Page 53 of Country Road Romance

Strangely, though, that was exactly what drew Charlie to him in the first place. He wanted to just lean in and take care of Jared in all of the ways that no one–except possibly his parents–had ever really done.

On an impulse, he reached over and took Jared’s hand in his. For a split second he thought that he would pull away, but instead his grip tightened.

“I’ve really enjoyed these past couple of days,” he said. “You’re nothing like the Charlie that I thought I knew via the internet. You’re sweet and kind, and not fake at all.” He laughed softly. “I didn’t think that people in Hollywood were capable of being so authentic.”

“Just because we pretend to be someone else for a living doesn’t mean that we aren’t also people with souls,” Charlie said. He was learning to be patient when it came to Jared’s assumptions about what people in the entertainment industry were like. In fact Jared’s assumptions weren’t that far off about some of the people that he’d met while he was out there. Being plastic and fake and concerned about appearance was in fact the norm for far too many people, but it had never felt right for him.

I just have to make Jared aware of that.

He suddenly had an idea. “Would you mind walking around town a bit?” he said. He’d meant what he said to Jared when he’d proposed that they think about investing in Annamoriah. There was a lot of potential here; he could just feel it. He wanted to get a better idea of what the town actually looked like to a pedestrian, though.

“I would love that, actually,” Jared said.

Soon enough they were walking down Main Street, and Charlie was critically examining all of the buildings. A lot of these had been here for quite a long while–since 1837, at least according to the sign that proclaimed the downtown was officially part of the National Registry of Historic Places–and though a few were probably dilapidated beyond repair, there were some that he could see being renovated spaces for artists and other creatives. One building in particular stood out to him.

“What’s this place called?” he said as they came to a stop in front of it. It was one of those buildings that had been very popular during the 19th and early 20th centuries, all pillars and elegant brickwork. Even though it had clearly seen better days it was still a beautiful building, particularly with its stained glass windows.

Jared laughed a little. “It’s actually called the Hope Building, though it’s been a while since this town had any of that.”

“You know,” Charlie said, tapping his chin thoughtfully, “that would actually make a great gallery space. Everyone is really getting into the local art stuff. We’ll have to ask around and see if there is anyone who might be interested in setting up shop there. We could use it as sort of the anchor to help reinvigorate all of downtown.”

He flicked his gaze at Jared to see how he was reacting to all of this, suddenly conscious that he might be stepping on his toes, which was the very last thing that he wanted to do. Jared,however, actually looked like he was getting invested in this idea, too.

“You know, I hate to admit it, but you might just be onto something. I honestly have no idea whether any of this will work, but I guess it’s worth a shot?”

“You never know until you try,” Charlie said and, before Jared could say anything, he slipped his hand back into his. “Don’t worry,” he rushed to reassure him, “I won’t hold it forever. I just wanted to touch you again.”

To his immense satisfaction, he saw a grin spread across Jared’s face.

They spent a bit more time walking around the town, and with every bit of it that they saw Charlie felt like he understood Jared a little better. However much he might have become a “big city boy” (if one could consider Huntington with its population of less than 50,000 a big city), there was still a part of him that seemed to thrive in a small town setting like this one.

That, however, raised a whole new series of questions. If they decided to start a future together, where would they live? Charlie might get irritated with the shallowness of California, but the truth was that he’d also grown used to many of the things there. Did he really think that he’d be able to get used to the rhythms of small town life again?

There’s time enough to answer those questions in the future,he thought.Let’s just enjoy the present. And who knows? You might find out that you like the simple life of a small town more than you thought.

There was definitely food for thought there.

Even though Annamoriah was an incredibly small town, Charlie still felt like he could have spent all day there and never batted an eye. However, he was also conscious of the fact that every moment they spent there risked someone seeing them. He’d almost managed to forget that they were trying to beinconspicuous, and even a small town like this one was likely to have someone with an iPhone who would only be too happy to announce that they’d seentheCharlie Garrett.

Jared seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he suddenly sighed.

“I hate to be a party pooper, but I think it’s probably about time that we start getting back to my parents’ place. I’m really glad that you came here with me, though. You really gave me a chance to appreciate my hometown in a way that I hadn’t before.”

Charlie smiled in return. “It was my pleasure. It’s always hard to see the beauty of where we come from, at least until someone points it out to us.”

“You probably have a point there, even though I hate to admit it.”

Charlie took his hand out of Jared’s and draped a companionable arm over his shoulder.

“I think you’ll find that I’m right much more than I’m wrong.”

For a split second it seemed like Jared might take his arm off of his shoulder, but then he actually snuggled closer together as they made their way back to his car.

“We’ll see about that.”

Oh that we will,Charlie thought.That we will.

CHAPTER 17

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