Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) (44 page)

My heart beat faster. I felt a surge of pain
in my chest. Hearing his story confirmed he had really cared about
me despite the doubt I settled with.

“You were all I thought about.” I
confessed.

“I hadn’t felt that way about anyone. You’ve
haunted my dreams since that night Charlotte.”

I replayed his words in my head…
hadn’t
felt that way about anyone
. I pondered whether he felt that way
about CeCe.

“And now—do you still feel that way?” I
asked, inhaling deeply.

“Seeing you yesterday brought me right back
to that night.” He said with his eyes piercing into mine.

“I don’t know if I even really want to know
but I can’t not ask you. Do you love CeCe; is she really the one?”
I said closing my eyes, bracing myself for his answer.

“You were always supposed to be the girl I
ended up with. I had given up ever finding you after a year passed.
I kept myself busy and tried to stop thinking about you but you
still visited my dreams.”

I felt my nose wrinkle up pushing back the
tears inside. “The day Lucy was born I had drifted off to sleep. I
saw you standing in my doorway holding a bouquet of flowers. When I
opened my eyes you were nothing more than a dream. I never
understood why God allowed us to meet when it only caused me so
much pain. But then Lucy was born and she was the greatest joy I’ve
ever experienced—even doing it alone.”

“I wish I could change things. I’m sorry I
wasn’t there for you and for Lucy.”

“You didn’t know.”

“When I met CeCe there was something about
her; something familiar. Her sweet spirit and her passion could
hardly be ignored.”

“I know my best friend has that effect on
most people.” I said biting my nails, letting a laugh slip out.

“I didn’t know it at first but something
about her reminded me of you.”

“I didn’t give it any thought when she said
she met someone that she was mad about. She described you in the
way I described you—incredible. I never thought I’d see you on that
veranda yesterday.”

Skylar smiled at me and then looked down
before continuing, “I never thought I’d see you again until last
week.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, repeating his
last few words in my head.

He sighed and took a deep breath. “I visited
CeCe at the home she lived at with the French family. I’d never
been up in her room before and she asked for help packing her
things. She assigned me to packing up her clothes, in boxes, while
she ran out to get us some coffee and pastries. I was folding her
clothes and something caught my eye. On her windowsill over-looking
the Seine was a black and white photograph. I saw CeCe but was
taken aback when I saw you. I found myself on the floor, completely
shocked.”

“And you didn’t tell CeCe?”

“I had prayed so many times, in the past,
that I would see you again. I didn’t know what to say to her. I had
to find you—I had to see if it was really you.” He said with sorrow
in his eyes.

“And now that you’ve found me—now what?
You’re marrying my best friend tomorrow? Why do you tell me all of
this now? What am I supposed to do with it, Skylar?”

He reached out to touch my hands.
“Charlotte, I knew I loved you the night we met.” His words pierced
through the lock on my heart.

The clasp of his hands on mine released a
quiver through my body. “And tomorrow when you marry CeCe—will you
still love me?” I asked, pursing my lips together to fight the
surge of emotion ready to implode.

“Yes, I will still love you.” He answered
looking into my eyes.

I looked away with tears built up like a
damn getting ready to burst. “I can’t be there. I want her to be
happy but you can’t ask me to watch her marry the only guy I’ve
ever loved.” I said, tears gushing down my face.

Skylar took my face into his hands as my
body trembled. “I can’t say that I’ve never loved CeCe because I
do, but I know that I’ve never stopped loving you. It was your face
that I saw—that pulled me out of the desperation I felt when I
thought I was losing my mother. The thought of you kept me going.
I’d close my eyes and picture your smile and it made me happy.”

“But we can’t live in the past.”

He pulled me into his chest and held me
tightly while the tears flowed like a river washing out everything
in its path. His warmth encompassed all of my frailties. I closed
my eyes and let go of all my thoughts and inhibitions. Still tucked
into the strength of his embrace, I wiped my eyes and nose with my
sleeve. He pulled back and lowered his lips to mine. He looked at
me in a way I had long awaited and kissed me softly. My stomach
plunged and butterflies, by the dozen, soared freely. My breath and
every part of my body were paralyzed.

