Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight


I was still feeling sorry for myself come Friday and Penny was feeling sorry for me, too, so she insisted I come over and drink with her and Charlie since Aiden had the kids.

We had a classic summer BBQ out in Penny’s lovely backyard; complete with fairy lights strung all around the porch railing, an adorable little vegetable patch, as well as some flowerbeds bursting with colorful and fragrant blossoms. There were some tall, stately old trees bordering the back of the yard, one of which now housed the new treehouse that Charlie had built for the kids.

The sly charmer had wormed his way in quite nicely, I mused to myself as I watched his giant dog, Brady, bounding happily across the well-tended lawn, tearing up everything in its path.

Penelope so wasn’t a big dog person, or someone who would normally ever date someone seven years younger than her, but here we were.

There was something about Charlie Gables that had just stuck.

It was dusk now and Penelope had gone inside to have a phone call with her kids before their bedtime and before she got too drunk.

She left Charlie and I out on the back deck together, watching his dog wrestling with the garden hose.

It could’ve been an awkward moment, because we didn’t know each other very well, and the only thing we had in common was Penny. But it wasn’t awkward, because Charlie could talk to anyone about anything; that was one of his obvious gifts. We were soon laughing about movies we’d seen and having a perfectly platonic time.

“I should probably go stop him.” He finally sighed of his dog.

Charlie dropped easily down the back porch steps then crossed the lawn in that youthful, loping gate he had.

I slowly followed him, keeping a safe distance from the muddy dog as Charlie dragged it back to its dog house to chain him up before the giant mutt ate the whole yard.

I laughed as Charlie returned to me, ruefully dusting himself off. It was a lost cause, though, if I’d ever seen one.

“You’re a good guy, Charlie.” I told him. “I can see why she likes you and for now, you have my blessing. You seem like you’re one of the good ones, is what I mean. But if you screw with my Penny, or hurt her in any way-”

Charlie lifted his big brown eyes to me and for once, he wasn’t grinning.

He slid his hands into his pockets and suddenly a cool breeze kicked up, stirring the fine hairs on the back of my arms.

Something was wrong, I felt it as the clouds shifted overhead in the darkening sky.

“Annie...” He said quietly, glancing towards the house.

Penelope was still inside, probably touching up her makeup in the bathroom if I knew her at all.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to...come clean to you about.” Charlie said uneasily, and my gaze tracked every movement in his face and body.

I eased back a step.

“From the first time I saw you, to be honest.” He continued in a low mutter. I heard it sometimes in his voice; that subtle hint of a South Boston accent that he tried his best to cover up.

Charlie had a whole life we didn’t know about; like an old dog you got at a shelter. A past that we could never fully understand.

But I tried to shake myself of these fanciful notions before I got carried away. Penny’s kids had just made me watch “Lady and the Tramp” one too many times.

“I-I understand if you hate me after this. Whatever you have to do, I understand. I just can’t take the feeling I get every time I see you...” Charlie was saying now and I eased another step back from him.

“I’ve done some things that I ain’t proud of, Annie...” he licked his lips and again glanced towards the house. “I’ve-I’m, like, kinda a criminal, I guess?”

I sucked in a breath sharply. Suddenly I could feel my eyes dilating as I thought I could sense deep within myself, with my women’s intuition perhaps, that I knew where this was going.

“I’ve sold drugs, lifted cars,” he shrugged a shoulder and his dark eyes shifted away from me, “robbed a bank...”

My blood shocked cold as ice in my veins.

“You.” I whispered.

He ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Annie. You’ve no idea how sorry I am. It was never supposed to get so outta hand. My buddy needed the money for his daughter, she was in trouble. Anyway, I swear on my life, we woulda never hurt you.”

I was quite done listening, however.

I simply snapped.