Page 62 of Second Chances
Chapter 26
Josh watched as hisfriends and fellow carpenters helped to unload the pieces of the benches and tables into the café. The light fixtures were being installed and as soon as Freddie was finished, Josh was going to be able to assemble his pieces. The café looked amazing, and as much as he hated to admit it, Megan had done a good job, whether it was her property or not.
Freddie was up on a ladder installing a pendant light above the glass display cabinet. He hopped down off the ladder, his boots landing on the hardwood flooring with a thud. “How was your date?” he grinned and elbowed Josh in the ribs.
“Are those Edison light bulbs?” Josh asked, sidestepping the question.
“Yep. Twenty bucks a pop. And they don’t last all that long – but they look cool.” Freddie gazed up at his handiwork. “When is the boss coming in?” Freddie asked.
“How should I know?”
“Weren’t you out with her last night?”
“That doesn’t mean I know her schedule, Freddie. She’ll be in when she comes in, that’s all I know.” Josh was telling the truth. He had no idea when Megan was going to show up, but he hoped it would be after his job was done. Once the tables and benches were assembled, he was going to be done with the Sugar Peaks café, and Megan Brittle.
“Easy now,” Freddie replied, holding his gloved hands out in front of him. Josh saw his eyes glance over his shoulder with interest. “Now who do we have here?” Freddie muttered under his breath.
Josh turned to face the front door and it took him a minute to realize who was standing in the doorway.
Charlotte.
She strode into the room and headed directly towards Josh. “Can we have a word?” she asked.
“Sure.” Josh undid his tool belt and set it down on the floor. “Let’s go in the back, we should be able to have some privacy there.”
They walked past Freddie and the rest of the crew, their eyes following the duo as they passed through the swinging door into the rear of the café.
“I owe you an apology.” Charlotte turned and faced Josh. He leaned against the stainless-steel dishwashing station, his arms crossed across his thick chest.
“Is that so.”
“It is.” Charlotte met Josh’s gaze with her deep brown eyes. “I’m going to tell you the truth. It’s something that I should have done years ago. Long before I dragged Megan into anything.”
Josh remained silent, watching the confident woman as she waited for a response from him. He wasn’t giving it to her. He let the silence get awkward and then she conceded their silent standoff and proceeded. “You moved to Chance Rapids after I left here, so you don’t know my history. My name isn’t Charlotte, it’s Billie Jo Bunkman.”
Freddie was right. He cleared his throat, “Go on.”
“It’s a long story, Josh, and I’m not going to stand here and tell you every detail, but I will tell you that I had a terrible childhood here. I couldn’t wait to get out of Chance Rapids and never come back again.”
“But you did.”
“I did.” Charlotte sighed. “I wanted to show everyone. I wanted to come back to town and show just how successful I had become. How the girl that they had teased about wearing the same clothes day after day now had expensive designer clothes and a fleet of cars worth more than their houses. I wanted them to see just how far I had come. It was my revenge. But then I came back here and realized that I had left that girl behind in Chance Rapids, and I never wanted to see her again.”
“So, you hired Megan to play you.”
“In a sense.” Charlotte pulled off her deerskin gloves and shoved them into the pocket of her jacket. “I didn’t think it through. She never wanted to lie to anyone. I asked her to manage the project and if people assumed that she owned the café and the Sugar Peaks house, just to let them. Did she ever tell you that she owned either of them?”
Josh thought back through all the conversations that he’d had with Megan, “No. She never said that, but she let me assume it.”
“Megan has been through the wringer and she’s really found herself here in Chance Rapids. Her face lights up when she talks about you, Josh. You made her smile again. She wanted to tell you, I was the one that stopped her. If you’re upset with anyone, it should be me.”
“She wanted to tell me?”
“Of course, she did. Can’t you tell that the woman is in love with you?”
Josh flashed back to the roses and the hug that he had witnessed, “What about her husband?”
“Ex. Her ex-husband,” Charlotte replied. “What about him?” she narrowed her eyes at Josh. He could see how sitting across a boardroom table from this woman could be an unnerving experience.
