Can't Let You Go (15 page)

“I didn’t ever lie to you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Withheld the truth.”

“I tried to tell you about Thrifty Co.”

“Really? Did you try? What’s the matter, did our
kissing
get in the way?” I rubbed my hands over my face, wishing when I opened my eyes, this would all be a bad dream. “I’m so stupid! How could I fall for this again?”

“I did try to tell you. Every time I would begin to explain, something would interrupt me.”

“Like your cowardice?”

He took a step back as if I’d struck him. “This is a job. And like it or not, it’s
my
job. It has nothing to do with how I feel about you or this town.”

“And how do you feel about me? Want to know how I feel about you?”

“Yes, let’s talk about that, shall we? God knows you’ve been dancing around it ever since that plane touched down. In case temporary amnesia has conveniently overtaken you in the last five minutes, you said you loved me.”

“I thought I was dying!”

“You said—and I quote—
I never stopped loving you.
Does that sound familiar?”

“You know what is familiar? A man getting caught in lies and changing the topic and making this about me. The issue here is that you work for the very company that’s trying to take the Valiant and ruin this town. You’ve had every opportunity to tell me.”

Charlie ignored that and returned to my crash-and-burn declaration. “
Never stopped loving
me implies that you were aware of your feelings the entire time you were dating that English loser.”

“Any warm and tingly inclinations I might have had disappeared the second your boss called your name. Stay on topic!”

“You care about me.”

“I care about the Valiant. And Micky’s. And the other businesses that are going to be obliterated by this stupid money-hungry corporation you work for. How have you been sleeping at night? How do you look yourself in the mirror?”

“It’s a good company. It employs millions of people and invests in towns.”

“By pillaging them first.” I held out my shaking hand. “Give me the keys.”

“Listen to me and let me explain.”

“I thought you were different. I thought I could trust you.” I needed to get out of here before I lost it. Before the tears took over. “I even let myself begin to think we had a chance.”

“We do. My job doesn’t have to affect us.”

Was he insane? Maybe the doctors should’ve checked
him
for head trauma. “I’m not sure what we were, but we’re over. Forever. You laid there with me on the floor of the Valiant and let me pour my heart out. While I went on and on about how this theater was everything to me,
you
said nothing. Nothing!” I could picture us right back there, and I ached for the way I had just gone on and on that night, while he had probably been studying the theater for the best possible spot to drop the wrecking ball. “You must’ve thought I was pretty pitiful.”

His nostrils flared, and seconds passed before he responded. “That day ripped me in two, Katie. I know the Valiant means a lot to you. I was right there with you from the beginning when you came to In Between as that angry teenager. I watched you fall in love with theater—with life—on that stage.”

“Then how can you take it away from me? How can you be a part of that?”

“If I could save it, I would.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “For you—I would do anything to stop the hurt. You think I wanted to be assigned to the In Between store—where I know every face? Every life story? Everything we could be taking away? But I have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice. And you made yours.”

“Oh, Katie!” came a shrill female voice. “Katie, dear!”

Maxine buzzed toward us like a queen bee, her cluster of activists swarming right behind her. Sixty more seconds and I would’ve been in my car, on the road, and far away from this disaster.

“We’re not done talking about this,” Charlie said.

“Yes, we are.” I ripped my keys from his lying hand. “You and I are totally done.”

“Oh, Sweet Pea!” Maxine hugged me to her. “You did a wonderful job!” Her lips pressed near my ear. “Your ex-boyfriend is right behind us. Take off the psychopathic killer face and look like a woman in love.”

“There you two are.” Ian glanced between me and Charlie, that smooth smile never slipping. “The local ABC affiliate would like to talk to you both. I’ve already given them my statement. Unless you’re busy, that is. I’m sure tonight was quite the shock.”

“Not at all,” Maxine said. “You think Katie didn’t know her fiancé worked at Thrifty Co.? Bah! These two are so tight, he can’t tinkle without her knowing. Isn’t that right, Snookums?”

I could only glare at Charlie.

“That’s right.” Charlie’s fierce gaze held mine. “Katie knows everything about me.”

“You did a great job,” Loretta said, then gave Charlie one of her best glares. “One of our own. Your momma raised you better than that, son.”

“We’re going to do right by this town.” Charlie’s eyes returned to me. “For everyone.”

“Is now a good time to talk to you about catering your wedding?” Mrs. Tanner stepped forward. “Are you two more smoked wienies or salmon?”

“Now is not the time.” I had stepped into a Monty Python script.

“The press would like to speak to you both,” Ian said. “I’ve already made my plea for artistic and historical preservation. Now they want to hear your opposing sides.” He cast a curious look between us. “What an interesting story angle you’ve given them. Would’ve been nice to have known about this.” And with that, Ian marched himself back into the building, the committee following him like ducklings.

“Well.” Maxine crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Charlie with a scowl once reserved for stage managers who stole her showgirl tips. “I am not very happy with you right now.”

“I understand,” Charlie said.

“You are not the man I thought you were,” Maxine said. “You can just forget any gifts for your fake wedding from me. No toaster cozies for you!” She leaned close enough to hiss. “May you stew on that regret the rest of your days.” Maxine grabbed my hand. “Come on, Katie. Let’s get you away from this traitor.”

