A Family Name (19 page)

"Sierra!" Charlotte's alarm caused her to
move double time.

She found the little girl in the next aisle
over with her arms around her brother. Charlotte collapsed to the
floor beside the two children, wrapping them in a relieved hug.

"Oh, Shane." The words came out in a sob. "We
were so worried about you."

"You know you're not supposed to run away,
Shany," Sierra said, her tone that of a disapproving big sister.
The effect was so cute that it broke through Charlotte's fright and
a choked laugh burst from her throat.

Shane wriggled out of their arms, and held up
a sparkly pencil with little flecks of fool's gold suspended in a
watery substance. "Mama liked these."

Charlotte's mouth dropped open. That was the
most she had heard Shane speak in months. "Did she, sweetheart?
What kind were her favorite?"

"Pink ones," Shane replied before popping his
fingers back in his mouth.

Tears of relief squeezed from Charlotte's
eyes as she reached to pull Shane into another hug. She sniffled
into his hair. "We'll have to buy you one then, huh? To help you
remember her. How about you, Sierra? Would you like one too?"

Both kids seemed to like the suggestion.
Shane gripped his pink sparkly pencil while Sierra browsed the
selection. She didn't seem to have the same sentimental attachment
that Shane did to this particular object, though Charlotte had
heard her talk of other things her parents liked. However, the
little girl did not pass up the chance to get a little
souvenir.

"We should get one for Lexi, too," Sierra
said, holding up a blue one.

Those little gestures melted Charlotte's
heart. "That's wonderful. Let's go buy these and find Will and
Lexi, okay?"

****

Will's heart didn't start beating again until
he saw Charlotte heading toward him with both Sierra and Shane. He
and Lexi had just finished reporting to the security station, when
the trio rounded the corner. They rushed to one another, and there
were hugs and more tears.

"He went into the gift shop to find the
pencil his mom always liked," Charlotte said in a low voice.

The information made Will's heart ache. "How
do you know that?"

"He told us," Charlotte said. Will could see
the light of excitement in her eyes. He knew exactly what she was
feeling because he felt it too.

Will scooped the little boy up into his arms.
"What do you have there, buddy?"

Shane took his fingers out of his mouth, held
up his pencil, and said, "Mama's pencil."

"She liked those, huh?" Will felt his voice
catch in his throat as he examined the garish souvenir with the
little boy. "It's great. This is great."

The five of them stood huddled together for a
few long moments while they savored the feeling of being safe
together. Finally, Will shook himself from the feeling of dread
that had settled over him, and he smiled at his little family.
"Should we go check out the faces?"

"Definitely," Lexi said, twirling the pencil
that Sierra had picked for her.

"Just let me tell security that everything is
fine," Will said.

Charlotte touched his arm, "We'll go grab the
stroller and meet you by the flags."

Will bobbed his head but he was rendered mute
by the simple touch. He watched Charlotte head back across the
plaza, Shane on her hip, and Lexi by her side. His daughter held
Sierra's hand. With a swipe of his hand he pulled his hat off, ran
a hand through his hair, and said a silent prayer of thanks for
those four.

When he rejoined his little family, he had
hope that maybe the five of them could truly become a unit. They
headed toward the monument with Shane securely strapped in the
stroller, although the little boy seemed much happier now that he
had his mama pencil. He had even taken his fingers out of his
mouth. One hand clutched the pencil and the other worried the edge
of his blanket.

"Will Wright? Is that you? I haven't seen you
all semester."

Will turned toward the voice. "Dr. Burton.
How have you been?"

Mark Burton came up, shaking Will's hand
vigorously as his eyes strayed over Charlotte and the kids. Will
knew instinctively that the older man had questions, but he hoped
that he would have the tact not to ask anything.

"Good. Good. Such a tragedy about Steve and
his lovely wife. I heard you were covering all of his classes this
semester. Is that true?" Dr. Burton would not meet Will's eyes, but
rather kept his eyes on Charlotte. Something about the gesture
raised Will's hackles.

