Wandering Heart (9781101561362) (12 page)

Settle down, Charlotte,
she chided herself.
Say what you have to say and try to sound like a grown-up.

“I don’t know how I can ever thank you for saving my life. Honestly. I know I said it before, on the boat, but I feel as if I can’t say it enough.”

He met her gaze for a moment then quickly looked away. “I happened to be nearby and heard you cry out. It was … a fluke. No pun intended,” he added, turning the serious moment into a lighter one. “Anyone would have done the same. It was really just luck.”

Charlotte nodded. “Lucky for me.”

“Oh, lucky for me, too, I have to say. How else would I ever have gotten to meet you?” he countered.

Charlotte had no answer to that, at least none that she would dare voice aloud. A small voice inside her insisted that some way, some day, their paths would have crossed. It wasn’t just chance or luck that had brought Colin into her life. She suddenly felt deep inside she was meant to come to this place and meet this man.

Her brush with death had shaken her to her soul and made her think about so many things. Some of it may have been silly—like believing in fate and destiny. But her life was a case study in being in the right place at the right time, in being very, very lucky. Coming out of Nowhere, Ohio, with no connections and no real knowledge of the movie business and ending up one of the most famous faces in the world—that was enough to make anyone believe there was something more going on in the universe than meets the eye.

And this wild, dangerous, amazing day had had the same effect on her. She just didn’t know what it all meant yet.

All I know right now is that Colin is the most attractive guy I’ve met in a long time. He looks so handsome tonight, he could easily take a place on the other side of the camera with me.

But she didn’t dare tell him that.

“So … I guess you like lobster,” he said suddenly.

She was puzzled, then realized he was looking at her sweatshirt. “Oh, the shirt …” She laughed. “I borrowed this from Liza. I didn’t have any warm clothes with me. But I do love lobster, now that you mention it. I grew up in the Midwest, and fresh fish was not part of our diet. I was about sixteen before I realized fish didn’t swim around in little rectangles with breading on top. All we ever got at home was fish sticks.”

Colin laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, really. It’s true,” she insisted. “Now I can’t get enough lobster.”

“The Midwest is a big territory. Where did you live?”

“In Ohio, Greenwood, a small town, not far from Toledo.”

“I’ve never been to Ohio. I hear it’s very—”

“Flat?” she asked with a laugh.

“That wasn’t what I was going to say. But I’ve heard that, too,” he admitted. “I hear it’s a very friendly place. A lot of presidents come from Ohio.”

“Yes, I know. We heard all about them in school. I think that’s the only thing I can remember from my history classes.”

“Do you have sisters and brothers?” he asked curiously.

“Two sisters and one brother. I’m the oldest. How about you?”

“Me? Two sisters. Both older. I’m the baby of the family, couldn’t you tell?” He smiled at her again, and she noticed a deep dimple in his chin.

“Yes, come to think of it. I was just about to say that,” she teased. “But I didn’t want to offend you.”

“No offense taken.” He laughed again, seeming pleased that she kept up with his verbal sparring.

Charlotte was pleased, too. He had a quick wit, which she liked about him. And she enjoyed talking to him. She didn’t feel obliged to impress him in any way. She could just be herself.

Now it was her turn to ask some questions. “Were you raised around here, Colin?”

She recalled that Claire said he’d been on the island a few years. She was curious about where he grew up.

“Not too far away. In Concord. It’s about an hour or so inland. My folks used to take us camping on the island when I was growing up. That’s how I learned about this place.”

He sounded as if he had a happy childhood, a happy family life.
She was glad for him, though she couldn’t help but feel a bit envious for anyone who sounded like that. She wondered how he decided to become a fisherman, but didn’t feel comfortable enough yet to ask.

There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask him. She wanted to know everything about him. As if she were the one giving some movie star an in-depth, super-personal interview. She sure knew the questions by heart by now.

But what was the point? It didn’t seem logical to get too involved, no matter how attracted she felt or how much she wished they could get to know each other better.

He was probably thinking the same thing about her, she guessed.

