Jumping Puddles (27 page)

“What are you doing here?” I ask, coming to a stop a few feet from where he’s leaning against my driver’s door. He probably assumed he would need to block me from making an escape.

“I knew you would be here today,” he says softly.

He remembered. How is that possible? It’s been forever since we came here together. It’s been almost as long since he’s comforted me on this day. I’m shocked he remembered. It must be written all over my face because he continues before I can say anything.

“I’m done playing your games, Charlie. I’m not leaving here until you and I have a talk. You can’t avoid me any longer.”

I can’t help but smile. Leave it to Blake to get serious two seconds after sounding sensitive and caring.

“Okay,” I say, moving toward the car. He steps out of my way, allowing me to open my door. “Get in.”

Neither of us speaks as I wind through the back streets toward the house. A look of shock flashes across Blake’s face when I pull into the driveway of the house. He recovers quickly, clearing his throat before speaking.

“This is where you’ve been the whole time?”

“Yeah,” I reply, putting the car in park and turning off the engine.

“But you weren’t at the cemetery last year.”

“You were?”

“I figured you’d be there. When you weren’t, it never crossed my mind to check here.”

I nod, getting out of the car. Blake follows silently. As I unlock the front door, I pause, remembering the last time we were here together. Everything was different back then. Not our relationship, although that’s in a completely different place now, too, but the house.

“I’ve made some changes,” I confess, pushing the door open and stepping aside to let him see for himself.

Stepping inside, Blake takes in the new interior of the house. With wide eyes, he moves from room to room. I let him explore while I make us each a cup of tea, waiting for him at the table. Taking the seat next to me, Blake sips his tea before dropping in two spoonfuls of sugar and tasting it again.

“You’ve been busy.”

“I have.”

“Shall we talk about the elephant in the room now?”

Again with the swift change of tone and subject. I miss this about Blake. He never beat around the bush. Everything has always been black and white with him. If there was a gray area, it was our relationship. It sounds like he’s figured out how to move out of the gray area.

“What do you want to talk about, Blake?”

“Us. You. What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about what happened. I already told you everything you need to know.”

“I don’t think you did. There has to be more to the story.”

He’s too perceptive for his own good. He knows me too well. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me. I know I need to deal with this eventually, but I was hoping when we did finally talk, we would be able to avoid this topic. Apparently not.

“What else is there to say? He was cheating on me with Aubrey. He had been for a while.”

“I get that. You told me. What I don’t understand is why. Why would they do that to you? If he wanted to marry you, and she was supposed to be your best friend, why would they hurt you?”

Hearing him ask the same questions I’ve asked myself from the moment I found them in bed together hurts. Deep. My defenses instantly go up. I open my mouth to reply but stop. It’s not his fault. I can’t take this out on him. If I don’t tell him the real reason, he’s never going to let it go.

“Money,” I whisper.

“I thought you didn’t tell Zach about your inheritance,” he replies, confused.

“I didn’t tell him everything. I think Aubrey did.”

“Why would you tell her?”

“It was right after I met her. She was asking a lot of questions, and it came up. I never told her how much, but she obviously thought it was enough to run a scam on me for it.” My voice rises the angrier I get.

“So it was all a scam? The friendship, the marriage, all of it?”

“Apparently.”

Blake starts laughing uncontrollably. At first, I want to smack him. After a few seconds, I join him. It feels good to laugh. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed this sincerely. It’s as if all my demons are being set free. The weight of the last year is lifting from my shoulders. It’s over, done. It no longer has an impact on my life. I’m letting it go, all of it.

As our laughter begins to quiet, Blake takes my hand in his and gives it a tiny squeeze. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. I really am.”

“It is what it is. I’m just glad I found out when I did. If I had married him, it would have destroyed me. My parents worked really hard to make sure I was taken care of. If he had gotten his hands on that money—”

“He didn’t, and he never will.”

“I know.”

We sit in silence and drink our tea. After rinsing the cups and placing them in the dishwasher, I join Blake in the living room. We still have things to talk about, bigger things. I really want to know why he’s here. I’ve been an awful friend the last year. I’m going to have to earn his trust back, and I’d like to get started on that. Today.

“So, I have to ask”—I take a seat on the couch next to him, sitting Indian style—“why are you here?”

“I came here to find you. Why else would I be here?”

“But, why?”

“I’ve been worried about you. Scott and Alice promised me you were safe, but they wouldn’t tell me where you were. I figured this is the one place, the one day, I might be able to catch you. I guess if I’d thought hard enough, I could have figured out you would be here, in this house, too.”

“I’m sorry I worried you. I’ve been an awful friend to you, and you deserve better.”

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit, Charlie. It’s not about what I deserve,” he says, looking me straight in the eye. “It’s about what I want.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, my voice barely audible.

“You. Just you. I want you to stop running and start trusting me. I want you to stand still for a second so I can catch you. I want us. I want what we used to have, only more. I want the rest of your life. Here or in California, I want to be with you.”

“Is that all?”

“No. I’m sick of jumping over puddles, Charlie. It’s time we start jumping in them together.”

A single tear makes its way down my cheek; Blake catches it before it falls. I didn’t even realize I was tearing up. His words reminded me of the last conversation I had with my mother. Afraid I’d fall in a puddle, that it might be too deep, she warned me to be careful.

Life is a giant puddle. You either jump in, take a chance on life, or jump over it and potentially miss all the excitement. With the right person by your side, no puddle will ever be too deep you’ll get pulled under.