His kiss left me with a wooziness I’d
experienced only once before, with him, almost four years earlier.
He held me in his arms while we remained silent. A few hours passed
since we reached the beach.

“I don’t want to leave here again knowing
this could be the last time I taste your lips and feel your skin.”
I said brazenly.

“I can’t bear losing you again.” Skylar said
with his chin resting on the top of my head with his arms caressing
me.

“What do we do?”

“I have to make the right decision. No
matter what happens everything will change.” He said, looking at me
with deep melancholy in his eyes.

“Do we tell CeCe tonight?”

“She needs to know. I just don’t know if I
can tell her tonight. I need to get back and think about this.”

“I know we don’t want to hurt her but she
should know before she walks down the aisle tomorrow.” I insisted,
trying to determine where Skylar’s commitment rested.

He had asked her to marry him before he knew
I still existed, I thought to myself.

“Are you…” I paused, hurting to get the
words out. “Are you still planning on marrying CeCe tomorrow?”

“I can’t marry anyone tomorrow. I know that
meeting you again—is not a coincidence. I love you Charlotte; I’ve
always loved you. I’ve made choices that hurt you and CeCe and I
don’t want to cause either of you anymore pain. I want to be with
you but I need to make things right with CeCe, first.”

I rested in the comfort of his arms a little
while longer before we drove back to town and I dropped him off in
the shadows of Oak and Main.

“So, I’ll meet you tomorrow at the Inn?”

“Yeah, I’m going to talk with her tonight.”
Skylar said holding my hand.

“Should I call her first? Would it come
better from her best friend?”

“I owe it to her to tell her myself. If she
calls you before I see her then you can let her know that we need
to talk.”

“Okay.” I said, still nervous about letting
Skylar out of my sight—afraid to lose him again.

“I promise I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You promise it won’t take you another four
years to see me again.” I smiled, light-heartedly.

“I promise.” He said, leaning over to kiss
my cheek before he backed out of the car.

I waved to him and smiled. I watched him
disappear out of my rearview mirror feeling a knot building in the
pit of my stomach. I started to panic thinking about his words. He
still loved her too. He could change his mind. She could change his
mind. She was very persuasive when she really wanted something. She
was very competitive and good at everything she did. What if he
married her tomorrow? I knew he wanted me to wait but I couldn’t. I
needed to call CeCe and tell her everything. I didn’t want to be in
the audience of my life—I need to be the key player if I wanted my
happy ever after.

I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed her cell number. It rang four
times and suddenly the phone picked up. I thought I knew what I
would say but my mouth just froze. Her voicemail picked up. “Hi
this is CeCe—the soon to be Mrs. La Fleur. Please leave a message
and I’ll get back to you after my honeymoon”. Hearing her words
again burned in my skin, like cattle being branded by hot iron. I
hung up the phone and continued to drive home. I pulled in the
driveway and dialed her number again. It was three AM. Again, the
phone rang and nothing. Her voicemail picked up. I closed the phone
shut and quietly walked inside.

My mother was sitting up alongside Richie
watching a movie in the living room.

“You’re still up?”

“We waited for you to get home.” My mother
said.

“Is that Char?” My dad asked from the top of
the stairs.

“Yes honey.”

“So, how’d it go?” Richie asked
curiously.

“Good. He told me the whole story. He tried
to find me for over a year and said that he never stopped thinking
about me.”

“I know its late Char but what happened. He
had your number?” My mother asked as my father made space for
himself beside her on the sofa.

I sat for the next half hour telling my
parents everything Skylar shared with me. They sat quietly,
listening about his mother, Carmencita and the paper, and the
photograph.

“So, what are you going to do?” My mother
asked.

“I tried calling CeCe twice, after I dropped
Skylar off but I got her voicemail both times. She’s probably
sleeping.”

“I don’t know if she’s sleeping.” Richie
hinted.

“It’s almost four in the morning. I’m sure
she’s sleeping on the night before her wedding.” I argued.

“Well…I got home about an hour before you
got home and she was still out.” He smiled

“Those girls are going to be so tired
tomorrow.” My mother commented.

