You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) (10 page)

Charleigh smiled. She answered without an ounce of hesitation, “Absolutely.”

“And Jamie is good to you?”

“He’s the best, Carrie.” Her shoulders rose as she breathed in. The smile grew broader. A twinkle appeared in her eyes. “I don’t even mind having to go to New York this weekend so his wretched mother can have her ball…” with an over-exaggerated British accent she added,
“…at the Plaza.”

“Don’t go acting all Eloise and trash the bash just for the fun of it.”

“Of course not!” Charleigh burst out laughing. “I promised Jamie I’d play nicely and let his mother have her way. But you wait until you meet her at the wedding. That’s the day for Jamie and me, and I’ll do anything— and I do mean anything— to keep her from wrecking it.

“
Even if it means wrecking it yourself?”

The younger woman nodded. “It’ll be something fit for
America’s Funniest Home Videos
. The ultimate bridezilla versus her future mother-in-law-from-hell edition.”

“She can’t really be that bad.”

“Oh, no. She’s worse.” Charleigh talked animatedly, waving her hands for emphasis. “A mixture of the evil stepmother and
both
of the stepsisters from
Cinderella,
and the wicked witch of the west
and
her sister, from the
Wizard of Oz
. She’s meaner and more sanctimonious and
uglier
than anything you can ever imagine.” 

She looked down at her watch. It was almost ten, and her pants were wet. She needed to go home and change before heading to the feed store. “I’ve got to go. But the reason why I stopped by, besides to bring you the school forms, was to ask if Josh and you and the kids would take care of the horses for a couple of days. Just Saturday and Sunday, because we’re leaving on Friday evening, and I’ll make sure they have enough of everything until the next morning. We should be back late Sunday evening, but… I’ll pay you and the kids, and—”

“There’s no need to pay us, Char,” Caroline interjected. “We’re family, doll, and we help each other out. You can go and have a good time without having to worry about a thing.”

“
Yippee
,” Charleigh said with an eye roll. “I’d really rather stay at home, but…”

“…You do what you have to do to make your other half happy,” Caroline finished her niece’s sentence.  “That’s the way it goes.”

As much as Charleigh disliked Claudia Matthews—
because it’s not nice to hate
, Madie had scolded— she had to admit that the woman had style. The ballroom at the Plaza was decorated like any little girl’s fantasy. Like Cinderella attending the prince’s ball. And Charleigh was no different as she took it all in.

Enormous flower arrangements— the most beautiful Charleigh had ever seen— occupied the space in the center of each of more than fifty tables that surrounded a gleaming dance floor. The best china and flatware and crystal champagne flutes were at each place setting. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling above.

Servers walked around offering hors d’oeuvres to the guests on silver platters. But these guests were not just any normal people. They were New York’s high society— the very ‘upper crust.’ Among them were people Charleigh would never have dreamed she would be meeting. Or at least seeing in person.

Standing in the middle of the large crowd, with only a glass of Chablis for company, she spotted the mayor Rudy Giuliani and the police commissioner. She saw Donald Trump. Gloria Vanderbilt. Jamie’s grandparents were chatting with Tom Brokaw and his wife. Charleigh was in the very same room with her favorite author: Mary Higgins Clark
, the Queen of Suspense.
Oh my gosh!
She felt like having a heart attack, too afraid to go over and say how much she enjoyed the lady’s books, in fear of making an idiot of herself by stumbling through her words.

An orchestra was set up in a far corner of the large space. They played a light melody that Charleigh recognized, though, she wasn’t sure of the name. She took a deep breath, a sip of her wine, and began to search the sea of faces for Jamie. His mother had pulled him away, saying that she and Greg needed to talk to him in private.
Yeah, right!
Charleigh knew very well that Claudia was still against her son marrying someone who didn’t quite meet her social criteria.

She looked for her grandparents. Grant and Mellisande were around somewhere, she knew. So were Madie and Lenore. It was a comfort to know that there were at least a handful of people there who truly supported her pending marriage to Jamie.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” someone whispered in her ear from behind.

Charleigh turned around and saw Kevin. She rolled her eyes, but a smile spread across her mouth at the sight of her future brother-in-law. “You’ll never give it up, will you?”

“Not until my brother slips that band on your finger,” he joked. “I’ll wait forever if I have to.”

She shook her head at the obvious mocked sarcasm. “Just don’t hold your breath. You’ll turn purple from the lack of oxygen.”

