Waking Charley Vaughan (18 page)

I didn’t know what to say to that. I ended up just telling him I would think about it, and thanking him for his time.  I walked out into the waiting area and met Brennan. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and walked me out to his truck. He acted as a shield against the cold air. It was gloomy outside, and it looked like we could be in for more snow. We’d already gotten over a foot in the past week. I usually loved snow. I was surprised that I hadn’t fully noticed how much we’d gotten until that day.

When we were both inside his truck, he looked at me. “You need some light,” he said.

“Huh?” I asked him, still thinking about the snow, and having no idea what he was talking about.

“Some light,” he repeated. “You’ve had too much heavy today. You need some light. Some fun. Some silly,” he explained.

“Oh,” I said, understanding. “I don’t really feel light,” I told him.

“Of course you don’t,” he said. “That’s because you
need
it.”

I shook my head, starting to protest but he cut me off.

“Look,” he reasoned, “let me take you on our date tonight. If you aren’t having fun within the first half hour, I’ll take you home. I promise.”

I thought about it. Once again, I had nothing to lose but time.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

                                   ***

The sun was trying hard to shine through the snow clouds a little after midday when he pulled up in front of my apartment and put his truck into park. “Okay,” he said with a sigh, “How does your arm feel?”

I looked at him, then looked at my arm. I was only in the cast. I’d finally ditched the sling for good. “It’s fine,” I said.

“And your head?” he asked.

“Fine,” I said again, checking for tender spots with my free hand. Nothing hurt to touch, which was a huge improvement. Wondering what he was up to, I asked, “Why?”

“Just making sure,” he said quickly, and he got out to open my door for me. “Do you have snow pants?” he asked me as we walked up to my apartment.

“Yeah,” I said, drawing the word out. Still not sure where this was going.

“Okay, good,” he said. “Go put them on,” he said while making a shooing motioning. “And put on plenty of layers of tops.”

“Okay,” I said, again, drawing the word out, “why?”

“Just trust me. Get dressed for snow and lots of it. I’m gonna run to my place, do the same, and meet you back here in a few.”

“Okay,” I said as I searched my dresser for my snow clothes. I decided to call Sara while I rummaged.

“This place is like a morgue,” she said as a greeting. “Mom keeps crying, dad is so quiet. I’m gonna go nuts!”

“Anything I can do?” I asked.

“Get me out of here?” she asked sadly. “But first, tell me what happened? Are you OK?”

“I’m OK,” I told her, and went on to explain how the interview had gone, and what I’d found out. She seemed as relieved as I was that Brennan would probably not be in any trouble for lying, and as disappointed as I had been that Matt confessed. Her last bit of hope in him was gone, too.

“At least he told the truth,” I said, trying to find some silver lining.

“Yeah, for once in his life,” she said bitterly.

I was still on the phone with Sara and pulling on my last layers of shirts and socks when I heard Brennan knocking. “Where are you guys going?” Sara’s voice was projected through the speaker phone as I let Brennan in.

“I’m not sure,” I told her, giving Brennan a look. “He won’t tell me.”

“Snow therapy,” Brennan said loudly so Sara could hear.

“He says I’ve had too much heavy and I need some light,” I explained to her. Strangely enough, she understood without any more explanation.

“I could use some light, too,” she sighed. Brennan gave me a look, one eyebrow cocked.

“Ask her to come?” he mouthed.

I shrugged. “Hey Sara, do you want to come?” I said into the phone. “Maybe it will make you feel better,” I added.

“I don’t want to crash your date,” she said, but it didn’t sound like she was resisting too hard. “Being a third wheel is sucky.”

I rolled my eyes as Brennan pulled out his phone and started dialing. “I think Brennan is taking care of that now,” I told her. “Put some snow clothes on and meet  us…” I trialed off, looking at Brennan.

“Coffee shop?” he asked before going back to his call.

“At the coffee shop,” I said into the phone.

“ OK,” she said, all the resistance gone. “Thanks, Midge,” she said before hanging up.

It turned out that Brennan was calling Adam. I was not at all shocked to hear that, and I think Adam was glad to have an excuse to call someone else into the pub. Brennan said he was getting sick of his part time work there, and wanted to be able to just focus on his shop.

Both Adam and Sara met us at the coffee shop downtown, and from there we all got into Sara’s Honda. Brennan drove, and before we left, he loaded the back of the SUV up with brightly colored plastic sleds and a helmet that he informed me was for me.

“Not a secret anymore,” I told him from the passenger seat. Sara had insisted that I sit up front with Brennan. I wasn’t sure if it was more because she wanted me close to him, or because she wanted to be closer to Adam. That was Sara for you. She was able to compartmentalize with the best of them.

Brennan drove us all up to what he called “The best sledding hill ever…within driving distance.”

Snow was lightly falling as we got out and got our sleds from the back seat.  Because it was the middle of the week, there weren’t many people there. We basically had the mountain to ourselves, which was nice. We spent the entire afternoon sledding and laughing and forgetting about everything bad from earlier in the day. It was a nice escape. For the first time in weeks, no one was fussing over me or asking if my arm was OK or if I was sad. I was just part of the group. Not “poor Charley,” just “Charley”.

Adam and Sara were an instant hit. By the time we were walking back to the car, I noticed they were already holding hands. My hand was in Brennan’s as we walked behind Sara and Adam. I stretched up and whispered, “looks like a good first date.” He smiled down at me.