“No, just CeCe.”

“What do you mean?”

“The girls all left and CeCe said she’d have
Eric take her home.” He smiled again.

“What? Eric took her home?” I asked, stunned
by CeCe’s judgment on the eve of her wedding night.

“Is there a problem with that?” Richie asked
sarcastically.

“Yes, there’s a problem with that. CeCe is
supposed to be getting married to another man tomorrow and she’s
running around with Eric tonight while I’ve been sick to my stomach
worrying about hurting her with Skylar.”

“Are you sure it’s not because she was
running around with Eric? You can’t have it both ways.” My brother
annoyingly said.

“Yes, I care about Eric but the man I
love—that she supposedly loves—she feels it’s okay to just run
around on him?”

“They were just hanging out Char.” Richie
said. “Take it easy on her.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been sick about this whole
thing since yesterday.”

“You should get some sleep dear. You’ve been
through a lot and tomorrow doesn’t sound like it’s going to be any
easier for the three of you.” My mother said compassionately.

“I do need sleep. I’m supposed to meet CeCe
on the island at ten AM.”

“So, he’s going to talk with her first?” My
dad asked for clarification.

“Yes, he was going to talk to her as soon as
he saw her.” I said.

“Okay, just be ready for that.” He said,
standing up to give me a hug before I headed upstairs.

“Oh honey, Mrs. Kisielewski called while you
were out today. She said she needs your final draft of the
manuscript emailed to her no later than midnight tomorrow.” My
mother said, before my foot touched the first step.

“Oh crap. I remembered but completely
forgot. I’m so stressed that I forgot about the deadline.”

“Well you should have plenty of ideas for
the ending now.” Richie added as I staggered up the stairs.

I lay in bed, tired, but my mind raced a
million miles an hour, thinking about tomorrow. Skylar could still
change his mind. What if I didn’t get my book done in time? I could
lose almost everything that made sense in my life. It would be just
Lucy and I again. “Lord please, move mountains for me. I can’t
climb these alone and if I fall and there’s no one or nothing to
catch me then I don’t know how I’ll get back up again.” I said out
loud before closing my eyes, hoping for the best.

Chapter 22: Southern Belles

I was
standing at the altar, in my pink bridesmaid’s dress, and neither
CeCe nor Skylar were anywhere to be seen. I felt something tickling
my cheek. I swatted at it and heard giggling. I felt something
brush against my cheek, again, and abruptly opened my eyes to see
Lucy standing directly over my face, with her feather boa dangling
over me.

“You silly goose,” I said, grabbing the
feather from the grips of my three-year old before pulling her on
top of me so I could tickle her back.

“No mommy. Don’t tickle me. I’m gonna pee.”
She barely made out the words in between all the giggles.

“Pee! Pee! It’s Okay—you need to take a
shower anyway.”

“Mommy, I’m gonna tell papa on you.” She
screamed loudly, muffled with laughter as she attempted to wiggle
out of my hold.

“Okay, I’ll stop.” I said letting go of her
for a second before tickling her again.

“Mommy!” She squealed.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop for real.” I kissed
her head before letting her go.

“Mommy we need to go. We got to get to
Auntie’s wedding.”

“It’s 9:30 AM honey. You need to get going
soon. Do you want us to bring Lucy with us so you have some
privacy?” My mother appeared in my doorway.

“Oh my gosh—I’ve got to go! Yes, please
bring Lucy.” I jumped up and ran towards the shower. “Mom, please
get my purse and make-up bag together.”

Ten minutes later I kissed Lucy goodbye and
rushed to my car.

“We’ll see you shortly honey. I’m praying
for you.” My mother called out to me as I shifted into first
gear.

I sped to the ferry, parked my car and
hurried on with my bags. My bridesmaid’s dress, that I hoped I
would not need, was already at the Inn, courtesy of Bev. My heart
was racing again. I didn’t know what I would find when I saw CeCe.
She was going to be hurt or mad or sad. I put my make-up on while
the boat made its way to the island. I was the only passenger on
the ferry. We reached the dock and I quickly grabbed my bags and
rushed towards the Inn.