"I am. This is Charlotte Miller. Dr. Burton
is a colleague of mine at the Institute," Will said, gritting his
teeth to keep himself grounded and civil. "Dr. Burton, this is my
daughter, Lexi. And this is Sierra and Shane. Steve's
children."

Dr. Burton's eyes widened as he took in the
three children. Luckily the other man did not say anything further
on that subject. Instead he said, "I wasn't all that surprised when
I heard that Steve and his wife had been out at your little dig
site. He was bragging all over the Institute about the discovery he
had made."

"Oh? I was shocked that he would travel up
there in an ice storm," Will said as noncommittally as possible. He
didn't want Mark to know that what he had just said had shocked him
to the core. What discovery? Will frowned. Steve had never said
anything to him. The two men had always, absolutely always, shared
the finds on the dig site. A few prehistoric animals had been found
in surprisingly good condition. The best being an entire entelodont
skeleton, which was basically a prehistoric pig. Not good enough to
count as a new find but good enough to put the dig on the national
radar.

"I'm not," Dr. Burton said. "Quite frankly, I
think it's really Steve's ego that did him in at the end. He risked
everything to retrieve whatever it was that he found."

"Will? The kids are getting antsy. We really
should be going." Charlotte reached out and touched his elbow
gently.

"All right, darling," Will said. "Sorry,
Mark. I'm on a family outing. See you around the Institute."

Dr. Burton said a hurried good bye as Will
and Charlotte led the kids to the viewing binoculars. "Darling,
huh?" Charlotte asked with one eyebrow arched.

Will chuckled. "I had to get away from the
man before he said something really offensive."

Charlotte kept her eyebrow raised as if she
expected more of an explanation. He couldn't give her one. Calling
her darling had felt right. His mind was still fuzzy from Mark's
comments. What could Steve have discovered out at the dig site? And
when? They hadn't taken students to the site since early October of
the previous year. Had Steve been going to the site on his own?
Will wasn't sure that was possible. Steve had never seemed to be
the duplicitous type.

The doubts that pounded at Will's temples
made it hard to enjoy the time with Charlotte and the kids. After
the viewfinders, they headed down to the path that led to the base
of the mountain. Charlotte had promised the kids that they could
look up the presidents' noses. This suggestion had made them all
giggle, even Lexi. Watching his daughter vacillate between teenager
and little girl made Will realize how much they had ahead of them.
He knew that he couldn't do it alone.

****

The day had been freaky, Lexi thought as she
settled back against the seat. Shane had fallen asleep right after
ice cream in Keystone. She was glad they had found him safe and
sound. He was like the brother she'd never had. The little pencil
he had now seemed to be his new security blanket.

Dad had sort of checked out after that other
dude from work came to talk to him. Charlotte had tried to make up
for it by taking them into a cool little cave with a view of one of
the presidents. She knew that Washington and Lincoln were up there,
but she totally blanked on the other two. Dad and Charlotte had
told them about a million times, too. Whatever. She'd learn it some
other time. Right now she had to figure out what was going on
between Dad and Charlotte.

She had heard Dad call Charlotte darling
earlier. That meant something, right? Being thirteen was awful
sometimes. Most of the girls at school had had boyfriends. At least
at her school in Rapid City. She hadn't really gotten to know too
many yet in Mountain View, but she suspected it was much the same.
Lexi had never had a boyfriend, so it was really hard for her to
judge the romantic aspects of a grown up relationship. And every
time she asked Grandma Karen, she received an indulgent smile.
Maybe she should talk to her uncles.

Satisfied with her new plan, Lexi leaned back
in her seat and shut her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, she
thought how glad she was to be part of a family finally.

"Can I borrow the truck?" Charlotte called
while she towel dried her hair.

"Sure, the keys are in the front hall." Will
poked his head around the bathroom door, startling her. "Where are
you headed?"

"I want to pick up a cake from the bakery for
Lexi's last day of eighth grade. They don't do graduations here
like in Rapid City, so I wanted to do something to mark it, you
know?" Charlotte pulled her robe a little tighter around her neck.
She felt self-conscious. They hadn't kissed again, but the tension
between them seemed to be mounting. Yet their interactions also had
the easiness of familiarity. The contradiction confused Charlotte
but also made her excited.

