Page 64 of Country Road Romance

Charlie wasn’t sure whether to be bitterly amused or infuriated by this turn of events.

In the end, he opted for the former, and he actually found himself laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Sheri asked.

“It’s just…it’s all like a rom-com, isn’t it? I didn’t know that he was standing right outside the whole time, or that he was trying to get to me, and I’ve been eating my heart out for nothing.”

This seemed to get to Sheri in a way that nothing else he’d said had.

“You really do love this guy, don’t you?”

Charlie knew the answer to that question, but he still felt a little shy about admitting it. How could you fall in love with someone that you’d only known for a couple of days? For that matter, how could you love someone who had already made it abundantly clear that they weren’t really that interested in you?

“Yes,” he finally said, because he was tired of lying about it to both himself and to Sheri and to everyone else.

Of course, Sheri rolled her eyes, because that was the type of thing that Sheri would do when confronted with someone else’s feelings that she considered to be misguided. Which was to say…most of them.

She huffed and blew a stray bit of hair out of her eyes. “Well, there’s really only one thing to do, as you should know, having starred in quite a few rom-coms of your own. You’re going to have to go back and find him and tell him how you feel.”

He was so surprised at this unexpected generosity that it took him a moment to think of something to say. Since she was clearly in a giving and sympathetic mood, he decided to go ahead and ask her for her advice. After all, what harm could it do?

“But he hasn’t reached out to me. What gives me the right to go back to him when he already made it clear that he doesn’twant to be with me and, in fact, wants nothing more to do with me? I mean, even if hedidcome to the theater, he said some hurtful things, and I’m just…I’m just not sure that he wants to be in a relationship.”

Charlie wasn’t sure why he was throwing up all of these roadblocks, but he thought it might be because he wanted to see what Sheri would say. Perhaps she’d be able to show him something he was missing.

She did not disappoint.

“Do I have to spell it out for you, Charlie? People say and do all sorts of things that they don’t really believe, particularly when they’re afraid of their own feelings. And from everything you’ve told me about this guy, he is mostdefinitelyafraid of his own feelings. Now, if that’s the kind of guy that you really want to be with, that’s your business, but you at least have to be a little bit aware of what that entails. If you’re going to be with someone who’s afraid of commitment, then you have to be okay with being the one to make the first move.”

Charlie knew she was right, even as his mind tried to come up with a whole bunch of other reasons that he could back out of this before he got his feelings hurt again. However, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to find any kind of peace unless he found out Jared’s feelings for him one way or another.

“Well?” she demanded. “What are you going to do?”

He scuffed his foot on the rug.

“Why are you being so insistent about this, Sheri? I thought you wanted me to get ahead with my career and ignore all of that other stuff.”

“I guess because when it comes down to it I know you’re not going to be able to do anything or focus on anything related to your career as long as he’s out there and as long as this situation isn’t resolved. If I’m going to get you to the next levelas an actor I need to make sure you’re not being burdened with distractions.”

Before he could say anything to that rather cold-hearted and cynical approach to his love life, she went on.

“However, you have to recognize that that boy is a mess. I know you’re smitten with him, and I’m sure that you’re going to be very happy together, but I want to make sure that you do the right thing, the thing that’s going to make you the happiest and that’s not going to make you miserable. I know I give you a hard time, and I’m sure you think I’m a real hardass. The truth is, though, that I really do care about you. I want you to be happy. The question is: is Jared the person to make you happy?”

Charlie knew the answer to that. He supposed he’d known it from the moment that Jared pulled up to the airport in that old truck of his, that smirk on his face. Jared was the person that he wanted to try to make it work with, and he could already envision the kind of future that they could build in West Virginia.

“Yes,” he said at last, his voice more assured than he thought it would be. “He’s the one.”

This time, rather than a hard look, Sheri actually smiled at him.

This can’t be the same Sheri that I’ve known all these years, can it?

“I don’t want to get all sappy and stuff, and don’t get used to this, but it seems to me that there’s really only one thing you can do at this point. You’re going to have to go after him.”

This was what he’d wanted all along, of course, and it certainly seemed as if the universe was sending him every sign it could to tell him that this was what heshoulddo, but Charlie still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that he was thinking about doing this.

“But what about all of the offers, and all of the studio calls?” he asked.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, Charlie, are you really going to sit here and debate with me about whether you should go and get that silly boy? I’ve already told you that I think it’s what you should do. I don’t know what else I can do. Paint it across the sky, maybe? And as far as the studio offers and all of that?” She waved her hand. “I’ll take care of it. We’ll find some way to iron out all of the details after you make sure that you get your happily ever after. You’re a hot commodity right now, and that means that you have a lot more leverage than you did before.” She snorted. “I guess being a bit of a social justice warrior does give you some cultural cache when you need it.”

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