Page 40 of Secret Cinderella
Her face felt hot as she glanced behind her. Elevators opened and a well-dressed older couple walked out—not Jack. She met her stepsister’s gaze and said, “In ou… his room.”
Mickey crossed her arms. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
She raised her eyebrow. Wise wasn’t a word for anyone in her family. “What do you mean?”
Mickey lowered her voice and spoke fast like she’d be interrupted at any moment. “Linda and Donna have been putting their heads together. I swear it’s about breaking you and Jack up.”
Of course. Linda had always hated her. “Well, they won’t win on that one.”
Mickey dropped her arms and shoulders and asked, “Charlotte, is everything okay?”
In losing Jack and the store, she now had nothing. Charlotte nodded and said, “Yeah. Your mother selling the store is freeing, really.”
“Yeah?” Mickey’s gaze narrowed.
Charlotte refused to admit that living with Nancy had broken something inside her and stopped her from believing in happiness for herself. “My father’s dreams will never come true and all my hopes for the past few years have been stupid.”
She moved to go but her stepsister said, “No, they weren’t.” Charlotte stopped as Mickey continued, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more with Linda or my mother. I was half afraid I’d be next in line if I did.”
Outside the glass doors and windows of the hotel, the moon rose high in the sky. Charlotte had no idea of the time, but it was the end of the line for her. She’d hit the bank, take out her feeble savings she’d socked away, and leave Pittsburgh to a place Jack would never find her. That new life he'd recommended she would chase, alone, starting now. She squeezed her stepsister’s hand. “It’s okay, Mickey. Good luck.”
She shuffled out the door with her head high.
Charlotte was out of here, but as she passed the cars to reach the street her stepmother stood in her way.
Nancy, in a black cocktail dress, should be inside for the party, not out in the cold. Charlotte met her stepmother's unblinking dark eyes that had once bore into her soul. No more. “Goodbye, Nancy.”
Her eyebrow shot up like she’d caught Charlotte mislabeling an aisle. “Goodbye? Are you leaving?”
Linda and Donna clearly had plans. Jack would see through their machinations as he was smarter than they believed, but she rubbed the back of her neck and said, just to be polite, “Yeah. Have fun tonight.”
Charlotte flung her small hotel bag behind her and hoped Nancy couldn't see through the flimsy material to her father’s picture. She let out a ‘pfft’ and shook her head as she said, “You always were a fool. I didn’t realize how big a one until just now. Jack will eventually see you’re worthless.”
Nancy’s opinion didn’t matter. She’d already more than proven her opinion though that comment still stung.
Charlotte brushed by her, walking to the main street that was covered on both sides with leafy trees and waited at the local bus stop.
Pittsburgh had a big bus depot that could take her out of town. How far could she get with her little savings? She paid her fare in cash and asked the driver, “How long till the bus station?”
He closed the doors. “Ten more minutes.”
“Okay.” She found a plastic seat.
No one talked or questioned her though everyone else had a jacket on.
Maybe she’d end up somewhere warmer.
And maybe sunshine might make her forget the best man in the world was now behind her and she’d never meet another who could have her heart so completely.
The bus pulled into the terminal and she headed into the station to get a long-distance ticket. She scanned the screens of where they were going but couldn’t focus on the words. The line was short and she told the attendant, “I’d like a one-way ticket.”
A chill rushed in the air that went to her bones as the attendant stared back at her and asked, “Where to?”
This was it. She was out to start her new life. She lifted her chin and said, “Doesn’t matter. The next bus is fine.”
The woman glanced at her attire and said, “The bus to Miami leaves at 12:30.”
She read the clock. It was midnight. Wow. “Miami it is then. Thanks.”
