Page 43 of Stay With Me

“There’s a small lake out there. I replenished the fish stock when I first moved in two years ago and have avoided fishing in it yet, so they can breed, but I can start this winter. In fact, a few of the guys and I are thinking about ice fishing soon.”

“That sounds… cold.” I chuckle.

“Yeah, it definitely wouldn’t be your cup of tea since you’re a freeze baby. C’mon, I’ll show you the rest of the house.”

Over the next several minutes, Charlie takes me through an amazing laundry room with another mudroom off the back of the house, then guides me through another door that opens to an attached workshop and storage area. The layout of the house is so unique with the living room, kitchen, and dining area all with a very open floor plan, broken up by only the gorgeous brick two-sided fireplace between the living room and dining area. This level of the house has stunning vaulted ceilings with exposed beam work and the ceiling is lined with thin cedar planks.

Visible from the main level, a wide second story walkway runs over the east side of the house and across half the back of the house. When Charlie takes me upstairs, I see it leads to two bedrooms on the east wall of the house, each having a Juliette balcony, and they share a Jack-n-Jill bathroom.

Finally, he shows me the master bedroom that runs along the back of the house. And gosh, it has a huge walk-in closet, a large master bath, and its own balcony overlooking the woods. As I take it all in, Charlie stays mostly quiet, only speaking to point out a few things.

When we’ve seen all the rooms and are walking toward the steps to return downstairs, he looks at me and shrugs. “I know it’s pretty dated up here, but I think it’s got potential.”

I stop walking and pin my gaze on him. “Charlie, it has atonof potential. Seriously, this house is so great. And I love what you’ve already done with it. Trina said it was, and I quote, a ‘shit hole,’ when you bought it. Now, oh my God, it’s near perfect.”

He bellows with laughter at Trina’s description. “Yeah, that sounds like something she’d say.”

We resume walking down the stairs and, when we reach the bottom, I follow him toward the kitchen. I decide I should probably give Charlie an out in case he doesn’t want to spend his entire Friday night with me.

“So, I know I basically inserted myself into your Friday evening. If you want, I can go home now?—”

He spins around so fast, and I’m following so closely, that I slam into his chest, and he has to grab me by the waist to keep me from toppling backward.

“Emily, no. I don’t want you to leave. I’m glad you came over and I want you to stay. Okay?”

His large hands are still splayed across my waist, and I notice I like how it makes me feel—secure and grounded. Still, I step back, not wanting it to get awkward if we stand like this for much longer.

“Okay,” I answer.

“So, let’s grab some brownies and something to drink and then we can watch a movie, if you want, or I’ve got a few episodes of Jeopardy recorded. We can catch up on those and see who’s smarter.” The teasing lilt in his voice along with the corners of his mouth tilting up set me at ease.

Ten minutes later, I’ve got another glass of wine and Charlie has a beer, the plate of brownies rest on the coffee table in front of the couch we’re nestled on by the toasty fire watching a recorded episode of Jeopardy. It feels like old times. Charlie and I used to watch Jeopardy together at Trina’s and see who got more questions correct.

After thirty minutes in, Charlie narrows his eyes at me, tilting his head to the side, appraising me. I’ve gotten almost every question correct, except for the few I intentionally miss to throw him off. I make a mistake on the next question—art history—when I answer it correctly.

Charlie throws up his hands. “Yep. I knew it, you’re cheating. I just don’t know how. Fess up.”

“What? How dare you.” I feign offense, letting my jaw go slack and throwing my hand against my chest.

“Sunshine, youneverget the art history questions right. And tonight, you’ve gotten four correct. Tell me how you’re doing it.”

I want to keep up the ruse, but I start giggling and the gig is up. I roll my eyes. “Fine. I may or may not have watched this episode last night when it was live.”

“Oh my God, have you no boundaries? You’ll even violate the sacredness of Jeopardy?”

His teasing makes me feel light inside, happy. I can’t help giggling more.

“Fine. I’m sorry, I solemnly swear never to cheat at Jeopardy again.”

“I don’t know. This stings. It’s gonna take a while to get over this. I may only trust watching live episodes with you from now on.”

I toss my head back against the couch and close my eyes, smiling. I like that Charlie talks like we’ll be watching more Jeopardy moving forward. In fact, I like everything about this evening so far and I’m really glad I came.

Charlie lets me sit quietly for a few minutes, then he grabs my foot and shakes it.

“You okay over there?”

I lift my head and turn to look at him. “Yeah, I’m great. Thanks for tonight. I really needed this.” I smile.

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