Revel (Second Chance Romance #1)(29)

“Make love to me,” she said. “Please. I want to end this perfect day doing the thing I love more than anything else in the world.”

“As you wish,” he said, jumping from the branch and holding out his hand to help her down. “You’ll never have to ask me twice when it comes to that.”





Chapter Twelve


Charlotte wasn’t sure what to do now.

She was torn. It was the common theme of the day, apparently. She felt so many emotions at once after reading that letter and seeing his name signed at the bottom. It brought so much back all at once.

She needed to talk to Vanessa.

Charlotte fumbled around her purse looking for her phone. When she finally found it, it took her a few moments to keep her hands from shaking so she could dial Vanessa’s number.

God I hope she answers, she thought. She might be at work.

Fortunately, she did. On the third ring.

“Char!” Vanessa’s cheery voice answered. “I was waiting for you to call me and tell me you made it okay.”

“I texted you, didn’t I?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, but I was hoping you’d call,” Vanessa said. “But its okay, you’re calling now! How’s Charleston? How are you?”

Charlotte sighed. Where to even begin? She told Vanessa everything, the incident on the beach, the letter, her running away from him.

“What do I do?” Charlotte asked. “I don’t know what to do. Should I just leave in the middle of the night? Go somewhere else? Maybe Isle of Palms or Folly? Or Mars?”

Vanessa was quiet on the other end.

“Charlotte,” she finally said. “You know how strange this is, right? That you go to Charleston for the first time in ten years and you not only run into him but you end up renting the house right next to his? Isn’t this… Kind of how it always is when it comes to him?”

Charlotte sighed, “Yes. Coincidence is not my friend.”

“You know I don’t believe in coincidence,” Vanessa said. “I’m the one who believes other forces are at play when it comes to these things. I mean, this is crazy, Charlotte! It’s kismet. It’s fate!”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, “It is not. Declan DeGraff is not my fate.”

“Well, the universe sure seems to want to push you two together whenever it has the chance,” Vanessa said. “And I don’t know what you’re running away from when it comes to Nashville, but I know that running away from Declan is not what you actually want to do. That’s why you’re calling me, right? To get permission to reach out to him.”

Charlotte guffawed, “It most certainly is not. I called you just to tell someone… I mean. Okay. Maybe I did call you to get your opinion, but I really don’t feel like reaching out to him is necessarily the best course of action. I mean, you know how hard it was for me…”

“I know,” Vanessa said. “And Lord knows he doesn’t deserve a damn thing from you. But I also know what you look like whenever he’s mentioned. Like you’ve just been hit. Like it’s painful. And the past is muddy but maybe this is a way of making it clear again.”

“So what are you saying, V?” Charlotte asked.

“Go to him,” Vanessa instructed. “Just this one last time.”

********

Declan had never been so anxious. Not even during the sale of his company. It was nothing compared to this.

He’d left the envelope on her front door right before the pizza delivery guy had shown up, and he was relieved to know he’d timed it perfectly. He’d watched from his window as the kid picked up the envelope and handed it to her. So Declan knew for sure she had it.

He wasn’t sure what to expect now. He was afraid of two things. First, he was afraid there was a husband or boyfriend in the cottage with her that would not take too kindly to another man sending her a letter like the one he’d left. Not that it was anything intimate, but he could figure how it might appear. The husband or boyfriend might march right over and threaten to kick his ass.

The second thing he was afraid of was that she would do nothing. That he would hear nothing.

That made him more scared than anything else.

He needed to talk about this with someone. Someone who knew the Charlotte situation, which was a very small circle of people.

Winston Ravenel.

Declan dialed his number as he continued to glance out the window.

God I look like a creeper, he thought.

Winston answered on the first ring.

“DeGraff,” Winston said. “You callin’ to make plans? Because I was thinking of heading your way tonight. Maybe hit up Poe’s Tavern.”

“No, I’m not calling to make plans,” Declan said. “Believe it or not, I’m calling for advice.”

Winston paused. This was something Declan never needed from him. If anything, Winston was the one that always needed the counsel.

“Well, I’m all ears,” Winston said. “I can’t even possibly begin to fathom what you’re about to ask me.”

“Well, it’s Charlotte,” Declan began. He filled Winston in on what had happened on the beach and his letter.

“You left a letter?” Winston said. “Isn’t that kind of… juvenile? I mean, it reminds me a little bit of middle school.”