Only Through Love: A Cane River Romance Novella (12 page)
Read Only Through Love: A Cane River Romance Novella Online
Authors: Mary Jane Hathaway
“You
still want to hire me?”
Paul
let out a laugh. “Charlie, I’d be a fool not to. I’ve been giving you some
space, after everything that happened, hoping you’d hit the ground running. But
that was a vicious set of punches, losing your guild and then being trolled. I
tried to intervene as much as I could behind the scenes. When you came home, I
figured you needed a break.”
“I
did. Sort of. I stopped gaming. Stopped drawing. But I’m ready to work now. I
thought I could give it up altogether but I can’t. Even if I never go back to
school, I need to finish my project. My archer is waiting for me to finish her
world.”
“But
why wouldn’t you go back to school?”
“They
cleaned out my college account.”
For
the first time in all the years she’d known Paul, he looked really angry. “Why
didn’t you say anything?”
“I…
say anything?” She realized he was angry at
her
.
“To
Alice, to Ruby, somebody.” He stood up, running his hands through his hair. “We
knew they were scammers, but I didn’t know they’d gotten to your accounts. So, you’re
not taking a break because of the trolling. You actually don’t have any money.”
He paced a few feet. “And that’s why you live in those dumpy apartments. You
probably don’t even make enough at the bookstore to pay your rent.”
Her
face went hot. “Austin helped me fill out some assistance forms at the center.”
“Austin?
You barely know him!” Paul sat down, shaking his head. “I thought we were
friends. Me, and Alice and Bix and Ruby… I thought we were your friends.”
Charlie
realized in one instant that the trouble she’d been in was personal to him, and
would be to all of them. She’d thought the virus would break their friendship,
but it was her pride that might deal the death blow. Paul Oliver had never been
a guy who cared about money. Alice wasn’t, either. She hadn’t come to them for
help, the way real friends did. “I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“We’re
not just anyone.” His voice was sad. “And I didn’t tell Alice about the code
being yours. I thought you’d want to tell her yourself.”
“Thank
you,” Charlie said. She stared at the bottle in her hands. There wasn’t
anything more to say. She wasn’t going to jail. She wasn’t going to be sued. He
had known all along. But their friendship was bruised, maybe broken, as surely
as if she had maliciously set out to hurt him and his company. “I’m sorry,” she
whispered.
“I
know,” he said and moved one shoulder as if he were shrugging off his
disappointment. “I don’t want you to feel any worse, after everything you’ve
been through. Don’t mind me. I’m just…. surprised.”
She
stood up. “I need to talk to Alice. You don’t have to show me out.”
He
started to get up but she was already halfway at the door. She knew what she
needed to do now and it included having a very difficult conversation with one
of her best friends in the world. As she stepped into the elevator, she prayed
for courage. Telling Alice that she’d been going hungry rather than ask her for
help was going to be harder than anything she’d faced the last six months of
misery.
Thirteen
When
we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we
often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures,
have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and
tender hand. ― Henri Nouwen
Alice
looked out the front window and didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I
thought you didn’t want to be here because of Aurora. Things changed and I knew
it wasn’t as quiet as it used to be.”
“Aurora?”
Charlie repeated. She looked down at the baby in her little activity seat,
batting at toys. Her curls were wild with the humidity and her shirt read “I
Put The ‘b’ in Subtle”.
“This
bookstore was your refuge for so many years and suddenly there was this little
person, being loud and taking up all of our energy.”
“She’s
the best thing that ever happened to this bookstore. Hands down.” Charlie held
up a finger. “Don’t tell Paul I said that. I know he paid off that greedy niece
of Mr. Perrault’s but still, Aurora takes that prize. She’s…” Charlie had
trouble expressing what she wanted to say. Instead she stood up and plucked her
from the seat where she had been watching them. “When everything seemed dark,
when my whole life was falling apart, she gave me so much joy. This store needs
her more than any of us. She belongs here.”
Alice
wrapped her arms around the two of them, her tears falling on Aurora’s hand as
she kissed it. “I know. I know just what you mean.”
“I’m
sorry. Again.”
“Don’t
say it anymore. I understand.” Alice took a deep breath. “Paul has been rich
for a long time. I was poor just a few years ago. Having to ask for help takes
grace. That’s the only way I can describe it. You humble yourself. People
always think the giver is the saintly one. It’s actually the person who had to
be humble enough to receive that gift.”
A
tinkle of the bell brought them out of their position, arms wrapped around each
other and Aurora cocooned in the middle. Austin stood there, looking as if he
didn’t know whether to come closer.
“Come
on in,” Alice called out, her voice rough with emotion. “We’re just chatting.”
“I
was wondering about lunch. If Charlie’s free. If she was hungry. If she wanted
to, I mean.” He grimaced. “Can I start over?”
Charlie
let out a laugh. “Will it be more entertaining than the first try?”
“Probably
not by much.” He grinned at her.
Mr.
Darcy, the great black cat who never left his perch at the top of the poetry
range, dropped to the floor behind Austin. “And it looks like someone is here
to inspect you. What is the verdict, Mr. Darcy? Does he meet your approval?”
Austin
kept still as Darcy languidly circled one, twice. Then he turned and walked
away without comment.
“I
think that was a positive vote,” Alice said.
“How
can you tell?” Austin was still watching Darcy retreat.
“He
didn’t shred the leg of your pants.”
“And
I say so,” Charlie added. She looked at Alice. “If it’s okay with my boss.”