He leaned back in his chair and gazed at her. She was used to people looking at her every day, filming her every move. But his appraising look somehow made her self-conscious. She wanted him to like her, she realized. For some mysterious reason, it was important that this man she barely knew like her. Maybe it was because she already liked him.

“How long will the movie crew be in Cape Light?” he asked.

“Oh, about two weeks, I think. It depends on how well we can keep to the schedule. We lost a whole day of work today, but maybe we can make it up somehow, shooting extra hours on one or two days. When we get back to California, we’ll shoot a few more interior scenes on a movie set.”

“You must travel a lot, going from place to place to make all these films.”

“I do,” she said. “I just filmed a movie in Japan and last year, let’s see … I was in London, Cairo, Budapest, and New Zealand.”

“Wow, that’s quite an itinerary.”

She suddenly felt bad, as if she had been bragging. He probably didn’t get to travel much beyond his fishing routes. “I’m usually
working most of the time and don’t get to see much,” she explained. “I’d love to take a long trip sometime as an anonymous tourist. A long train ride through Europe, or a cruise around the Greek Islands in a private little boat.”

“The Greek Islands are breathtaking. I crewed on a private yacht for a while. We sailed the Mediterranean for a year. You should do that, in between your movies sometime.”

Charlotte was impressed. “Sounds like a real adventure. If you find a boat and crew, maybe I will.”

Had she just said that? Wow, she was never that forward. He was really getting to her, wasn’t he?

“Anytime, just let me know. Even some parts of the Caribbean are beautiful. Or the islands off the coast of Venezuela, like Bonaire.”

“Did you sail around those places, too?” she asked curiously.

“I crewed sometimes, and other times I just took odd jobs in the cities and worked my way around, mostly in Europe and South America. I took two years off after college and just bummed around with a backpack and no reservations, as the expression goes.”

“No schedules, no itinerary, no one telling you where you had to be?”

“That’s right. That’s it exactly.”

She suddenly pictured him sailing in the Caribbean. He was very suntanned and had on a billowing white shirt. There was also a woman with him. Charlotte didn’t like that part of her fantasy, but she couldn’t imagine him alone on such a romantic trip. She wished she could be the one to visit places like that with him.

“That’s the kind of trip I’d like to go on. Someday,” she added wistfully.

“I hope you do.” He smiled softly at her and she smiled back.

She suddenly wondered if he believed her. After all, why would
she ever travel in such a rough, basic fashion? She was accustomed to the very best—the most luxurious hotels and spas, the most exclusive restaurants. But that level of luxury was, in a way, like a thick, soft wall that blocked her from the real world. It was a wall that sometimes felt like a prison.

Colin experienced the real world, head-on. She could already tell that much about him. Whether out on his boat in the middle of the sea, or hitchhiking through the French countryside.

She suddenly envied him and anyone who could do those things with him. The truth was, their lifestyles were so different, they might as well be living on separate planets. Charlotte hated to face that fact, but there was no getting around it. It was the truth.

She looked up and met his deep blue gaze. Every rational thought about how different their lives were vanished. Maybe she shouldn’t dismiss this attraction so quickly. Maybe this could work—in some improbable, unimaginable way?

Meredith walked into the sitting room, carrying her laptop. She didn’t seem to even notice Colin and made a beeline for Charlotte. “There you are. Liza told me you were up. How do you feel?”

“Better. I got a good rest. I think that’s what I really needed.”

“Great. Judy’s been texting me all night. Now I can finally report some good news. Do you think you can work tomorrow?”

Charlotte nodded. “No problem. I’ll be out there.”

“Great. I’ll let her know.” Meredith opened up her laptop and started to type.

Charlotte glanced at Colin, trying to send an apologetic look. She was sorry they’d been interrupted. She hoped Meredith would go do her work someplace else so that they could talk more.

“Meredith, this is Colin Doyle, the man who pulled me out of the water. Colin, this is my assistant, Meredith Pope.”

Meredith looked up and blinked at him. “Oh, hello. I thought I recognized you.”