“I hope it was for them, too.” I gave his hand a squeeze. It was hard to think of this as our first date. We’d spend so much time together anyway, and New Years Eve felt like our first date to me. I didn’t correct him though. Whatever number date it was, I was happy.

We all stopped for pizza at a little shop near Brennan and Adam’s place before going back to the coffee shop. We all separated there-- although, I didn’t think Adam and Sara would separate for long-- and Brennan took me back to my apartment.

When we got up to my door, he kissed me sweetly and held onto my hands. “There’s still time for a movie,” he said coaxingly.

I smiled. “I’m beat,” I said, and his face fell slightly. “How about a rental?” I added. I went inside to get cleaned up while Brennan went to do the same before picking up something on his way back.

“What should I pick up?” he asked me on the way out.

“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “Surprise me.”

Brennan rolled his eyes, but was still smiling when he turned to walk down the steps.

When he got back to my apartment, it was about seven o’clock. He’d picked up about five movies, and before the night was done, we’d watched almost three of them. They were almost all romantic comedies, but Brennan didn’t seem to mind. He was laughing almost as much as I was.

I was cuddled next to him for a while before eventually giving into to exhaustion, and laying my head down on his lap while he played with my hair. Before falling asleep, I remembered thinking that, once again, Brennan had managed to make a really bad day seem good.

When I woke up a few hours later, Brennan and I were still snuggled together on my couch. I hadn’t remembered it happening, but we were now both laying on the couch, me with Brennan’s arms wrapped around me, and him softly snoring in my ear. I thought of waking him up so he could go home, but instead, I just adjusted the blanket he must have put over us, and nuzzled myself comfortably closer to him.

He was still sleeping when I woke up later in the morning. His hair was messy, and his face was smashed against his arm.

I went into my small kitchen and started whipping up some breakfast. It wasn’t anything fancy. I was just making some coffee and pastries. Brennan woke up shortly after eight with a huge smile on his face.

“It smells great in here,” he said.

“Breakfast!” I said happily, bringing a tray of cherry pastries and two cups of coffee over to the couch. He tasted one and his face lit up.

“These are amazing, Charley.”  I blushed.

“Thanks,” I said smiling. “That’s my favorite part of baking,” I told him. “I like watching people enjoy it.”

“Charley, this is exactly why you should do what you love,” he told me. “Aside from the fact that you’re great at it, it makes you happy.”

“One day,” I told him.

He politely changed the subject to other things and we talked for about an hour before he decided he should get home. He did make me promise that I would think about calling my mom.

“I don’t want to pressure you,” he said. “I just think it’d make you feel better.”

“Fair enough,” I said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. “I will think about it.”

We said goodbye and I watched him walk down the stairs. When he was out of site, I closed the door to my apartment and just stood there, smiling. He was sweet. I was really starting to like him. Thoughts of Matt and how wrong I had been about him were swirling around in my head. I hoped I wasn’t making a mistake. Brennan seemed so different, I just still wasn’t sure if I trusted my own judgment anymore.

That was it. I decided Brennan was right. I did need closure. I grabbed my phone from the counter and sent him a text message.

“You win. I’ll call my mom…and I’m going to talk to Matt, too.”

I put the phone down, and padded the short distance to the bathroom to take a shower.

CHAPTER 13 – CHARLEY

“No, Charley,” my mother’s voice echoed through my phone speaker. “I will not be reconsidering anything.”

“Momma,” I tried. “I’m just asking for a compromise. I’m not asking you to change your mind completely. I’m just asking for us to find some common ground.”

“So you’re, what,” she asked, “some sort of therapist now?”

“Momma,” I began.

“Charley,” she interrupted. “The answer is no. Flat out. No.”

“Why?” I said, noticing more force in my voice than I’d intended. “Just why the hell not?”

“Because,” she said with a terrifying calm. “Entitled little girls who don’t know a thing about money do not get access to large amounts of it. You have no idea what you’re doing, Charley. And chances are, you’re going to fail, or you’re not going to finish this little project of yours, and then where will you be? Out a whole lot of money that you didn’t have to work for. That’s where!”

“
Entitled?”
I was pacing back and forth across my bedroom, fists clichéd. “You’re calling me entitled now? In case you haven’t noticed,
mother
, I’ve worked for every single thing that I have.”

“Right,” she said, laughing. “You worked real hard to find yourself  a rich boyfriend. That’s all the work you did. And then, you couldn’t even keep him. Don’t tell me about how you worked. You’ve not had to work a day in your life, and anything you start, you leave halfway done, or done the wrong damned way. I’m not budging on this. Grow up. Get married, and then it’s yours. Until then, forget it.”

Before I had time to think about what I was doing, I pressed the “end” button on the phone, and threw it against the wall. Watching it shatter made me feel better, but not much.

***

Matt looked terrible. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him look so run down. I sat on the opposite side of the glass partition, just looking at him. After a moment, he gestured for me to pick up the phone hanging on the wall beside me. I picked up the phone and put it to my ear.

“So, you decided to come,” he said.

“Yeah,” I said, not making eye contact.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I don’t know if small talk is a good idea, Matt,” I told him. He suddenly looked ashamed. I’d never actually seen him look really truly ashamed before.

“Why did you do it?” I asked him.

“Jesus, Charley!” he yelled. The shame was gone from his face. Now he full of indignation. He was good at that.