Grinning,
Alice shook her finger. “Be back by twelve thirty-five and not a moment later.”
“Oh,
that reminds me of that terrible boyfriend you had. What was his name? You
know, the dentist.”
Alice
smiled. “I have no memory of this person.” Pressing her lips to Aurora’s round
cheek, she said, “Everything is loveliness and light in my world now.”
With
a laugh, Charlie gathered up her things and slipped her hand into Austin’s. As
they headed for the door, she glanced shyly up at him. “Is this a date?”
“Do
you want it to be?”
“Yes.”
“Good.
Otherwise I would have wasted all that nervous energy just asking a good friend
to lunch.” He opened the door for her.
“So,
does that make me your girlfriend?”
“Do
you want to be?”
“I’ve
never liked that word, actually. It sounds so juvenile. ”
He
shot her a worried look. “Is there another term you’d prefer?”
“I’ve
always liked ‘companion of my heart’. Or ‘my better half’. Or maybe even ‘the
sun in my universe’.”
“You’re
teasing me.”
Charlie
snorted, pulling him close and hugging his arm. “I can’t help it. You’re so
agreeable. I was trying to keep a straight face but I couldn’t. Would you
really call me your sun if I asked you?”
“I
sure would. In private.” He pointed her toward his car parked in the little lot
behind the bookstore. As he opened the door for her, he slipped an arm around
her waist and pulled her close. “My sun, my moon, the heart of my heart.”
Charlie
didn’t laugh a bit as he kissed her. Instead she wondered what grace there was
in the world to take two suffering people, two broken halves, and put them
together in just the right way. Like everything else, she didn’t deserve this
unexpected gift of a righteous man. To the rest of the world, Austin Becket was
nobody special. He wasn’t very rich, very handsome, or very famous, but his
heart was gentle and kind. He believed in truth and goodness. He believed in
her.
As
Charlie wrapped her arms around his neck, he whispered softly in her ear. “You
may be my sun, but my heart fell for you like a star. Nobody could have missed
it, the way it lit up the sky.”
She
smiled against his cheek, blissfully unable to think of anything clever to say.
There were very few certainties in the world, but Austin Becket was one of
them, and he was hers.
OTHER
TITLES
by Mary Jane Hathaway
The
Pepper in the Gumbo (Cane River Romance Book One)
These
Sheltering Walla (Cane River Romance Book Two)
Pride,
Prejudice and Cheese Grits (Austen Takes the South Book One)
Emma,
Mr. Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs (Austen Takes the South Book Two)
Persuasion,
Captain Wentworth and Cracklin’ Cornbread (Austen Takes the South Book Three)
OTHER
TITLES
by Virginia Carmichael
All
The Blue of Heaven (historical romance)
I’d like to give special thanks to people who
generously offered their expertise in several areas. As always, all errors are
my own! A very special thanks to Katherine Coble for describing her time as a
gamer in the last decade, plus her personal experience with sexism in the
gaming industry. To Gil Milbauer for explaining code sourcing vs executable
programs. To Christalee Scott May for being a supportive texter during the
final stretch of finishing this manuscript. (I never knew there was a gif of
Bill Murray drinking from a pot of coffee, but now I do.) To Sandra Bell
Calhoune, again, for her constant encouragement in all things book related and
her fabulous sense of humor. To Caleb Hesse for sharing his artwork and the
college program that features programming and digital arts. To John Abramowitz
for gaming terminology and etiquette. And always, to my children, who never
waiver in their confidence that I can tell a story.
I hope you enjoyed Charlie’s story as
much as I loved writing it! From the first moment the sassy gamer stepped onto
the page in The Pepper in the Gumbo, I wanted to find out more about her. When
we first meet Charlie, she’s in the summer before college and full of dreams.
Her two best friends are an eighty year old blind man and a single woman who runs
an antique book shop, yet she herself is as typical as my own teens. How did
these unusual friendships (and that unusual job) prepare her for college? I
assumed Charlie would live a charmed live, cocooned in the loving friendships
of By the Book employees. Then I wondered if perhaps someone might spot that
tenderness, innocence and optimism in Charlie, and use it to their advantage.
I wondered how she would fare in the
programming and gaming industry. She’s more than just a girl who loves her
converse and reads all the fantasy books in Alice’s bookstore. Charlie is a
girl with passion, and girls with passion will always run up against people who
want to put out that fire. Paul and Alice will always be on her side, but
Charlie has to learn to stand on her own. This is the story of a girl who
learned people weren’t as nice as she thought, and sometimes you have to fight
for what you want.
As for the romance, I wasn’t quite sure
who Charlie needed to help mend her heart. Blue Chalfant was a possibility. Or
Andy McBride, although he was a little old for her. I finally decided that the
person for Charlie had to be someone who understood betrayal, which led me to
Austin Becket. When Gideon ran away and committed a murder (in These Sheltering
Walls) he left behind a very confused little brother. When we meet Austin in
this book, he’s a college graduate and looks like he has everything together,
but the human heart carries invisible scars. Charlie can’t bring herself to
really trust anyone, not even her very best friends, and Austin understands.
I hope this story brings you peace and
hope. Life is full of hurts and disappointments, but it’s also short. Like
Charlie, may we all learn to forgive our trespassers and move forward, into the
kind of joyful life that God intends for us.
Blessings,
Mary Jane Hathaway
If you enjoyed this story, be sure to
leave a review on
Amazon
or Goodreads. I love visiting with readers on my author page of
Pride,
Prejudice and Cheese Grits
, or on my blog at
The Things That Last!