Chapter 33

Over the next couple of days, Retta and I were on a mission to have the entire apartment cleaned, and organized. She had focused on packing all my dishes while I'd cleaned out my office, and boxed up all of my books. Billie had even come down to help, although she was more like moral support since she couldn't do much with only one hand.

We hadn't gone through any of Aaron's stuff yet. I planned to just dump it all in boxes and let him sort it out. I wasn't sure what would happen to this building since everything Christian owned was likely to be sold off at some point. But I figured if Aaron didn't come get his stuff then it would go to whoever bought the building. At this point I didn't really care.

Thursday morning, I opened my eyes to the smell of coffee.Retta was up early. I threw on a sweatshirt over my pajamas and went out to investigate.Retta stood at the stove making an omelet.

"Morning." I rubbed my eyes as I shuffled into the kitchen.

"Hey. You hungry?"

"You didn't have to cook. I should be cooking for you. I never could have gotten this place in order so fast without your help."

"Believe me when I say, I was happy to. I love my mother but she has been driving me crazy. Now she's trying to fix me up with some guy at her job who looks like he's about two decades past retirement."

I poured myself a cup of coffee. "You're not the sugar daddy type."

"Hell no." She waved the spatula around. She made quite a sight in her mismatched pajamas which consisted of striped lounge pants and a top that was clearly part of a Christmas set. "I have way too big of a mouth to be anybody's trophy wife. Because I am going to tell you the truth no matter what."

"Cheers to that," I held up my mug in solidarity.

We ate in silence before Retta brought up the thing that I knew was on both of our minds. "You're going back today?"

"Yeah. I think it's time. The lawyers seem optimistic and now that Mom knows sailing off into the sunset isn't a good idea, I think it'll be okay."

Retta shook her head. "I can't believe she was just going to hop on a yacht. I kind of envy that level of audacity."

"That's one word for it.Luckily Alan told her that was a bad move since she definitely doesn't listen to me. Plus, with the pending case against Christian, leaving the country wouldn't be the best idea anyway.

"It's just going to be hard to drive away knowing that I'm leaving Billie behind. For real this time." I swallowed hard, the bitter taste of reality hitting me.

"Charlie, it's time." Retta reached over and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's time for you to figure out what you want. You can"t follow your mom and sister around forever, trying to solve their problems."

I stared into my coffee mug. Retta was right. I had spent so much time worrying about others that I had neglected my own happiness. But the thought of leaving my family behind still gnawed at me.

With Retta"s words echoing in my mind, we began the dreaded task of cleaning out Aaron's closet. It was mainly sweaters and long-sleeved dress shirts so this was obviously his winter wardrobe. I put Retta on the front lines so that if she came across anything she thought I shouldn't see, she could trash it before I was traumatized. I didn't really want to find out Aaron kept a secret stash of his ex's nudes or something.

Retta pulled a pile of sweaters from a shelf and handed them back to me. "He's lucky you aren't the vindictive type. Somebody else would have sold all this on eBay. This is cashmere."

"Honestly, I just feel bad leaving a mess for whoever has to deal with these apartments."

She gave me a look. "You have to stop being so nice. Haven't we talked about this?"

As we continued our purging, she handed back a few books. I tossed them on top of the clothes in one of the boxes. A flash of light caught my eye. There was an earring sitting on the shirt in the box. I picked it up.

"Whose earring is this?"

Retta turned around. "Where did that come from?"

"I guess it was in one of these shirt pockets. But it's definitely not mine."

She winced. "I should have been checking the pockets. I"m losing my touch."

I laughed. "It really doesn't matter. He is so far in the past it's not even funny."

Retta"s eyes narrowed as she studied my face. I could see the wheels turning in her head, like she was trying to figure out what to say next.

"Seriously, Retta. It's fine."

"You know what, let's speed this up. Because why are we doing this the hard way?" Retta grabbed a handful of clothes and threw them in the next box. "Everything of his goes into the burn box."

"The burn box?" I laughed. "That's a bit extreme. I think the trash is fine."

Retta pouted. "Are you sure? I always wanted to burn up some guys shit just like Angela Bassett in that movie."

As I watched her drop the next armful of clothes into the box, I couldn"t help but feel a sense of closure.

"Aaron was never right for me. My entire life wasn't right for me. It was all just for show. Now since living at Gran's house, my hair"s never done and I can"t even remember when I last had a manicure." I looked down at my chipped nails and grinned. "And I"ve never felt more beautiful."

"I can tell," Retta admitted.

"Because with Rix, I didn"t have to try." I shrugged. "He loved me just as I am. I need to get back to him. I need to fix things."

Retta smiled, clearly pleased. "Now, we're getting somewhere. Girl, leave all this crap behind and get back to your country hunk. I"ve been waiting for you to come to that conclusion since your first phone call from your Gran"s house."

"Really?" I said, surprised. "I thought you were surprised my bougie ass was there at all!"

"Please," Retta rolled her eyes. "It was obvious from the moment you started gushing about life in the woods that you were finally where you were meant to be. And who knows, maybe when I come visit, I"ll find myself a hot country boy too!"

At that, we both burst into laughter. The image of Retta, with her designer outfits and perfectly manicured nails, trying to navigate life in a small town was undeniably amusing.

"Retta, those country boys wouldn"t know how to handle you," I teased between giggles.

"Maybe so," she conceded, "but it would be fun to see them try, wouldn"t it?"

