After spending more time than she expected speaking with George, Don, Frank, and Joe, Charlie eventually had to make her way back to the house. As she went, her mind was preoccupied with what Don had confessed.
Charlie still found it hard to believe. Sure, Lieutenant Maddox was young and pretty and she supposed she couldn't always be strict and, frankly, nasty to everyone. But imagining her as someone's girlfriend was hard. Imagining her as Don's girlfriend, on top of all that, was near impossible. He seemed so... nice. From what Charlie could gather he was a real happy-go-lucky soul, so how he'd ever ended up with someone like Maddox Charlie couldn't even begin to fathom.
Then again, he'd said it had been years ago, when they were both in high school. Maybe she'd changed since then?
Charlie didn't know. After his confession Don had remained curiously tight-lipped about the whole affair, only dropping a few facts about their relationship - namely, that it had been when they'd been in high school and that the pair of them had grown up together - and then let loose nothing more.
If he hadn't described Maddox perfectly Charlie would have suspected him of lying, but he had, and the facts lined up too well. What were the chances that both of them would end up in this tiny British countryside village, so far away from home and both of them now ready to serve in combat?
The world worked in funny ways, Charlie supposed, though for what reason it had made sure to throw those two back together she couldn't even begin to wonder.
It had been midday when Charlie had first allowed the boys to join her at the table, and they'd talked for hours about mindless things, enjoying each other's company. It was late afternoon by now. Charlie was surprised by how easy it had been to be with them; perhaps the advice Floyd had given her last night, combined with the amount of time she'd been forced to spend with him, was paying off where her interactions with other boys was concerned. She'd felt nervous at first, sure, but it hadn't been nearly as hard as she might have imagined. And it had been fun! If someone had told her even a week ago when she'd first arrived in Aldbourne that she'd have managed to endure hours' worth of conversation with four soldiers all by herself she'd have flat out laughed in their face, then fainted at the prospect, but she'd really actually done it.
Maybe all of this was good for her in ways she hadn't imagined. She supposed only time would tell.
Soon enough, Charlie rounded the corner that led to her street and walked happily the little way left to the house. She started getting her keys out in advance of making her way up the path to the house. When she looked up, finally at the front door, she stopped in her tracks.
Someone had delivered something and left it in front of the door.
Charlie's eyebrows drew together as she approached. The hand with her door key ready fell to her side as her attention was diverted away, but her confusion became amused disbelief when she realised what the package was.
Purple tulips.
He'd remembered.
For all Floyd Talbert could be utterly insufferable, she had to admit he could be sweet when he wanted to be. And, even if Mabs knew that Charlie had been the one to pass the information on to him that those were her favourites, Charlie couldn't help but hope they made her smile all the same. He'd tried, at least. And purple tulips couldn't have been that easy to get ahold of on such short notice.
Charlie toyed with the idea of leaving them there for Mabel to find when she came home from work with Violet and Autumn. But, ultimately, she decided against it; the grey clouds of that morning were starting to draw in again, a rough blanket being pulled snugly over the sky, and she didn't want the flowers to get ruined if it did rain.
So, after quickly unlocking the front door, Charlie bent to pick up the bouquet of purple flowers and took them inside with her. She shut the door behind her with her hip and carried them through to the kitchen, then set them down gently in the middle of the table. For a moment she considered getting water and putting them in a vase, but they looked so pretty as they were in their brown paper bag that she left them alone. Instead, Charlie set down her keys and took a proper look at them.
She gasped.
She didn't know how she'd missed it before but, amidst the pretty lilac of the tulips, right there in the centre sat an even prettier pale pink rose. Just one, all by itself, but it was the thought that counted, the sentiment that drew her hand up to press against her heart and set tears to stinging in her eyes.
Because there were no two ways about it. That pink rose was for her.
Taking a closer look at the bouquet, Charlie searched for a card or at least a note and found two tucked into the folds of the paper bag. One was a tiny card, which had likely come with the flowers, and it was addressed to Mabs, so she set that aside ready to put back in a moment - some things were private, after all, and she didn't even want to know what kind of flirting accompanied a bouquet of flowers this pretty. But along with the card she found a folded piece of paper and she knew it was meant for her the instant she unfolded it.
'Freckles,
'In case you didn't realize, the rose is for you. You didn't say which color so I took a guess. Pink seems like your thing.
'Thanks for the advice. And thanks for being a good friend. Take this as my promise to be a better one to you.
'And don't get any ideas about this. I still don't want to date you.
'- Floyd'
Charlie laughed as she read the words once over and then twice. She pressed the card to her heart with one hand before gently extracting the pink rose from the bouquet with the other. She knew he was a charmer and she really shouldn't fall for it, but it was impossible not to be just a little charmed by this.
Her first ever rose, given to her by a boy. Sure, it wasn't a romantic rose, and the boy wasn't the boy, but it meant a lot to her all the same.
It was then she knew she'd have to go back out again today and make good use of her last few hours by herself. She needed to find Floyd Talbert and give him a proper thank you.
Charlie raced upstairs to her room, then raced back down when she realised, in her excitement, she'd forgotten to get water and a vase to keep the rose in. Once she had it all sorted she placed the pink rose in the vase on her nightstand, then marvelled at it. She resolved to ask Autumn to take a picture of it for her when she got home. Then Charlie hurried back downstairs, picked her house keys up off of the table, and ventured back out into the cloudy grey afternoon.
Her walk across the village was brisk but pleasant, her spirits high as she decided her day by herself hadn't been all that bad after all and had, in fact, been rather nice. Thankfully, she didn't have to ask anyone for directions to the paratroopers' barracks this time, though she wouldn't have been able to even if she did need to, for Gene and anyone else who might have been lingering around on the way were nowhere to be found.