Looking at Blake, I realize he’s waiting for me to answer him.

“It would have to be here, Blake.”

“That’s fine.”

“Don’t you want to know why?”

“I don’t care why. As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter to me where we are.”

Seriously? Can’t he take a hint? Raising my eyebrow at him, he finally picks up on the fact I’m hinting at something.

“Okay… why here?”

“I’ll show you.”

Grabbing my purse off the hall table, I holler for Blake to come with me. He asks me a million times where we’re going, but I keep silent. As always, I say a little prayer as we pass the restaurant my parents use to own. I signed over the deed to the restaurant a few weeks ago. It was hard to do, but it was also the right thing to do. It hasn’t been mine in a long time.

I pull off the road, into the dirt parking lot. They’ll be pouring concrete in the next few days. The building itself is mostly finished, though. Digging through my purse, I find the key and hand it to Blake.

“Where are we?”

“You’ll see. Stop asking so many questions.”

As we approach the front double doors, I discover something new. They etched the letters into the glass since the last time I was here, so I step in front of Blake, causing him to come to a halt.

“I thought you wanted me to go inside?”

“I do, and we will, but now I want to tell you.”

“Make up your mind, Charlie.”

“Look, after I’d been here for a while, I started to get stir crazy. The house remodel was finished, and there was nothing to fill my days. I also missed modeling. I thought about going back part time, but I didn’t want to risk having to deal with Zach or Aubrey. So, I created my own solution.” Stepping aside, I take Blake’s hand and walk him up to the doors. Squinting, he reads the etching on the glass.

Hill Talent Agency

The moment realization hits, Blake’s face lights up with a huge smile. “Really?”

“Yeah. I know you never liked the business, but I fell in love with it. I don’t want to be the model anymore, but I do want to help others achieve their dreams. This is how I plan to do it.”

“This is amazing, Charlie. I’m so proud of you.”

“This is why I need to be here.”

Waving the key in front of my face, Blake unlocks the doors, and I show him around. We walk directly into the lobby and waiting area. All the furnishings will be delivered after the parking lot is complete. My contractor, John, was afraid the delivery truck would get stuck if we didn’t wait.

I show him the room that will be my office. There are three other offices that will eventually be filled with other agents. People I need to hire still. There’s a huge dressing room and the back of the building is one large room that will eventually be set up to host runway shows. I won’t be hosting any right away, but it’s a great space for the models to practice walking in.

The building is so much larger than I thought it would be. I imagined maybe a building half the size, even after I picked the construction plans. It wasn’t until the building started to go up I realized the size of it. I’m still floored every time I walk in here. It’s going to be amazing once it’s finished.

“What do you think?” I ask Blake as we lock up behind us.

“I think you’re amazing.”

“And the building?”

“I love it. Which one of those empty offices is mine?”

“Um… what do you mean?”

“Well, I’m assuming you haven’t hired a photographer yet, so I’m giving myself the job.” A cocky smile presents itself and, just like old times, I have a witty reply at the ready. Too bad Blake doesn’t let me get a word in. “I’ll take the one closest to you.”

“What if I wasn’t planning on hiring a photographer?”

“Look at it this way, Charlie. I’m not planning on letting you out of my sight ever again. That means I’m moving here, you’re going to agree to marry me, and we’re going to start the rest of our life together. That includes all of this,” he says, motioning to the building. “I’m not giving you a choice. Puddles, remember?”

“Puddles,” I reply, shaking my head.

If this is how the rest of my life is going to be, I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. I get to spend it with my best friend, the love of my life, and the man of my dreams, jumping in puddles.

IT’S BEEN A WILD
ride. I don’t know how else to explain it. Blake and I have been on the journey of our lives for more than a decade. There have been ups and down, highs and lows, but at the end of the day, I’m so glad we took the ride together. I can’t imagine a better partner, lover, husband, or father by my side through it all.

The Agency took off like wildfire that first year we opened. We went from only a handful of clients to an overwhelming number in less than six months. Not only did we need to hire two additional agents to work for us, but we also had to expand the building, running out of room, something I never saw coming. It’s a good thing we expanded, too. Blake decided to start his own magazine, Southern Fashion.

With two businesses successfully off the ground, I thought it was time we finally made our relationship official. In October 2004, we said our vows in front of our friends and families. It was a small ceremony, held at the church next to the cemetery. It was the closest my parents would get to being able to attend my wedding.

When we started traveling for work, my first concern was we would run into Zach or Aubrey. After successfully avoiding both of them at New York Fashion Week and again in Milan, I found out Zach had been blackballed from the industry. Apparently, I wasn’t the only scam he was running.

Aubrey, on the other hand, was found innocent of her crimes. I’m sure she wasn’t as innocent as she appeared to be. I didn’t share my story or my opinion with anyone. I wanted to on numerous occasions, but I knew it would only make me look bad if I spoke ill of either of them.

After a few years of traveling, Blake and I both decided to take a break for a while. We were barely home. We hadn’t seen our families in months. Most importantly, we wanted to start a family ourselves. Both of us knew we wouldn’t be able to do that and travel like we had been. We had to prioritize.

Family first. Always.

No matter how big our dreams were or how successful our businesses became, nothing was ever going to be more important than family.

I wanted two kids. Blake wanted three. At least, that’s what he thought he wanted. When we found out we were pregnant with twins, he changed his mind. Two at once was going to be enough for him. At least for now. Me? I wanted to have another one right away. I loved being a mother. It was the most rewarding thing I had ever done with my life.