Page 39 of Cookie

“What were you mumbling about,” she asked and narrowed her eyes.

“It was nothing.”

“Ryan!” She crossed her arms and didn’t let me off the hook.

“Okay. It’s just—I want more with Charlie,” I said and rubbed the back of my head.

“More?”

“More than a boyfriend. The way I feel about him is more than a friend. I love him, and I want him to be my partner in every way,” I said, finally saying the words out loud I’d been thinking for weeks.

“Did you tell him?” she asked and leaned against the counter. “And what do you mean ‘every way’.”

“No. He’s happy, and I don’t want to ruin it.” If I lost Charlie, I’d lose a part of me.

“How would that ruin it?” Avery asked, her eyes filled with concern.

“I’m not talking marriage if that’s what you mean. Neither of us are ready for that, and I’m not sure we want it. We’ve all worked hard to get the store going and to keep it going. Charlie included. If he hadn’t helped me with keeping it warm and the power on during the storms I doubt we’d still be open. He’s been amazing, and he expects nothing in return.”

“He has helped a lot. You know he’s that way with everyone. Every single person who lives in Grace knows that Charlie is the one person who will always be there to help,” Avery said.

“I want to ask him if he’ll move into the apartment with me permanently, then maybe we can stay at his cabin on our days off or the weekends. I love it there and I would never want him to give it up, but I want it to be official that we live together and we’re more than just boyfriends dating.”

“What’s the problem then? I’m sure Charlie would love that.”

“I’m not sure. He loves his cabin, and I worry he feels like he’s intruding if he stays here too often.”

“Doyoufeel like he’s intruding?” One look from me and she was laughing. “Then tell him. I know you made room for him before but maybe don’t make it so much like his and yours, make it feel like it’s where you both live. That it’s your home,” she said, and I knew she was right. Even if I hadn’t done it on purpose, I made it feel like he was a visitor, not part of my home. Our home.

“You’re right. I guess I didn’t think about it before.” I thought about how I’d literally shoved my clothes aside to give him a few hangers off to the side of the closet and how I’d given him a drawer in the dresser. He’d made sure he had everything I use at his cabin without me asking and without making a big deal of it. While he still brought an overnight bag with him when we stayed here, and I didn’t want that. I wanted him to be able to stay here without having to plan it, and I wanted him to feel like it was his home, not someplace he visited.

“Can you take care of the store for a little while?”

“Go get ’em tiger,” she yelled before laughing and going back to unpacking an order.

I jogged upstairs and rather than just making room for Charlie to have a few things, I cleared out clothes and items I didn’t need. Then I got busy online ordering things I knew he enjoyed at his cabin, but he didn’t have here. One of them was a recliner for the living room. I ordered the toothpaste and the same toothbrush, bodywash, and facewash he had at the cabin then I realized I could buy all of it at the local supermarket. “No time like the present,” I said as I stomped down the stairs and ran right into Charlie.

“Babe, what’s going on?” he asked before kissing me.

“I’ll tell you later, right now I need to go to the supermarket,” I said and slipped my jacket on. “Care to join me?”

“Anytime, and anywhere,” he said and the two of us hurried out the door.

Thirty-Four

Charlie

We wandered down aisle after aisle in the grocery store while Ryan chose items I normally used. The ones he wasn’t sure about, he asked.

“Do you like the shower gel I have at my place? Or would you rather have the one at the cabin?” he asked.

“I’m not picky. I like both of them,” I said and stopped just before crashing into the cart that Ryan pulled to an abrupt stop.

“Which do you like best?” he asked, and he was serious.

“I like the one you have at your place when I’m there, and I like the one I have at the cabin when I’m there. I don’t have one I use regularly. I just grab the same brand.” He gave me a critical look before taking two bottles of different scents off the shelf.

“I want you to have things you like at my place, not just things you use because they’re convenient,” he said and after setting them he in the cart, he pushed ahead to another aisle.

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