“I’m sorry it happened like this.” Charlie’s voice was almost believable. Oh, he was good. “Please, let’s talk about it.”

“Katie’s not speaking to you, Judas.”

“She told me she loved me.”

Maxine’s pause was so brief, it barely registered. “Is that what she said? Katie tells strange men she loves them all the time. It’s a mental condition. Yesterday we found her downtown pledging her heart to the statue of Sam Houston. Sometimes she forgets to take her medicine.” She tugged on my hand. “Get to steppin’”

“You care about me,” Charlie said, as I stepped past him. “I know you do.”

“Maybe my feelings for you are as fickle as yours are for your hometown.” I took one last look at the achingly handsome man who had become the enemy. “You and I are over.”

*

I pulled into
Maxine’s driveway, my brain a mess of shouts and sobs. The car seemed to have driven on auto-pilot, as I had no recollection of making turns, or if I’d observed stop signs and traffic lights. I needed to go home.

But Maxine made no move to open her door.

“So,” she said. “You told Charlie you loved him?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it? Finding out he works for Thrifty doesn’t really negate the words if you said them.”

I let my head drop to the steering wheel. “I have the worst picker.”

“Nose picker?”

“Man picker! I’m absolutely terrible at it. I’m my mother.” I’d done everything I could not to become her, and yet, here I was. Just because I was dating men a little more upper class than Bobbie Ann Parker’s average drug dealer didn’t mean I was choosing stellar winners.

“Sweet Pea, you are not your birth mother. I mean, like her, your chest is flat as the hood of this car, but other than that, you don’t have a thing in common.”

“I thought I could trust Ian. And then. . .Charlie. This whole time he was here on business for Thrifty Co., and I couldn’t even see that. I should’ve figured it out.”

“Well, it’s hard to think when you’re lip-locked and making declarations of love. You want to tell me about that?”

Not really. I wanted that moment on the airplane to go away forever. “The plane dropped altitude. I thought we were dying, and I was having my last moments alive.” I lifted my head and stared at the dark sky beyond Maxine’s passenger window. “I told Charlie I loved him.” I gave her the rest of the details, and Maxine responded by fanning herself and cranking up the air.

“Maybe you should talk to Charlie,” she finally said. “Hear what he has to say for himself.”

“When the Valiant gets bulldozed, Charlie will be part of that. When that stupid store goes up in its place, Charlie will be right there for the ribbon cutting. His Thrifty Co. will stand on the graveyard of In Between businesses, and he helped it happen.”

“Babe, despite my perfectly flawless skin and impeccable neckline, I’ve lived a lot of years. Buildings are things. It’s the people that matter.” She rested her hand on mine. “I know the Valiant means a lot to you. Nobody wants to see it go down. But you need to examine that heart. Because if you truly do love Charlie Benson, will you be able to just toss it away?”

“I could never be with someone who’s doing what he’s doing.”

“It’s terrible, for sure. But like he said, it’s a job.”

“Are you hearing yourself? This is our theater we’re about to lose.”

“I get that. But, hon, I’ve been married to two wonderful men. Dear Mr. Simmons loved me something fierce. And now my own spicy love machine Sam—”

“Get to your point.”

“My Sam worships the ground I walk on. And I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything. And I’ve seen the way your Charlie looks at you—the way he always has. And the way you look at him.”

“No matter what I feel for him, if he had any care for me, he wouldn’t go through with this. Charlie knew what that theater meant to me, how it had transformed my life.”

“Life’s full of tough choices,” Maxine said. “Sometimes we just have to stumble through some together. Don’t give up on him yet.” She opened the door, flooding the car with light. “Say, what did Charlie say when you told him you loved him?”

“Nothing.” I reached for the controls on the air conditioning, cold to the bone. “He said nothing.”

I
rose the
next morning before the sun and got to the diner just as a sleepy Loretta unlocked the door.

“It’s four-thirty. What are you doing here?” She walked inside and flipped on the lights.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“That Benson boy threw you for a loop, didn’t he?”

The industrial-sized coffee pot beckoned, and I flipped some switches to bring the thing to life. “Did you know?”

“His uncle is a big wig for Thrifty Co. That was all I knew. I had suspected your friend might be involved, but I wasn’t for sure.”

“You could’ve shared your suspicions with me.”

“You seemed to have enough on your plate.”

I grabbed two white ceramic mugs and waited for the coffee maker to spit out its heavenly elixir. “Is his uncle from around here?”

“Naw.” Loretta climbed onto a swiveling stool. “The uncle and Charlie’s dad are both from back East. So you won’t get any hometown sympathy from either one of them.”

“Charlie’s dad’s involved in this?”

“The bank president? Hon, you think he doesn’t see dollar signs every time he drives down Maple? Of course he’s in on it.”

I snagged the pot and filled our mugs, grabbing two creamers and a white packet of sugar for Loretta.

She blew on the cup, grimacing as she took a sip. “Pretty stout.”

“The day seems to call for it.”

“It’s your tips at stake.” Loretta gave a half smile. “Not mine.”

I joined her at the counter and took my first drink, hot and black.

“The committee met after the town hall last night.” Loretta stirred in more sugar.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“With you getting engaged, your ex-boyfriend showing up in town, and discovering your beloved is a corporate Grinch, we thought you might need some alone time.”