Page 38 of Reckless Chances
Chapter 13 – Emma
Emma glanced aroundthe brewhouse. Half the drywall was hung, the floor was covered in sawdust, and electrical wires were dangling from the ceiling. She wasn’t an expert, and she knew that a bar was more complex than a flower shop, but the brewhouse looked like it needed some serious help.
“The place looks...good,” she said.
Charlie pulled a sheet of plastic off a barstool and motioned for Emma to sit. “No, it doesn’t, but thanks,” he said.
Her brow knitted. “Is everything okay, Charlie?”
“Not really, Emma,” Charlie said.
The last time Emma saw Charlie was hours earlier, and he had been gasping behind her and kissing her earlobe. Her mind raced a mile a minute trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
“What’s going on?” she asked. She took Charlie’s rough hands into her own. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, and then he pulled his hands from hers and stroked his beard with one and tucked the thumb of the other into the pocket of his canvas pants.
“You’re spending a lot of money next door.”
Emma was truly confused. “Is that a question, Charlie?”
He sighed. She could see that he was having a hard time putting together whatever it was that he wanted to ask her. “Where did you get the money to buy your flower shop?”
She jerked her head back. “I don’t know if that’s any of your business.” She crossed her legs and shoved her hands between her thighs. “Where is this coming from Charlie? I wouldn’t ask you that question.”
“Savings,” Charlie said. “And a small business loan. And it’s barely enough to get everything done, let alone hiring help to do everything for me.” He looked at Emma and the warmth from his eyes was gone.
“I had some money set aside.” Emma was so caught off guard by his line of questioning, and with his gruff attitude, she didn’t feel like being more forthcoming. He didn’t need to know that she hawked her diamond ring to get the down payment. “Charlie, what is this all about?”
Charlie stood up and covered the barstool back up with plastic. “I need to focus on this project. I don’t have a whole crew at my disposal.”
“We can go for the hike tomorrow,” Emma said and stood up. She reached for his hand. “Don’t worry Charlie, you’ll get everything done.”
He shook her hand away like it was a pesky fly. “No Emma. I can’t go for a hike tomorrow. I need to get this done. You and me. I think that we need to take a step back and focus on what’s important right now – our businesses.”
“What?” Emma stepped toward Charlie, but with every step she took towards him, he took one back until he was pressed against the plastic-covered bar. “Charlie, I thought we were going to try to make this work.” She could feel the tears burning in the corner of her eyes, but the shock she felt at being dumped was mixed with anger. None of this made any sense.
“I can’t right now.” His voice was hard.
“Charlie.” One tear escaped and she brushed at her face with the back of her hand. “No.”
“You have to go, Emma. Please. Leave me alone.”
“Charlie.” The reality of what was happening was setting in. He really was dumping her, hours after she almost told him that she loved him.
“Go, Emma. Please.”
“Char—”
“Go.” He interrupted and pointed to the door.
Emma felt like her feet were glued to the unfinished floor. She opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. She had come over to arrange a romantic hike with the man she thought was her boyfriend but was leaving freshly dumped for no real reason.
“You need to explain why you’re doing this.” She tried to keep the waver out of her voice, but it was there. She put her hands on her hips and felt the second tear slip down her other cheek. This time she didn’t move to wipe it away.
This time Charlie’s voice was softer. “Emma. Please. I’m asking you to leave. I don’t owe you an explanation.”
Inside her heart, a battle had been raging between sadness and anger and at that moment, anger won. “Fuck you,” she said under her breath.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed like he wasn’t quite sure what he had heard.