Colin just nodded at her, but he suddenly seemed uneasy. He looked as if he were getting ready to leave, but Charlotte didn’t want him to go. Not yet.

Meredith glanced up from her screen. “Oh, Charlotte, there’s something I have to show you. I don’t know how it got out, but somebody already reported on the incident. They got it all wrong, of course, and said we were filming on a boat and you fell overboard … I bookmarked it. Just give me a second.” Meredith tapped away on the keyboard.

Colin stood up and put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll be going now. I’m glad to see that you’re all right.”

Charlotte stood up, too, and smiled at him. “Thank you for coming. I’ll see you out.”

“That’s all right. I know my way.” Then he stuck out his hand, a rather formal gesture, she thought. In Hollywood, everyone hugged lightly and gave air kisses. Even if you despised the person. But she took his hand and shook it, grateful for that contact at least.

“Good luck with the movie. Don’t get into any more trouble, okay? I had to send my superhero cape out to the cleaners.”

She laughed. She loved his sense of humor. “I’ll try to be careful. But keep your phone on, just in case.”

They actually hadn’t exchanged cell phone numbers or e-mail addresses or anything like that. Charlotte suddenly wanted to offer, but caught herself. It would be pointless. He seemed to know that, too.

Once Colin left, she was alone with Meredith, who had finally found the link to an Internet story on Charlotte’s watery adventure. Charlotte sat beside her on the love seat, watching the short video.
She hardly heard a word. She was thinking of Colin. She had been wondering all day if her attraction to him was just the excitement of the moment, a crush on her rescuer, the way it always happened in the movies.

But it wasn’t that at all, Charlotte decided. Or more precisely, it was not
only
that. There was something about Colin—his strong, quiet manner, his gentle humor—that drew her more strongly than any man she’d ever met.

And that was something else to think about.

“A
UDREY
? When are you going to do something about this dog? I think she just stole half my breakfast off the table.”

Audrey’s husband, Rob, had done his usual early morning chores in the barn while Audrey fixed breakfast. He had just come in and washed his hands and now stood by the table, looking at his plate. Which was missing the pile of whole-wheat toast Audrey had left on the plate beside his eggs.

“At least she didn’t eat the eggs. I’ll make some more toast.”

“Thanks, but you didn’t answer my question.” He sat down and reached for his coffee mug.

“I know, I know. I’ve just been really busy the past few days and with all that rain, I didn’t feel like walking around with a pile of soggy flyers.”

Audrey sat down across from him. They were eating at the picnic table on the porch. The dog wandered over to her blanket in the corner of the room then lay down and began licking her paws.
She knows we’re talking about her,
Audrey thought. “I’ll take care of it today,” she said. “I’ll take her to a shelter. I think there’s one in Essex.”

Rob looked at her as he wolfed down his scrambled eggs, not
bothering to wait for the toast. “Why don’t you just take her up to the General Store? Maybe someone there will recognize her.”

“Good idea. I’ll start with that. I just have to weed the garden before it gets too hot,” she added. And she had a list of many other things to do, too. Such as more research about fertility issues, so she could ask the right questions at her appointment with the specialist on Tuesday. It was painful to look up those articles and read about everything that could go wrong and even face the fact that she might never be able to give birth to her own baby.

Dealing with new doctors was also draining, as was explaining her story to receptionists and nurses. It was the most pressing issue in both their lives right now and ironically, it was the one she most avoided thinking about. Any excuse, even this silly dog, was enough to pull her attention away.

Audrey sighed and started on her breakfast. Rob looked over at her. “Something wrong?”

Nothing more than the fact that she couldn’t seem to get pregnant. She shook her head and forced herself not to be so glum. “Just thinking. I’ll take care of the dog thing, I promise.”

“Good, I hope you do. She’s getting very comfortable around here. It will just be harder for the dog if she has to go into a shelter, or go back to her real home.”

Audrey knew that was true. The dog
was
getting comfortable with them. She followed Audrey around all day and when Audrey returned after going out for an errand, the dog ran to the door and nearly knocked her down with her ecstatic welcome.