Page 35 of Return to Whitmore
Charlotte’s heart leaped with excitement. It was clear that Jack wanted them to have a sort of “family” party, one that celebrated both her engagement and her recent success in the film industry. He also wanted to pull her out of her exhaustion and remind her there was so much to live for.
Jack had saved her life. More than once.
She would continue to save his, if he’d let her.
Chapter Fifteen
Summer 2025
The following morning over coffee, Charlotte caught herself gazing at Addison and trying to imagine the life she’d had with Jack, the life she’d had in the years since Charlotte had grown as thick as thieves with him. It was true that they’d been close as kids and teenagers, that they’d played games and laughed. But nobody had been closer than Jack and Charlotte in their early twenties. Theirs had been a particular brand of magic that, once broken, had made the world less marvelous, less colorful. She wondered if Jack had ever indicated anything like that to Addison.
“Did Jack ever tell you anything about New York?” she asked, furrowing her brow.
Addison, who’d been lost in thought, perked up. “Just that he lived there for a little while. He said he worked odd jobs, as he had always done in Hawaii. He mentioned that he worked at a movie theater and a froyo place. Also that he was a fitness instructor.”
Charlotte burst into nervous giggles. “Yes. We used to laugh about that. He said that he went into every session pretending to be a fitness instructor, like the ones you see on television. And that made him super popular with the people who came. That kind of energy is what they wanted from him.”
Addison laughed till tears were in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she breathed, dropping her head. “I miss him so much.”
“I miss him, too,” Charlotte whispered. There was a rock in her throat.
“I keep wondering if I should just go home,” Addison said. “It sounds like you and Nina don’t know where he is. Maybe he’ll show up here sometime, but who knows when that will be.”
“I haven’t seen him in years,” Charlotte admitted. “We used to text more often, but even that dried up.”
Addison nodded and rubbed her temples. “My kids need me. My parents need me.” Her eyes were wounded.
Charlotte reached over the table to touch her hand. “You always have a place here, if you need it.”
“And you should come out to Hawaii, if you want to,” Addison said, her voice shaking. “Nina’s kids are around my kids’ ages. And you can be everyone’s favorite aunt.”
“Everyone’s crazy aunt.” Charlotte tried to laugh.
Addison shook her head. “No. Nothing crazy about you. You’re cool. I watched one of your documentaries last night. The one about the baseball player who started a nightclub?”
Charlotte remembered it fondly. It had premiered in 2011, fourteen years ago, and there had even been whispers of potential awards, which never materialized.
“You didn’t have to watch that,” Charlotte said, feeling bashful.
“I wanted to,” Addison said. “Are you working on anything else right now?”
“I have a few finished documentaries, actually.” Charlotte winced. “But my funding keeps getting pulled, or I have problems with agents or producers or studios. It’s all a kind of nightmare. It’s sort of why I came to Nantucket in the first place. I wanted to hide out and rest.”
“And Seth, I mean Jack, said you could come here?”
“He always said I could come here if I needed it,” Charlotte explained. And then she remembered. “But truth be told, this is your place. Legally.”
“Who knows what the legal situation is,” Addison said. “Technically, I married a man who doesn’t exist.”
“You married Seth Green. It’s Seth Green’s name on the paperwork,” Charlotte reminded her. “It’s as real as anything else.”
After Addison went to her bedroom to call her children and say good morning, Charlotte got in the shower and stood in the steady, hot stream. What she had to do today terrified her. But if she didn’t go, if she didn’t push herself, she knew it meant she had no hope for her future.
Before she left, with her hair styled and curled and her makeup done, she called Nina. For some reason, she needed to talk this through with someone, and Nina was the only real friend she currently had. She could hardly breathe.
“Hey,” Nina answered.
“Hey.” Charlotte hated how weak she sounded. “I wanted to tell you. I’m going to meet Vincent. Like right now.”