We spent the next hour figuring out which boxes would fit into my car and which ones I needed to have shipped. Retta volunteered to stay and wait for the carrier to pick everything up so I could get on the road.

"Okay, I think that's it. I will handle everything. You just take that cute tush back to your handyman. Let him put his hands all over you."

I gave her a look. "How long did it take you to come up with that one?"

She laughed and pulled me into a hug. "Here"s to new beginnings."

"Retta." I suddenly couldn't speak, my throat thick with emotion. "Thank you for everything."

Her eyes softened as she looked at me. "Go. Spend time with Billie before you have to get on the road."

After one last hug, I got on the elevator. I had talked with my mom and Billie yesterday so they knew I was coming. I was excited to spend time with them. But I was also excited to get home.

I had a date with a country boy.

He just didn't know it yet.

* * *

After spending a teary hour with Billie, I left right after lunch time. It had been harder than expected to tell Billie that I was now planning to figure out a way to help Mom keep her in New York. Mainly because I could see how relieved she was, which only drove home how long I'd missed the clues that she didn't want to move.

I rode down to the lobby and then walked over to the concierge desk. Any mail or packages coming after today would need to be forwarded, something I knew they could take care of for me. After explaining what I needed, I filled out a form with my new address.

My favorite doorman, Angel, was on duty. I waved and he gave a formal bow in return which made me laugh. All my memories of this place weren't horrible. It was nice that I could now remember the good things.I walked back to the elevators so I could ride down to the parking garage.

"Miss Monroe?"

I turned. "Angel? Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. There was a gentleman here asking for you. He isn't on the approved visitors list. We called up for you but no one answered."

"What was his name?"

"Rick."

My mouth went dry. "Rix? Hendrix?"

He pointed to the front door. "He's still out there. He's been there for about half an hour."

I hurried over to the front doors and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Even though I was expecting to see him, it was still a shock when he turned around because he looked so out of place. His hair whipped around his face since it was still a little too long and his ripped T-shirt and jeans wouldn't have looked strange if we weren't in front of a ritzy building on the Upper East Side. But there was just something about Hendrix Evers that marked him as not from the city. He looked so earthy and real. Like he should be in a forest hauling lumber not in the middle of a concrete jungle.

"What are you doing here?"

He shifted a knapsack on his shoulder and it growled. The bag…growled.

"Would you settle down in there?" Rix muttered. "No wonder we couldn't get past that stuffy doorman."

The bag shifted again and Meatball pushed his head out of the top. He snuffled in my direction.

"Meatball!" I leaned over and kissed the top of his little head.

"I figured if I was going to come and beg for another chance that I needed to bring out the big guns," Hendrix admitted.

My eyes flew up to meet his. "Is that what you're doing? Begging for another chance?"

He took a deep breath. "Charlie, I know your mom and your sister need you. I understand that completely because I need you, too. Nothing has been the same since you left Violet Ridge. That shouldn't be a surprise since nothing was the same the last time you left either."

"I'm sorry I left without talking to you. Everything just happened so fast. You were mad at me and I didn't know what to do about that. Every time I think I'm settled, something happens to ruin it and I was scared it was a sign we weren't meant to be."

He slid his hand around my neck in the way that always made me melt.

"All it means is that we need to learn to talk to each other instead of making assumptions. I found out that you might be leaving and it hit me hard. Even harder than it did the first time you left. I was a kid then and I didn't know how to handle it but I'm a man now. I'm not going to let you go without a fight."

It was almost impossible to see him with tears in my eyes but I didn't let that stop me from throwing myself in his arms. He staggered back under the force of my weight and Meatball let out an annoyed grunt.

"I don't want you to let me go," I whispered.

"I love you, Charlotte Monroe. I'm just sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. If you need to be here in New York then I guess we'll have to figure out how to survive in the Big Apple."

"We?"

"Apparently me and Meatball come as a package deal. He's decided he likes me after all. Either that or he likes all the food I drop on the floor."

Laughing, I patted Meatball on the head again. "I knew it. No loyalty at all."

"He misses you almost as much as I do."

I leaned my forehead against his and suddenly everything seemed right again. "I love you, too. Were you really going to move to New York?"

He shrugged. "I'm going where you are. I'm all in."

His words made me feel warm all over but as usual my fears got the best of me. "Are we moving too fast?"

"We're not kids anymore and we don't have to follow anybody's rules but our own. I want it all with you. Forever."

"Forever Evers?" I whispered.

His chuckle made the warmth settle right in the center of my chest. "Forever Evers. That's what I want."

"That's what I want, too. More than anything."

He looked behind me. "So this is home?"

I looked back at the building where I'd spent the past ten years. Even though I'd experienced a lot of milestones there, it had never felt like home.

"No. It was just a place I stayed for a while. Violet Ridge is home. It's where I've always wanted to be."

That was when I noticed the bag in his other hand. "What's that?"

For the first time, he looked uncertain. "I made something for you. But it's stupid." He opened the bag and lifted out a miniature house made from wood.

My mouth fell open. "It looks like Gran's house!"

"I was trying to show you the addition I wanted to build on the back. But I messed up on the porch and the roof is all wrong."

I kissed him quiet. "Always the critic. It's perfect."

He tried to put it back in the bag. "It was supposed to be to scale. But, it's fine. I'll make you another one."

"No. It's mine. You can't take it back. I love it. You made me a house."

He pulled me into another kiss. "I'll make you a home if you let me. That's all I want, Charlie. To come home to you."