Page 99 of Take Two

“It tastes just like Mama’s,” Colt says after he takes another huge bite. I look to Charlie, who nods in agreement. “I married Vickie for her cooking skills.” She gasps in faux disgust. When he leansover and puckers at her, she flicks his lips with her fingers. Colt feigns injury and both boys giggle.

Charlie holds his glass of lemonade up and I hold my water. We clink together. He winks at me and mouths that he loves me.

We’re all seated at the dining room table, but the seat at the head of the table stays empty. According to Charlie, no one has ever sat there since his father died eighteen years ago.

There’s a sense of comfort since our talk this morning. Despite that unpleasantness, I feel as if we’ve reached a new level in our relationship. Charlie slides a hand on my lap while we eat.

I suddenly remember Terri’s conversation about how she never felt like a part of Spence’s family, and I’m grateful that I fit in here so well despite the early friction with Colt.

“You two did a fantastic job,” Mary Leigh says. “Next time we’re all together, whether it’s here or in New York, you two should cook again. Only with no help from me.”

“I don’t want Colt getting any ideas,” Vickie says.

“I’ll cook then,” I volunteer. “What?” I ask when Vickie glares at me. “Colt doesn’t deserve it, but Charlie does because he’s so sweet.”

“Sweet, my foot,” Colt grumbles. “And why don’t I deserve it?” he asks.

“Fine, I’ll help,” Vickie says. “For Charlie, not for Colt.”

I offer Charlie some of my potatoes and he takes them. After we finished cooking earlier, I sent a picture of the food to my mother and sister, who now insist I make it for them soon.

The house is loud as we all talk over each other. We’re only silenced when the doorbell rings.

“I wonder if that’s Rosalie,” Mary Leigh says about her friend and neighbor. She gets up from the table to go to the door.

“Charlie, this person says she’s a friend of yours?” Mary Leigh says a few moments later. I stand frozen as a visibly pregnant woman waddles into the kitchen. Behind her is a blonde little girl who looks to be about two to three years old.

The woman’s eyes narrow when she sees me. She puts a hand on her stomach, and I get the sense that she’s sticking it out to make herself look more pregnant than she actually is. She waddles over and takes the seat at the head of the table. Charlie’s father’s seat. Mary Leigh’s eyes bug out of her head at the woman’s audacity.

Charlie strides over to her, but I go with him. I already know who she is, but he left out the fact that she’s pregnant.

“You need to get out of that chair now,” Mary Leigh says, but when the woman doesn’t budge, she takes matters into her own hands. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. Mary Leigh practically leaps across the room, grabs this woman by her collar, and lifts her out of the seat. She drags and dumps her in another empty chair.

“The only reason I’m allowing you to sit anywhere in my house is because you’re pregnant, but don’t youeversit in my husband’s chair, you fleabag.” She turns away in disgust and rushes to the empty chair. She lifts it and takes it out of the kitchen altogether. “The audacity,” I hear Mary Leigh mutter. “Not even my children are allowed to sit in it, and this person thinks—" That’s all I hear.

I look at Vickie to make sure I really witnessed what took place moments ago. She’s standing there as shocked as I am.

“I warned you about her freakish mom strength,” Colt says to me.

“I’m carrying your grandchild. A girl,” Holly yells back as she pats her stomach. I turn to look at Charlie, who looks at her in disbelief. “You’d think you would treat me better.”

“Holly, you need to leave. And you need to go find the real father of that baby and of your other daughter,” Charlie says.

“You mean Charlene?”

“I’m hungry,” the little girl says. “Can I have something to eat, please?” She looks around and puckers her little lips. I can tell she’s seconds away from crying. Mary Leigh, who is back in the kitchen now, takes her hand and puts her in Johnny’s highchair before she fixes her a plate. Vickie gives her a juice box.

“Charlie, what is this woman talking about?” Vickie asks while pointing at her. “Lady, no one here is the father of that baby, so you can stop right there.”

Chapter 54

Charlie

Holly waves Vickie off and says nothing to defend herself, nor does she get up to leave. I look at my brother before letting out a breath and I look up at the ceiling while I try to figure out how to handle this. The old Charlie would have taken her wrist, lifted her off her feet, and physically put her out of thishouse, but the little girl is eating with so much gusto, I’d hate for her to leave before she’s full.

“Tell them, Charlie,” Violet says. She puts a hand on my back and rubs between my shoulders.

“Holly and I were involved years ago when we were both drinkin’. She thought Charlene was mine, but she’s not. A DNA test confirmed it, so I don’t know why she’s here. As for the child she’s carrying, I haven’t seen Holly in years. That’s the entire story.”

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