The Foretelling (Charlotte Bloom #1) (21 page)

It was true. We’d both gone through something traumatic (albeit his was worse) and ended up in Gower, Wales, working at a bed and breakfast. Maybe we were more alike than I thought.

"Kindred spirits," he added.

"Yeah. Something like that."

"So, enough about me. Tell me more about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"Start from the beginning, like I did."

"OK. Well… I grew up in Oregon, right outside of Portland. I went to the University of Oregon in Eugene for Public Relations. While there, I worked at a coffee shop and loved it. I decided that I would open a coffee shop one day when I retired from PR. I flew to Vermont to visit Green Mountain Coffee, which was the mecca of coffee back then. Harry, my… husband, or, ex-husband now… was the manager. We fell in love over my five-day stay, did long distance for six months, and after I graduated, we moved to Los Angeles. We got married a year later. I landed an entry-level job at a PR firm and he worked at Intelligentsia Coffee, working his way up over the years."

"We bought a house four years ago, and our life generally stayed the same until that psychic, Lainey, told me Harry wasn’t my soulmate. She said my true mate was still out there, but that Harry would never make me happy. I think, in a way, she gave me the courage to look at my marriage under a microscope; something I never would’ve done if it weren't for her. So I panicked, suggested we try and have kids, because apparently I thought kids would fix everything, and it didn’t work. We tried for five months. We tried everything to get pregnant. We tried
hard.
"

"OK, I get it," Alec joked. I laughed.

"So, well, you know the rest. Now I’m just trying to figure out my life without him. I have no idea where to start. I’ve never been this free before."

"Well, what is it that you love to do?"

"I love a lot of things. I like doing PR, but mostly I like working with people. I like helping people. I like wine, running, shopping, and sleeping. But I'm pretty sure none of those things can be turned into plausible careers."

"Just go from there. Do the things you love, do work that fulfills you. Take it one day at a time. Trust me, if you fill your life with love, that hurt can’t penetrate you. And eventually… you’ll figure out where you’re meant to be."

"Is that what you did?"

"I’m still doing it."

"Trying to find your swims…"

"What?"

"Nothing. It’s just, Amara has this Portuguese cousin named Anna, who gave me a pep talk before I left Amara’s wedding. She barely knew me, and yet she could see the hurt I was hiding. She called me out. It got lost in translation I think, but she said I have to go find my swims when all I can see is the roads."

"You have to find happiness when all you see is…"

"Hopelessness," I added.

"Yeah."

We sat there in silence for a minute, and Alec pulled off the road and into the parking lot of the pub. We stayed where we were as Alec cut the engine. Silence surrounded us, and I could hear him breathing. I was still resting my head in the crook of his arm. Surely his arm must be asleep by now. I sat up and looked at him. For the first time in my life, I felt like I could read someone else’s mind. We really were kindred spirits. His dark eyes were a little bit sad, but also understanding. I felt so
comfortable.
All of a sudden, I felt silly for being embarrassed about him seeing me with a mouth full of sandwich, or mustard on my shirt. He wouldn’t judge me. But not only that, something about him, even though I barely knew him, was easy for me. He was easy, and kind, and stable.

"When do you think you’ll leave?" Alec asked, and at first I thought he meant
when do you think you’ll get out of the truck.

It took me a second to realize he meant Wales. When was I leaving Wales? I didn’t have an answer to that. And why did he keep asking me how long I was staying? As realization dawned on me, I saw him look down at his hands. Something between us clicked right then. It was complete and total understanding. I felt our relationship shift a little bit, less like strangers, more like friends, or perhaps something else. We were on the same page. He wanted to know how long he had with me. Because he’d felt the connection, too. I couldn’t describe it, but the closest thing I had was that I felt like I could trust him completely. And I didn’t ever say that about people I’d just met. Even though I’d only known Harry for five days before we decided to have a long-distance relationship, our relationship was built on lust and sex. This felt different. It felt like true friendship. But more than that.
Kindred spirits.

"Right now, I don’t ever want to leave." I meant it. "But as long as Helen and George need me, and as long as I can stay here legally, I probably will."

"Well, I hope it’s a while." He gave me a warm smile. "I take back what I said that night when you fell off of Bo."

"What’s that?"

"When I said I didn’t want to be your friend."

"Oh." I was stunned. And he was looking at me funny.

"Like I said, it takes me awhile to open up to people."

"I take it back, too. I’d like to be friends." I smiled at him and he hopped out of the truck.

He opened my door and took my hand, leading the way into the party. For the second time since I’d met him, we were holding hands in public. I didn’t mind. It felt natural. I heard voices coming from inside. All of a sudden, Mary opened the front door. She was dressed in a tight black mini-dress and black thigh-high boots. She looked gorgeous.

"FI-NAL-LY, you’re here!" She hugged me first, and then Alec. "And, what’s this?" She pointed to our enclosed hands, and we quickly pulled them apart.

"He was just helping me to the door," I explained.

"Do you often have trouble getting to doors?"

I playfully pushed her and then put my arm around her as I walked in. I looked back at Alec, who winked at me as he followed us in. That wink may have turned my legs into jelly a little bit, so I was glad Mary was holding me up.

"Oh, Charlotte, you’re here! I’m so sorry we left you behind, but I figured since everyone else was already there waiting at 6:40, I’d just have Alec take you since he was still getting ready," Helen explained, holding a glass of wine in her hands. She came over and kissed me on both cheeks, beaming mischievously.
She totally did it on purpose.

"It’s fine. We had a lovely conversation on the way over."

"Oh, splendid. Well, go get a drink and join us!"

I walked over and noticed Henry was working the bar.

