Page 16 of Second Chances
"So, this is your pity party?" Charlotte picked up the mugs of steaming tea. "Let's go sit down."
They made their way to the living room, Timber followed behind and sat at Megan's feet.
"I think that I'm allowed a pity party." Megan picked up her mug of tea and blew on the hot liquid, the warmth of the mug felt good in her hands.
"Meg. You have to grieve, but this isn't you. You're spiraling out of control."
"Easy for you to say." Megan regretted the words as soon as they passed her lips.
"What does that mean?" Charlotte narrowed her brown eyes at her.
"I mean, you're young, you're rich, you have the world at your fingertips."
Charlotte sighed and took a sip of her tea. "You know as well as I do that things look very different from the outside. I have all of this because I worked my ass off. Do you see any family photos on the walls here? Do you see me in a loving relationship? No. I made my decision a long time ago. I wanted to be one of the top realtors in the city, to be able to buy any piece of real estate that caught my eye. I wanted to be able to spoil my friends, but all that came with a sacrifice."
Megan set her mug down on a wooden coaster, "But you have something. All I wanted was a loving husband and a child. That's it."
Charlotte sighed. "That didn't come out right. Megan, you can have whatever you want. I truly believe that. I'm living proof of that, but you're not going to get it moping around my house talking to a dog all day."
Megan reached down and scratched Timber's head. "I get what you're saying Char. I'm just... I'm lost." The tears started to spill down Megan's face. Timber hopped up onto the couch and licked at her cheek, and she giggled. "There's nothing wrong with sitting around talking to dogs though."
"I have an idea." Charlotte jumped off the sofa and returned with a big leather folio. "I was worried about you, which is why I got in the car and drove up here today, but I also have to check on a little project I have going on."
"Project? Here in Chance Rapids?"
"Yep." Charlotte smiled, her perfect lipstick making her impossibly white teeth look even whiter. She pulled out a stack of architectural drawings and artist renderings. "You know how you can't get a good cup of coffee in this town?"
"I've heard." Megan hadn't set foot in the car since she arrived, so she was going to have to take Charlotte's word for it.
"You haven't even been downtown yet, have you?"
"Guilty." Megan held up her hands, "But I have gotten to know every single road in this subdivision."
"So, you haven't experienced the local scene at all then. Have you noticed that it's a ghost town out here? No locals can afford this real estate, they all live across the bridge."
"I was planning on heading in today." Megan pulled out one of the artist's renderings, "A coffee shop?"
"Bullshit," Charlotte smiled. "And yes, Chance Rapids is getting a European style coffee shop and bakery."
"It looks beautiful," Megan gazed at the drawing. The space looked like a cozy mountain lodge in the Alps, but with a bright interior. She flipped through the pages and could see Charlotte's vision coming to life, bins of baguettes, the squeal of the milk being steamed for a freshly ground cappuccino, delicate glass cake stands with pyramids of cupcakes dusted with confectioner's sugar.
"It's going to be. If it ever gets done. It's brutal getting these people to adhere to any deadline."
Megan looked at her friend and saw what others might see, a ball-busting real estate maven used to getting what she wanted, but she also saw how dedicated Josh was to his work and felt a little defensive. "I think that there are some hard workers here."
"Meg. I grew up here. Trust me, I know exactly how this town runs."
"Shouldn't you have some pull then?"
Charlotte looked at her watch. "Maybe it is time for some wine." She stood and grabbed Megan's mug out of her hands. She marched into the kitchen and dumped the tea down the sink. She pulled out the corkscrew and poured wine into two of her fancy crystal wine glasses. Megan had been so afraid of breaking them since her snafu with Josh that she had been drinking out of mugs for the rest of the week. That, and it didn't feel so wrong drinking out of a mug before noon.
"I have to tell you something."
Megan sat up on the couch and accepted the glass of wine. Charlotte joined her and tucked her feet up under crossed legs. "Cheers," she smiled and clinked her glass against Charlotte's, the ting of the crystal echoed through the room.
"Cheers," Megan replied, waiting for Charlotte to continue, but Charlotte took another sip of her wine and seemed to be entranced by something over Megan's shoulder. Megan turned to look, but there wasn't anything behind her, except a few fine snowflakes falling softly on the patio.
"Char..." Megan prodded.