Charlie didn't know what the time was, but she figured from the lack of boys hanging around outside and the noise coming from one specific wooden building that it was probably their dinner time. She didn't really feel like walking all the way back home just to head back out again, so she found a patch of grass across the street and sat on it. While she waited she picked at the strands of grass and mindlessly pulled them out of the ground, looking out across the expanse of fields to her left and into the greying sky.
Quite a few men filtered out of the building before anyone she knew did, and the first person she knew was Gene, who she ducked her head to avoid having to talk to. He'd been very nice to her, she knew, but she was still mortified by how awkward she'd been around him. The memory of their painful conversation still haunted her every time she tried to go to sleep at night.
It was while she was studiously looking away that someone else recognised her. "Charlie!"
She looked up to find Chuck and smiled.
"Hi!" she greeted, pushing herself to her feet. She waited while he came closer before speaking and instead took the time to brush off her skirt, making sure none of the grass she'd pulled out had gotten stuck to it.
"How are you doing?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of her. "Head sore after last night?"
Charlie laughed. "No, actually. I think I've been very lucky." Whilst it was true that he'd helped her drink more than she ever had, that wasn't actually very hard to accomplish. Besides, Mabs had forced her to drink about a gallon of water after they'd gotten home, so Charlie had woken up feeling fine. "And yourself?" she asked.
"You must be blessed with no hangovers," Chuck said, laughing as he tilted his head to look down at her. "I had a headache this morning, yeah. Nothing I couldn't handle."
"Of course not," she agreed, nodding faux-seriously.
He laughed. "Well, it sure is nice to see you, but I won't flatter myself into thinking you're here to see me. Who are you waiting for?"
Charlie's heart about melted at that, and suddenly she found herself wishing she had come to see him.
"I was waiting for Floyd," she admitted, fiddling with her hands behind her back. "But I'm glad you found me first."
"Oh, yeah?" he asked, smiling.
Suddenly the flirting flustered her and she looked away. She could feel herself blushing furiously. "Have you seen him?"
"Fortunately for you, he's coming out right now." Chuck turned and called out for Floyd - he called him 'Tab', she noticed, which she supposed was a nickname formed of his surname - before turning back to her. "Will I see you tonight?"
Charlie shrugged one shoulder, bashful. "I'm not sure. Mabs is still on shift for the next three days so I shouldn't think so."
"That didn't stop her last night," he pointed out. "Besides, you could come by yourself, right?"
Charlie didn't know about that - well, actually she did, and she knew she could not come by herself, because that would be a disaster - but she was saved from having to answer when Floyd joined the conversation.
"Freckles," he greeted, slowing to a stop beside Chuck. "Long time no see."
"The longest," she agreed. She turned back to Chuck. "I don't know about tonight, but I'm sure I'll see you soon."
He nodded and obviously realised he was being dismissed, however politely, for he gave her one last smile before turning and joining some of the other boys in the company, likely to head back to the barracks.
"Looks like things are going well with you two," Floyd pointed out as the pair of them watched Chuck leave. "You took my advice?"
Charlie sputtered a laugh. "Not all of it. The appropriate things though, sure."
Floyd groaned in mock contempt. "'The appropriate things'," he mocked her in a comically high voice. "Come on, Freckles, I didn't take you for a wimp."
"My clothes are all staying on until, and only until, I decide they are ready to come off. Leave me alone."
He laughed and shook his head at her, which she took as her cue to move on to why she had really come.
"I wanted to say thank you for the rose," Charlie said. She spoke seriously, in a way she rarely was with Floyd (other than when he hurt her feelings and needed to be told so, of course). "That was really kind of you."
Floyd, suddenly bashful, rubbed at the back of his neck and looked away, turning in the same direction she had when avoiding Gene, towards the rolling fields. "Ah, it was nothing," he dismissed her.
She shook her head. "No, it was really nice. I liked it." She smiled to herself, remembering the note. "You didn't have to think of me, but you did. So thank you."
"Eh, you're welcome, Freckles," Floyd replied. He kept his gaze on the horizon for a moment longer before turning back to her and dropping his hand from his neck. "Did Mabel like the tulips?"
"She's not been home yet," Charlie answered. "I didn't want the flowers to get ruined if it rained so I took them in, which is how I found the rose. I left them perfectly intact on the kitchen table, waiting for her to discover them. I'm sure she'll love them."
"Even if she does, I don't think I'll ever find out."
Charlie laughed loudly at this which made him grin. "I'll tell you what her reaction is."
"I'm sure Mabel will love that." He rolled his eyes, demonstrating his sarcasm. "You'll give her act away."
"What act?"
"The act that it's gonna end in any other way than me and her in bed together."
Charlie refused to react to that. She knew he was being deliberately crude to get a rise out of her.
"Naked," he added.
She couldn't help it. She blushed.
"Well, that's between you and her," Charlie said hurriedly, wanting to end the conversation and the horrible route it had taken as quickly as possible. "Anyway, I should be going."
"Aw, Freckles, are you blushing? You know, your mom and dad did the same thing when they -"
"Floyd!" she exclaimed, her jaw falling open. "You are so..."
"What?" He was grinning from ear to ear.
"Impolite," she finished with a frown. She tilted her jaw up in a show of trying to reclaim her dignity. "I'm leaving now."
"You do that," he said, his voice full of amusement.
"I will."
"Bye, Freckles," he called after her as she began to walk away.
Charlie rolled her eyes and turned back to look at him over her shoulder. "I'm not telling you how she reacts anymore."
"Aw, you're no fun."
Charlie shook her head, turning back around and making her way home as quickly as possible before it rained. She ended up making it to the front door just as the first droplets began to fall, and closed the door behind her as the heavens opened up and showered the rest of the day in rain.