Kevin laughed. With approving eyes, Kevin skimmed Charleigh from head to toe, taking the sight of her in.  The laughter soon faded into a friendly smile. “All joking aside, Charleigh, you look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” A blush spread across her cheeks.

And she
felt
gorgeous. Wearing the blue evening gown she’d bought for Jenna’s debutante ball but never attended. The diamond tennis bracelet she bought from Tiffany on her first trip to New York with Jamie. A diamond Harry Winston necklace Grant and Mell gave her, as an engagement present, upstairs in their hotel room before coming down to the party. And a pair of her mother’s diamond and sapphire earrings dangled from her earlobes. 

Charleigh wore her long, curly hair loose, with only a few strands from each side pinned back by silver barrettes. It cascaded over her shoulders and back like a coppery waterfall. She glowed with exhilaration.

On her face, she wore expertly applied by a cosmetologist from
Bella Donna
. A smoky eye shadow on her lids made the green of her eyes pop. Her glossy, painted lips was curved upward in a smile, which remained there ever since she stepped out of the bathroom and saw Jamie sitting on the edge of the bed in his tuxedo, speechlessly staring at her. The look in his eyes had told her more than words could ever describe, anyway.

“So, what do you think your parents wanted to talk to Jamie about?” she asked, with eyes scanning the crowd once more.

“I think it was a ploy to get my brother away from the party. My mother probably has him locked in a broom closet somewhere.”

Eyeing Kevin, Charleigh wasn’t exactly sure if he was being serious or joking. Their mother had already made it apparent that she didn’t want Charleigh joining her family. But would the woman really stoop so low and lock her own son in a closet to keep them apart? There was never any telling when it came to what Claudia might do.

She felt someone come up from behind and put their hands on her shoulders. Charleigh turned and saw Jenna standing to her right. Their eyes met, and the girl looked to her brother for an answer. Kevin remained silent.

“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked.

“Jamie went off with your mother a while ago, and now Kevin tells me that he thinks she’s locked him in a broom closet,” Charleigh explained, breathlessly. “Do you think she did?”

Irritated, Jenna looked at her brother. His jokes were never the least bit funny, and this one in particular was turning Charleigh into a nervous wreck. “No. No, she wouldn’t do that,” she replied patting her friend on the shoulder. Then added under her breath, “I sure hope not.”

Hearing the comment, Charleigh groaned, “Oh, great! I should go look for him.”

She turned toward the entrance to the ballroom in time to see Claudia stream in, with Greg on her heels, like the belle of the ball. The grand hostess.

But there was no sign of Jamie.

Oh, how lovely!
Now Charleigh was really starting to panic. She needed to get out. She needed some fresh air.

“I
have to go. I have to get out of here,” she said, pulling away from Jenna. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

As she took a few steps, a hand slipped around Charleigh’s wrist. The presence startled her, which caused her to pull away even more.

Never in Charleigh’s life had she felt so despised— not even from Gavin or Andrea. And that was saying something. She couldn’t think of any valid reason why the woman hated her so much. Was it because she was marrying Jamie? Did that really make enough sense for Claudia to treat Charleigh like a… like a
criminal
? No. No, criminals were treated
better
than the way Jamie’s mother behaved toward her.

In truth, Charleigh felt she might grow to like, or at least tolerate, her future mother-in-law, if only the woman would treat her with a little respect. That’s all she asked for, and she would show the same in return. Generally, Charleigh stayed silent when Claudia went off on one of her rants about how beneath them she was.

“Please, just let me go,” Charleigh begged as she twisted away from the individual who still had hold of her.

It wasn’t a tight grip around her wrist, but someone was still preventing her from finding Jamie. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Her heart rose in her throat. Why couldn’t these people just let them be happy?

“Hey. Hey, what’s wrong?”

She immediately stopped the struggle. At the sound of Jamie’s voice, as she pushed back the tears, Charleigh turned and saw him. She threw herself into his arms.

“Talk to me,” Jamie whispered against her hair. “What’s wrong?”

She stayed quiet, shaking her head. Her grip tightened around him. He could feel Charleigh’s body trembling against his own.

Looking over Charleigh’s shoulder as he held her, Jamie studied his siblings. Jenna had her arms crossed beneath her breasts. Her body was rigid as she angled their tiny group. Kevin was tight-lipped, his hands tucked in the pants pockets of his tux. He had a guilty look on his face, like ‘the cat that ate the canary.’ That Jamie associated with his brother’s tendency to stick his foot in his mouth. 

