Page 64 of Falling Slowly
I began to feel warmer—so warm, in fact, that I had to lean back from the fire. Why did he have to say things like that? Things I had to forget as soon as I heard them. Or least when I returned to my real life.
I handed him the trail mix. “Thank you. This helped a lot.”
“Are you sure there’s no chocolate left?” He lifted the bag to study it in the light of the fire, grinning. “There. You missed a piece.”
“You can have it.” I flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m glad I could feed you. I also have some muesli bars but maybe we should save those for breakfast.” His eyes regarded me with such warmth, I paradoxically shivered.
I felt his hand on my shoulder as he pulled me against him. “We’ll be okay, Bess. You’ll be okay. I know I’m not the kind ofrugged cowboy you’d hope to be paired with for this experience, but I’ll do my best, I promise.”
My heart fluttered like a trapped moth, blindly flapping towards him, towards the light. Before I knew what was happening, I’d melted against his chest, drinking in the reassuring words, letting my heart rate settle. I believed him, despite everything. I wanted those strong arms around me, keeping me safe. If I could only get a word out to my mom and Celia, letting them know I was safe.
“Are you sure you don’t have a signal at all?” I asked.
He handed me his phone. “Keep it. Let me know if it starts working. I’ve composed a couple of texts and it keeps trying to send them. You might as well write one, maybe walk around a bit and see if you get lucky.”
“I don’t remember Mom’s number.”
“I have Rhonda’s number. She knows your mom. She’ll pass on the message.”
A tiny ray of hope lit in my chest. When I saw the time on his screen—only 7.30pm, I sighed with relief. It wasn’t even bedtime yet. After a bit of fumbling, Charlie’s arm still firmly around me, I found his contacts and scrolled towards ‘R’.
“Wait. It’s under Gran.” His voice sounded restrained and the hand gripping my arm tightened.
“You call Rhonda ‘Gran’?”
“She’s my grandmother.”
“What?” I held my breath.
A medley of every conversation I’d ever had with my office confidante burst through my mind. That last time, I’d complained about Charlie and she’d laughed.
“She doesn’t like people knowing, so she tells us to call her Rhonda.”
I leaned forward, away from him, and stared at the flickering flames, trying to get my head around this new piece ofinformation. “She told me someone ought to confiscate your credit cards.” The line rose from my memory and I repeated it without thinking.
“She’s done that before. She asked me to hand in the company card when I bought a new laser cutter.”
“What do we need a laser cutter for?” I glanced at him over my shoulder and caught a rueful smile.
“I wanted to experiment. I thought we could develop new products or prototypes.”
“But you already have those 3D printers.”
“Nothing beats wood as material, though.” He took his hand off my shoulder and threw another stick in the fire. “But more importantly, Gran talks to you about me?”
I turned to face him, taking in his amazed expression.
“We’re friends.” I cleared my throat. “I thought we were friends.”
“But you don’t think that anymore?” His eyebrows pulled into a slight frown.
“I guess we are, but I just realized that I’ve occasionally complained to her about… you.” There was something about the cold, dark night and the dancing flames that made the truth flow out, unstoppable. “Nothing mean… it’s more like she’s someone who understands.”
Oh, Charlie.
It was Rhonda who’d said that first. I’d picked it up from her! Although she’d always said it with affection. Or maybe I was attaching a new meaning to her words, making them sound different in my head, now that I knew who she was. I’d been the one channeling my frustrations into that innocuous phrase, trying to hide my anger and jealousy.
