What About Charlie? (4 page)

“I like to go to Utah to climb when I can. It’s beautiful out there and so quiet. It’s great.” He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Have you traveled much, Charlie?”

“Nope. I’ve traveled all around Iowa, Missouri and through the States in between.” She sighed. “When I was growing up, we didn’t have the means to travel, and now I have the means to take a trip now and again but not the time.”

“No, Adam. I woke really early this morning,” Charlie explained, “and never did get back to sleep. I’ve really enjoyed your company tonight.”

He pinned her eyes with his. “I’ve enjoyed yours too, Charlie. We need to get together again.”

“Yes. Yes we do.”

****

“Yes. We went out for hamburgers and after we finished, we sat and talked for hours. Adam is a fashion photographer and travels around the world. He has never been married and has no kids,” she explained. “And he is not weird.”

Evan felt like he wanted to throw up. He felt like a first-class jerk too – jealous that Charlie had met someone she liked. Jealous, in fact, that it was Adam instead of himself.

The thought made him pause for a moment. Why was he suddenly so interested in Charlie?

“I’m glad,” he answered in an upbeat voice. “Maybe he’s the one,” he joked though he felt very empty.

Charlie felt a pang of disappointment slice through her. She’d thought if Evan had any feelings for her beyond friendship, he’d be disappointed that she liked Adam. Perhaps she had been imagining things the other night.

To tell the truth, she liked Adam very much, but she couldn’t see herself in a relationship with him. They were too different, their lives too different.

Though she had been enjoying herself immensely last evening, her thoughts had drifted on occasion to Evan, to when he’d almost kissed her. She’d tried to stop her thoughts from going there, but couldn’t. She’d always thought Evan to be handsome and attractive, incredibly sexy and had secretly hoped deep down that perhaps he would eventually come to like her as more than a friend. When he’d almost kissed her, she’d thought perhaps this was the beginning. But she was mistaken. It had been her imagination all along.

For several seconds after Charlie hung up, Evan stood staring at his phone. Charlie had hung up on him. She’d never done that before. For whatever reason, he felt at a loss and very much alone, like he was loosing something of great importance to him.

****

“So, tell me about Adam,” Amy demanded over the phone later in the afternoon.

“He’s Ken’s brother. A fashion photographer. He travels the world. He likes to go rock climbing. He is incredibly handsome, very smart, and terribly witty.”

“Yes. He’d taken me home from the hockey game and we were standing outside my front door under the stars talking. It was a beautiful night, the stars and moon bright. He bent his head and his lips came within a hair’s width of mine but then, all of a sudden, he pulled back.”

“He is, Charlie. He may have money, and he may be great to look at, but he’s a drag to be around. It’s like he’s made of ice. If you ask me, you’d be much better off worrying about Adam instead of Evan. Adam sounds like he’s much more fun.”

“Amy, you don’t know Evan like I know Evan. He’s kind and considerate, funny, and very down to earth. I know you may have never seen that side of him. He’s very reserved. But I see it all the time. He’s true and genuine. A gentleman.”

Amy shook her head. “What are you going to do about Adam?”

“I don’t know what to do. Evan didn’t sound the least bit fazed when I told him how much I liked Adam. I can’t wait around forever for Evan. If he doesn’t find me attractive, there’s nothing I can do. But would it be fair to Adam to keep on seeing him?”

“Charlie, it’s a date not an engagement. You might find that he could be the one to steal your heart.”

Perhaps, Charlie thought. But she was afraid that Evan had already stolen her heart a long time ago.

Excitement tinged with apprehension. That’s what Charlie felt when she turned off the paved county road onto the long winding dirt road that led to her father’s Iowa farm. Freshly planted corn and soybean fields bordered the road on both sides. Soon they would be covered with tiny green sprouts.

Charlie loved growing up on the farm. She loved the peace and quiet. When she was a young girl, on quiet summer nights, she would sit on the front porch and gaze up at the starlit sky, the peace and quiet wrapping around her like a blanket, enjoying the chirps of the crickets and croaks of frogs. More often than not a light breeze would kick up, rustling the leaves on the corn stalks in the fields that surrounded the house. She would often wonder what was out there, what her future would bring. Would she grow up to be rich and famous? Would she meet and marry the man of her dreams? She still wondered about those questions at times. What would her future bring? Would she finally find the happiness she craved? Would she have a family of her own someday?

As an only child, she’d helped her father farm the land that had been in the family for a hundred years. At an early age she had to learn responsibility and take on tasks that a seven year old wouldn’t have normally done. With her father working the farm, it was up to her to do the laundry and cooking, to keep the house clean.