"That's a nice idea. Should we go out to
dinner too?" Will leaned against the door frame, and though his
words were innocuous enough, the way his eyes traveled up and down
her robe clad frame belied the innocence of the moment.

Charlotte cleared her throat, which had
suddenly gone dry. "I think that would be lovely. Lexi will love
it."

They stood looking at each other, Charlotte's
hair dripping down her face. A smirk developing over Will's face.
He stepped closer. "Charlotte." His voice soft, almost
seductive.

Charlotte tipped her head back so she could
look up at him. They had been dancing around the tension between
them for days, and neither of them had mentioned their last kiss.
Charlotte couldn't work up her courage to do so. The whole thing
had a surreal, dreamlike quality lingering in her heart. She feared
that the moment they spoke about it, reality would come crashing
down and ruin the perfect vision she was holding close.

"Charlotte." Will moved closer, his voice
still soft, but also warm and intimate.

Charlotte's breath hitched. A tiny gasp
escaped her throat, almost a hiccup, but coming out as a sigh that
sounded indecent to her own ears. She felt a warm flush of
embarrassment creep along her neck. What would Will think? What did
she want him to think? All she knew for sure was that she couldn't
put their tentative family at risk. Right then, in that moment,
Charlotte had nearly all she wanted, had ever wanted, in life, and
she could not do anything to lose what was right at her
fingertips.

He had come close enough that Charlotte
reflexively put her hands up in front of her, cautiously running
her palms along the rough flannel of his work shirt. When she met
his eyes, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Everything
she had ever wanted… the thought echoed in her mind as Will leaned
closer, his lips brushing hers.

Before they could continue further a wail
rose from the living room. Will made a frustrated noise coupled
with a strangled laugh and stepped back. Charlotte swayed at the
sudden departure, feeling his absence acutely. He gave her a wry
smile that did things to her insides.

"I'll get this one, and leave you to finish
getting ready." Will pushed his hands into his pockets, and ambled
down the hallway, whistling.

Charlotte leaned against the sink, her hair
still dripping, as she tried to collect her thoughts. She longed
for more with Will. Deep in her heart she knew that the timid
venturing into using the "L-word" in reference to Will had taken
root in a major way. Love was not something she was truly familiar
with in a romantic sense. She knew that now, and a riot of emotions
made her want to blame her upbringing even though that probably
wasn't fair.

Lexi had awakened Charlotte's maternal
instincts to be sure, but more than that the girl had given
Charlotte insight into herself. Choosing to become a family had
been a no-brainer. Loving the children felt right in a way that
made Charlotte feel like she had found her place in life, but
loving Will… she could lose everything if he rejected her. Although
if his reaction to her was any indication of how he might feel, she
was off to a better start than she'd hoped.

Shaking off the strange anxiety that settled
over her, Charlotte quickly finished towel drying her hair. Lexi
was their focus today. Her graduation from the eighth grade would
be commemorated within the family, and Charlotte knew that she
could deal with whatever was going on between her and Will at a
later time.

"So, I'll just be an hour. Do you need
anything while I'm in town?" Charlotte forced herself to keep a
pleasant, even tone despite the fact that her stomach was still
quivering from the near kiss. Until she knew how Will felt, she
couldn't risk letting him know just how much he affected her. The
little voice in the back of her head told her that was silly,
surely he already knew, but her pride made her shove the thought
aside.

When she looked over, she caught the bemused
expression on Will's face. He had Shane cradled in his arms, and
the little boy gazed at her with his big eyes. The last few days
had seen much more talking from the boy, and at the moment he
looked utterly content. Charlotte felt heartened by Shane's
progress. Will hadn't mentioned Shane and Sierra's grandparents
recently nor had he talked about the custody case. His silence on
those subjects increased the undercurrent of anxiety that Charlotte
felt whenever she allowed her mind to wander to the future. Their
whole living situation was turning her into a master of living in
the present.