"Hey! How’s it going?" It was weird seeing him behind the bar. I was so used to seeing him behind the check-in desk. Plus, I couldn’t get the image of him with a first wife out of my head.

"Hey, Charlotte. What can I get you?"

"Just a Guinness, please."

"Coming right up." He started filling a glass from the tap. "Hitch a ride with Alec?"

"Uh, yeah. The shuttle left without me," I laughed.

"Cool. Here’s your Guinness…" He handed it to me. "And Charlotte? Just be careful. He looks tough, but he’s pretty fragile. I imagine he’s told you about what happened to his father?"

"Yeah… how did you know he told me?"

"He likes you, Charlotte. He cares about you. I figured he would tell you at some point."

"It’s not like that," I said. "I’m married."

"Yeah, I know. I also know that your husband left you," he said with a smirk.

I stood there quietly for a minute. These people really did know how to gossip. I wasn’t mad, of course I wasn’t, but I was trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. Before I could ask him what he meant, I felt Alec’s hand come around my waist gently.

"I’ve got this," he said, paying for my Guinness. "One for me too, bud," he said to Henry.

Henry looked at me before turning around to get Alec’s beer.

"Thanks." I turned around, and he kept his hand around my waist.

Suddenly, we were facing each other. I felt my breath catch in my throat. He was so solid… so warm. If I weren't careful, another beer would send me over the edge. And I knew where he slept. It was too easy now. The chemistry was obviously there; both Mary and Henry (and Helen and George, too) had alluded to us getting together. We were acceptable as a couple here, where no one knew me or my history (or, if they did, they surprisingly didn’t care). He stared down at me, and then suddenly I saw a manicured hand tap his shoulder.

He turned around and I glanced at the woman behind him. She was tall and pretty. She had long blonde hair, green eyes, and a wide smile. She was wearing low cut jeans and a black tank top.

"Hey, Alec." She had some kind of strange accent. I couldn’t place it.

"Natasha."

"What are you doing here? You never come to these things."

I stepped away, feeling awkward. I wasn’t supposed to be a part of this conversation.

"I’m here with my friend, Charlotte," Alec said, grabbing me before I walked away. I spun back around and faced Natasha.

"Hi, Charlotte," Natasha said, insincerely.

"Nice to meet you," I said. I still felt really awkward.

Natasha crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She was chewing gum loudly, smacking as she chewed.

"You haven’t called me back about… you know what."

I realized her accent was Russian. Natasha was Russian. Great. A hot, tall, blonde Russian woman was my competition.

"I’ve been busy," Alec said.

"How do you two know each other?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

"I’m his wife."

I felt my heart drop to the floor and shatter into a million pieces. Alec and I were… we were nothing. And yet, why did this hurt so much? I could feel my face growing pale and I thought I might cry any second. I tried to compose myself. I had to act like I didn’t care. He’d told me so many personal things… and yet, he had conveniently left this one detail out. He was married. A rush of anger, both at myself and at Alec, came flooding into me right after I suppressed the urge to cry. I had been sad for a second… but now I was mad. Maybe he was a player. Maybe he regularly cheated on his wife with guests, like Gemma, Mary’s friend, and the brunette guest whose name I hadn’t bothered to remember. Maybe this was a game to him. Maybe I was a game to him. I felt myself become furious.

"Oh? He didn’t mention that he was married," I said calmly, trying not to let any of the emotion I was feeling show on my face. I saw Alec rub the bridge of his nose, sighing loudly.
Yeah, because he’d been caught.

"Well honey, he is married. And now I need to speak to my husband, in private."

She grabbed his arm and led him away. He looked over his shoulder apologetically. But he followed her. He was married. Natasha wasn’t making it up, or making a joke. Alec was actually, truly married to a hot Russian woman. And he was following her into a private room to discuss personal matters. I felt my lower lip start to tremble. I gulped my entire beer in about thirty seconds, and asked Henry for another.

"Already?" He poured more Guinness into my pint glass.

"I met Natasha," I said. I hoped I wouldn’t need to explain why I was so hurt. "I could go for something a little stronger," I said, pointing to the vodka.

"Oh, shit. I had no idea she’d be here." He poured me a double of vodka, which I promptly shot back without hesitation. "Hold on," he said, and he left, disappearing into the back of the pub. A few seconds later, Mary was behind him. Before she could even say anything to me, I blurted it out.

"Alec is
married?
Is this some kind of sick joke?" I didn’t mean to sound angry with Mary, but it just came out. Alec hadn’t told me, fine, but surely my new best friend should have.

"It’s not what you think, Charlotte," she explained. She looked at Henry. "I’m sorry. I had no idea she’d show up tonight. She’s not a part of the picture anymore."

"He told me some of his deepest and darkest secrets tonight," I said quietly. "He left this one out."

"He married her because she was a Russian refugee. OK? Charlotte, she needed a green card. Yes, she may try over and over again to pursue Alec, but he’s never felt the same way about her. He only agreed to marry her to help her with her visa status here," Henry explained.

I let that sink in for a minute. He’d married her so she could stay in the country? But then, what were they doing privately in the back? Henry kept talking.

"It was years ago. They never see each other. Alec doesn’t think of her in that way. He only did it to help her. He felt like he was doing good in the world. He was repenting for… you know what."

"Here he comes," Mary said, turning me around. "Go talk to him. And good luck trying to explain to us
again
that you don’t have feelings for him. You just let on how you really felt, missy!" She shoved me forward, towards Alec. She was right. There was no point trying to deny it now.

"Hi," he said, morosely.

"Hi." I started to walk away. I didn’t trust my feelings.