He started for the door.
“Where are you going?”
He turned back to Chase. “To make sure I get under Charlotte’s skin and into her life—to the point where she never wants me out.”
* * *
Charlotte closed the store for the day at five. Saturday night was officially upon her. She rubbed her eyes and glanced up at Beth, who was twirling a pencil between her hands. “What are you thinking?” Charlotte asked her friend.
“Nothing.”
“Baloney. You’ve been avoiding any serious talk with me for the last two weeks. You need a friend and I’m it. So please, let me help you.”
Beth shook her head. “I wish I could, Charlotte, but you wouldn’t understand.”
Charlotte wondered if she should be offended. “Do I look that unfeeling to you?”
“No, just set in your beliefs. Any relationship that resembles your mother and father immediately gets your stamp of disapproval. I’m just not up to hearing it.”
Charlotte’s heart hammered in her throat as she walked over to her best friend. “I never meant to pass judgment. I just hurt for you. If anything I said or did came off harshly, I’m sorry. But Beth, you’re a beautiful woman, engaged to a man you love, and you’re still miserable. Why?” Charlotte swallowed hard, not wanting to sound disapproving. “Because you’re here and he’s in the city?”
Beth shook her head. “Not just that.”
“Please explain things to me. I promise to listen, not judge.” Charlotte tugged on Beth’s hand and led her to the chairs in the waiting area. “I’ll get us something to drink and you can talk to me, okay?”
Seconds later, a can of soda popped for each of them, Charlotte joined Beth. She curled her legs beneath her. “So you two met over Christmas?” She brought Beth’s memories back to the beginning.
“Yes. Norman had his annual party and David was in town visiting the Ramseys—Joanne is his mother’s sister. Anyway, we were introduced, started talking … I fell for him that night. I just knew he was the one.”
“What’d you talk about? How did you know he was the one?” Charlotte leaned forward, dying to hear that her suspicions about David were wrong, that he and Beth truly had more goals and interests in common than she’d seen so far.
“His job, mostly. He has famous clients, but he also had everyday women who needed a change to make the most of their potential.”
“Sounds interesting,” Charlotte lied. “And when he walked you home, did he kiss you under the stars?” For Beth, Charlotte wanted the happily-ever-after story she’d yet to come across on her own.
“No. Actually, he was a gentleman. He kissed me on the cheek and …”
Charlotte placed her hand over Beth’s. “And what?”
“Gave me his card. He said if I was ever in New York, to look him up. That he was certain he could maximize my beauty.”
Charlotte’s stomach plummeted, her fears coming to life. “Beth—I’m going out on a limb here, so hit me if you have to—why did you feel like you had to maximize what was already beautiful? None of us are perfect, honey.”
“Well, I wasn’t attracting the right man as I was,” she said defensively.
“Because Yorkshire Falls doesn’t have all that many right men.” Except Roman.
Charlotte shook the traitorous thought aside. He was the wrong man, right for only a few weeks, she brutally reminded herself. Then she turned her attention back to Beth. “What happened next?”
“I took a trip to New York. I’d always wanted to see a Broadway show and so I convinced my mom to go for the weekend. We stayed in a hotel, took in a show—my treat—and spent a nice weekend.” She bit down on her lower lip. “I sent Mom home on Sunday and on Monday I looked David up at his office. Things took off from there. A month later, we were engaged.”
“After you’d undergone implant surgery?”
Beth’s glance darted away. “He was amazing. So focused on me and my needs.”
On what he wanted to create, Charlotte thought. The man wasn’t interested in the incredible woman Beth already was. She downed a sip of soda. “Did you make a lot of trips there?”
Beth nodded. “And he came up most weekends after that. We had such incredible plans,” she said, her eyes lighting up with the memory, but the hint of sadness and reality remained. “He has this beautiful penthouse. You can see the East River and the shopping is incredible. There are baby stores galore. We agreed we wanted kids right away and he said he wanted me to stay home and raise them.”
“Can I ask you a personal question?” One Charlotte knew would sound judgmental and biased based on her mother’s experience, but in Beth’s case, Charlotte had a hunch she was dead-on accurate.
“Go ahead,” Beth said warily.
“A man with his money and your shared dreams—why didn’t he suggest you move to the city to be with him now? He could certainly afford it, so why be separated?”
“Because he believes in a traditional courtship! What’s so wrong with that? Not every man who doesn’t stay in Yorkshire Falls is a creep like your father.” Beth’s eyes opened wide, then filled with tears. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. That was an awful thing to say.”
“No, it was just honest,” Charlotte said softly. “I’m asking valid questions and you’re defensive. What are you afraid of, Beth?”
“That he’s found someone else that interests him more.” Her friend swiped at her eyes. “He’s been engaged before to a patient,” Beth admitted.
“To a patient?” Charlotte had a feeling Dr. Implant was more of a Svengali—a man who fell in love with his creations, not with the women inside the bodies he fixed, and one who lost interest once he discovered another project.
In Beth, he’d found the ideal subject, because despite her all-natural good looks, she’d never quite felt perfect, something Charlotte knew from their teenage years. Though she never was certain why.
“So he wasn’t interested until
