Page 67 of Country Road Romance

She gave him one of her smiles. “Of course, dear. I’ll always be here for you.”

The next coupleof weeks were some of the most peaceful that Jared had ever experienced. Cut free from his dead-end job with the City Council, he was finally able to turn his attention back to the writing that he’d been ignoring for far too long. Almost as soon as he put pen to paper–he was one of those old-fashioned people who really did enjoy writing by hand rather than computer all the time–he could feel the words flowing out of him. He hadn’t had this sensation in so long that he’d almost forgotten what it was like, and it didn’t take long for him to figure out why he was suddenly so inspired.

It was Charlie, of course.

He knew that he shouldn’t bind all of his creativity to one person, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was Charlie Garrett who’d made him feel as if he could really do this, as if his own voice was worth exploring. Of course, he had no idea whether anyone, let alone a publisher, would be interested. However, there was something exciting and exhilarating, maybe even life-giving, about the act of creation.

This is what I’ve been missing out on for years,he thought.It’s a shame I wasted so much time at that stupid City Council job, when I could have been doing this.

He’d finally decided on writing a sort of quasi-fictional memoir. He’d always been a fan of Truman Capote’sIn Cold Bloodand other types of creative nonfiction, and the formcontinued to recommend itself to him as the way that he might be able to come to terms with some of his own past.

Of course, he didn’t spend all of his time just bent over his pen and paper. He also made sure to spend time outside enjoying the nice weather, and he helped his dad care for the chickens and the garden. It felt good to be getting in touch with his roots again, in a way that he’d never been able to do before. It was exciting and yet also calming at the same time, and he was glad for the chance to get closer to his parents.

Jared was happy, but it still felt like he was missing something. He tried, he really did, to put Charlie out of his mind and to just focus on the present and the future. Every time he turned on the TV, though, there was a reminder of Charlie, and the same went for his computer, his phone, and even his watch. Everyone was speculating about who Charlie Garrett might be in a relationship with and whether he’d had his heart broken in West Virginia, but either Sheri was even better at managing the press than she’d let on or else they really had been lucky to escape being found out.

Either way, Jared pretended that it didn’t hurt him to think about Charlie being with anyone else, but he couldn’t hide the truth from his mother.

“You could just call him, you know,” she said one day, and then immediately put her hands up in a sign of surrender. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do or manage your life. I’m just saying that I’ve seen you moping around the house, and I know what that usually means.”

It was at just that moment that he looked at the TV and there was Charlie. He was giving an interview to one of the talk shows, and Jared felt like he’d been kicked. All of the breath left his body, and he actually had to sit down.

Ugh. Of course he looks better than ever,Jared thought resentfully.Would it hurt him to look at least a bit lovelorn?

The truth was, though, that Charlie looked positively radiant. That smile of his still had the power to light up an entire room, and he laughed and joked with the interviewer with the sort of effortless charm that he’d exerted from the moment that Jared had met him.

“I can turn it off if you want,” his mother said, interrupting his thoughts.

“No, it’s fine. Go ahead and watch him. I’m gonna head back up to my room and get some writing done.”

His mom gave him that concerned look, but he pretended he didn’t see it as he went back upstairs and, true to his word, started writing.

SeeingCharlie on the TV seemed to unleash yet another wave of creativity, and over the next couple of days the words just seemed to pour onto the page of their own volition. In all of his years of composing Jared had never felt the muse strike like this before, and it made him feel incredibly alive.

It was a few days after seeing Charlie on the TV, and Jared had just finished a remarkably productive day of writing, plumbing some depths of his own psyche that he hadn’t known existed. He’d just set his pen down when he heard a car door outside. He assumed it was someone who’d come to see his parents–he’d learned very quickly that there was an almost constant stream of family and friends coming in and out of their house on a daily basis–and even when the front door didn’t open he didn’t think anything about it.

It wasn’t until he looked out his window–which looked out on the hill behind the house–that he saw a figure walking up it.

It can’t be,he thought.It just can’t be.He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself that it wasn’t Charlie. He wasn'tsure that hewantedit to be him, for that matter. After all of the time they’d spent apart, it just didn’t seem possible.

Then the figure turned around briefly, and Jared’s heart caught in his throat, because he knew right then that it was Charlie. Against all of the odds, he’d come back.

Well?He asked himself.Are you just going to sit here and wait for him to leave again, or are you going to go out there and see him?

That was all it took for him to get out of his chair and start making his way through the house. He still wasn’t sure that he’d seen what he thought he’d seen, and he certainly wasn’t sure that he was doing the right thing, but all he knew at that moment was that he had to get to Charlie as quickly as possible, had to let him know how sorry he was that things had turned out the way they had. Every other thought but that flew out of his head as he almost ran through the house.

Just before he got to the back door, however, his dad’s voice stopped him.

“Jared.”

He turned to face his dad, who stood there in the kitchen, one eyebrow raised.

“Did you know he was here?” Jared asked.

His dad just shrugged.

“He came to the door about fifteen minutes ago. I figured you’d see him walking up the hill sooner or later.” He gave a little laugh. I”m very glad that it was sooner rather than later. Charlie’s a very patient man, but I think he’s waited for you long enough.”

Jared wanted to argue with him and tell him all the reasons that he was, in fact, worth waiting for, but his dad had a point. When it came right down to it, Charliehaddriven all the way across the country to be here or…at least…Jared hoped that he’ddriven. He’d hate to think about how much fuel it would take for yet another flight from California to West Virginia…

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