A tinge of sadness settled in Charlie’s heart as she thought about her mother. Breast cancer had taken her mother when Charlie was only seven. She had only a few vivid memories of her, but they were ones she’d prefer to block from her mind. She wanted to remember her mother happy and healthy, but all she had were memories of her mother during her illness, lying in a hospital bed sick and weak.

Oh, how she wished she had other memories! She wanted to remember her mother laughing and smiling, remember her wearing her favorite pink terry cloth bathrobe and matching slippers peeking out from beneath while she fixed them all breakfast. She knew her mother had done those things because her father had often spoken of it. But try as she might she couldn’t remember any of it.

But no matter how hard she tried, all she could remember was her mother being so weak that she couldn’t stand or even raise her arm. One memory that was particularly vivid was when her mother had just gotten home from the hospital for the last time. She’d come home to die, the doctors saying nothing more could be done. Charlie had hugged her mother so close, wanting badly to feel her mother’s warm embrace in return. But mama had been too weak to even put her arms around her daughter.

When mama died, all Charlie had was her father and all he had was she. There were no close relatives they could lean on. She and her father had helped each other through the hard times, and she was proud to say that they made it through - with a few bumps along the way.

Charlie went around the last curve in the road before coming upon the house she grew up in, a white two-bedroom house with dark green trim. Several large oak trees with budding green leaves surrounded the small square house. Just beyond was the machine shed and grain bin.

As soon as she parked her car adjacent to the front door, Henry Johnson came out and stood on the front porch, a big smile on his face. Charlie smiled in return. He was close to seventy now, a tall imposing man despite being slightly stooped from old age. She loved him deeply and it gave her a great sense of security to know he loved her just as much in return.

Jumping out of the car, she met him halfway. Henry grabbed her and hugged her close. “It’s good to see you girl.”

A cold northerly wind whipped around them, but neither seemed to care.

Smiling up at him, she replied, “It’s good to see you, too, Daddy.” Looking up at his face, she frowned. “Daddy, you’re as pale as a ghost. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” His voice had a raspy quality to it that Charlie had never recalled hearing before. “I’ve been out working on one of the tractors and got a little winded. That’s all.”

“Are you sure?” she asked not quite believing him. Her father was never one to complain if he felt ill. “Have you been taking your medicine?”

Giving her a reassuring smile, he said, “I’m sure girl. And I’ve been taking my medicine. Now, don’t you worry about me.” He squeezed her hard. “It’s good to have you back home. I’ve missed you so.”

Charlie smiled up at her father. It was so good to see him and hear him call her his pet name, Charlie girl. She’d missed him so much.

“I got it cut and had a perm put in it. How do you like it?” she asked, running her fingers through her hair, loving the way the soft curls felt on her fingers.

He scowled at her disapprovingly. “I liked it better long and straight. You don’t look like my Charlie anymore with your hair like that.”

She put her arm around her father, resigned that no matter what she did her dad would always view her as a little girl. “I’m grown up, daddy. You can’t possibly expect me to stay the same. Can you?”

“Humph. You’ll always be my Charlie girl no matter how old you are.”

Charlie gazed up at him. His dark hair was now white. His face was filled with deep lines and creases, evidence of his age and his life working out in the sun. He’s getting old, Charlie thought with sadness and a touch of alarm. Day by day he’s getting older.

“Charlie girl, you remember William McGee don’t you? He has a farm machine repair business now.”

Charlie followed Henry’s gaze to a tall, brown haired man with even nondescript facial features walking towards them from the machine shed. When he reached them, Henry slapped his back and said, “William she’s as pretty as I said, isn’t she?”

Charlie’s face flushed with embarrassment and she quickly filled with apprehension. Her father was matchmaking again. Of that she had no doubt. She glanced at William. His cheeks were as red as two shiny apples. Was he a willing participant in this setup or was he an innocent victim just like her?

“Charlie’s back for a visit, William. Still unmarried…” as if it were something terrible.

Cutting Henry off before he could say anything more embarrassing, Charlie forced a smile and said in a falsely light voice. “Hi, William. It’s good to see you again.”

William smiled, appreciation filling his eyes. “It’s good to see you too, Charlie. Your dad is always talking about you.”

She glanced up at her father in time to see a self-satisfied grin on his face. Anger quickly filled her. She was not a horse up for auction, and she was tired of his continuous matchmaking. Would it be so difficult to come home just one time without a man being paraded in front of her?

“If you’ll excuse me, William. I need to get my bags out of the car and get in out of this cold wind. It seems to go right through you.”

“Son, why don’t you help Charlie with her bags while I look at the tractor?”

Son? Charlie bit her tongue, refraining from telling them that she’d put her bags in the car and she could very well take them out! But she wasn’t a mean person and didn’t want to hurt William’s feelings. There was no telling what her father had told him or what he’d been led to leave.