With his eyes glued on his brother’s face, he spoke softly, “Are you okay? Do you want to leave?”

Still, Charleigh remained quiet. It took her a moment, but she pulled back slightly to look Jamie in the eyes and shook her head. They
couldn’t
leave, and not only because there were so many people there, though, Charleigh didn’t know more than a handful of them. If they left, it would give Claudia real basis to hate her— every other reason was oblivious. Another cause for Jamie’s mother to humiliate her, publicly or in private.

Touching her face, Jamie could see she was flushed. Her eyes were rimmed with pink, but there were no tears. Her pupils were huge in the dimly lighted room, obscuring the emerald of her irises; he noted relief present there in the bright green pools.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jamie slipped his hand from Charleigh’s cheek, down her arm and entwined their fingers. “Do you want something to drink?”

She nodded, speaking softly, “Some water, maybe.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Jenna offered and disappeared into the crowd.

Jamie looked down at Charleigh as she tried to pull herself together. Nobody said anything, but you couldn’t have cut the tension with a chainsaw. She closed her eyes, letting out a sharp breath.

“Come on,” Jamie whispered softly to Charleigh. He could feel her body relaxing, her heartbeat easing back to normal. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

A look passed between the two brothers, a warning.
I’ll deal with you later
, Jamie thought as he led his fiancée toward the dance floor. Kevin cleared his throat, stepped back to let them by.

As Jamie led Charleigh out to the middle of the gleaming surface, the ensemble ceased playing. As if on cue. She looked over to see each member frantically shuffling through a stack of papers on the stands in front of them. Whatever they were doing, which she was sure was a part of Jamie surprise, Charleigh didn’t have a clue.

She turned her attention to Jamie, who was smiling. He looked down at her and winked as the music began to play again.

“What do you think?” Jamie pulled her close.

“
This
is my surprise?” Charleigh inquired, as they danced slowly. “Am I supposed to be impressed, Mister Matthews?”

“I was aiming for overwhelmed delight,” he replied. “You don’t recognize the song?”

It
was
familiar. Different. A slow ballad. Slower than usual. More whimsical, though, than she’d heard it before. There were no words accompanying the music, which made it a challenge. 

Jamie saw her eyes light up. A signal that she’d figured it out.

“You are a tricky, tricky man,” Charleigh laughed. “When did you have time to do this?”

“My parents always use these guys for holiday parties and company events. This time was no different,” he explained. “Besides, the conductor is a friend of my dad’s. So, I emailed him the lyrics and sheet music a few weeks ago that I found off the Internet and asked if they could learn it by tonight.”

Jamie was obviously proud of himself.

“‘You
Had Me From Hello.’ It’s a nice touch, I have to admit.” Charleigh kissed him quickly on the lips and leaned her head against Jamie’s shoulder to enjoy the remainder of the song in blissful silence.

The crowd of guests seemed to stop everything they were doing to watch the couple on the dance floor. It wasn’t only the woman in the shimmering, blue dress or the handsome man in the tuxedo that caught their attention. It was the obvious affection and passion shared between them. It was the kind of feelings every person on earth searched for but rarely ever found. The kind of love that lasts forever.

These two people had clearly found it.

“Our little girl has really found happiness this time, hasn’t she?” Mellisande asked her husband as they watched their granddaughter. She reached out until their hands met.

Grant couldn’t speak, He could only nod; his heart had risen in to his throat.

“Not only Charleigh,” Madie added. “I’ve never seen Jamie so satisfied with anything before this.”

“Gram, I want to fall in love like that,” Jenna sighed. She took a sip of the water she had gotten for Charleigh.

“You will, darlin’. In your own due time.”

Meanwhile, not everybody was caught in reverie. One woman was boiling with odium.
Just like her mother
, Claudia thought.
Always clamoring for attention in some way or another
.

She wanted to wrap her hands around the
younger woman’s throat and squeeze until her face turned several bright shades of red and then, finally, a dark blue-purple. Until there wasn’t a breath left in her body. Or she could push her out in front of a car on a busy street corner in downtown Manhattan. Oh, to see the horror in Charleigh’s eyes just seconds before impact. With a satisfied smile on her face, she would turn and never look back.

Instead, Claudia went to find her friends. She’d just have to save those plans for another time.

“… Well, this won’t be her
first
marriage, you know. And it won‘t be her last, either…” Charleigh overheard Claudia say to a group of women as she walked by with Jamie after their song was over. She stopped, pulling Jamie back, to listen in.