out
around here.” She nudged Charlie’s arm. “Look, even Francie and
Prissy are lending a hand.”

Her stepsisters had been here since an hour
before the store opened and were more than willing to do anything
asked of them.

“I’m grateful for your help and theirs.”

They’d taken on some of the responsibilities,
but ultimately she’d been conferred with for the last-minute
details or glitches.

“Mayday, mayday, Charlie, come quick!” her
assistant, Peg, cried from the doorway.

“Disaster?” she asked as she rushed to her,
handing her back her phone.

“Holy Mamma Mia! Level four.”

Groaning, she followed through the crowd of
women at the makeup counter. “Fill me in as we go, Peg.”

“Some woman has infiltrated the window
display and is desperately trying to take your dress you wore at
the party the grandparents threw for you and Alex. She thinks if
she can look like you, she can get a man like yours.”

This time Charlie cussed under her
breath.

“Excuse me!” A nearby woman pulled back to
look at her in horror.

“Fudge, ma’am. We’re thinking of developing
our own line of fudge and baked goodies to offer to our lovely
customers.” Pain shot through her cheeks at the effort it took her
to paste on a phony grin.

The woman didn’t seem convinced and, at the
moment, Charlie didn’t truly give a flying fig. She just wished
this day would end and she could get some much needed rest.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been so difficult if
Alex could have made it. She sighed loudly.

He’d been gone all week long. The few phone
calls hadn’t been as impersonal as the first ones, but the
bantering and warmth in his voice hadn’t eased the ache in her
heart.

The call she’d just hung up on made it so
much worse. They both were highly aware of the problems they faced.
She missed him terribly.

If what little bit of information she’d
gathered this week were true, Alex would be spending more and more
time away so he could focus on getting Royale Enterprises back on
its feet and not be prey for a bigger company to swoop in for a
takeover.

And with each day that passed, a sliver of
reality sank in as well. The end was near for King’s, for their
employees, and for her hopes and dreams of keeping her father’s
legacy intact and thriving.

What would all of it do to Alex and her?

“You can drop me off here,” Charlie said,
leaning over the back seat to pay the taxicab driver.

“You sure, lady? I can bring you right to the
doorstep.”

She patted his shoulder. “No, thanks, I’ll
walk the last few yards.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. Hey, thanks for the
tip.”

She barely heard the last as she shut the
back door. He sped away. Standing on the corner, she gazed at the
house she’d once called home. It didn’t seem to harbor any wistful
emotions this time. She walked the short distance, wondering when
over the last few weeks she’d lost that connection.

This was her father’s house. The house she’d
grown up in with him, her mother, Dolly, and then her step-family.
But, for once, she didn’t long for everything to be turned back in
time to relive those wonderful memories with him.

In a flash, she knew why. She’d found Alex.
She’d found love.

Knocking on the door, she hoped her
stepmother was home.

The big, wooden door opened effortlessly. A
man she’d never met before looked down his nose. The short, older,
perfectly groomed butler stood before her. “Yes?” His bored tone
had Charlie biting her lip to keep from laughing.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Charlotte
King to see Mrs. King, please.”

He stretched out his long neck and raised his
eyebrows, reminding her of a turtle. “Don’t you mean Charlotte King
Royale, ma’am?”

She bowed slightly. “Duly corrected,
sir.”

In the next few minutes, he ushered her into
the foyer. She stood there until he could confirm if the mistress
of the house was receiving any guests this evening.

While waiting, Charlie glanced around the big
area. She never noticed how cold it seemed, even under all the faux
gold. Her gaze landed on the doorway to the darkened dining room.
That’s where she’d met Alex, colliding into his arms. Had it only
been a few weeks ago? She shook her head in wonder.

So much had changed. She had changed.

“Mrs. King will see you now.”

Summoned, Charlie thought. She entered the
parlor. The room hadn’t changed a bit, but to Charlotte, she was a
stranger viewing a familiar place.

“Charlotte, I’m surprised you would grace us
with your presence. And on a Saturday night, at that!” Her
stepmother’s words were slightly slurred. She’d obviously been
having a nip or two tonight.