Charlotte watched Louis as she tried to still her racing heart, never had she felt more like a rabbit caught in the headlights. "You look well," she said trying not to stumble over the words.
"Yeah? You look different." He frowned momentarily. "Your hair, it's lighter."
She laughed, some of the tension leaving her. "Once I got away from my mom I dyed it, I'd had enough of mousey brown."
"It suits you."
"Thanks," she said as her fingers idly played with the beads on her bracelet. "I hate to be rude but I really must be going."
"Oh, right." He gave her a crooked smile. "And it's been so long since we've seen each other."
She frowned, detecting a note of sarcasm in his voice. "Yes it has," she said choosing not to react. "I don't think I've seen you since Christmas at Macey's."
His eyebrows furrowed. "No, I last saw you at Judy's house. Remember you guys were travelling back to college together and we all hung out there before her dad gave you a ride to the bus station?"
Charlotte grimaced, her lips pursed. Yeah, she did remember, however, she most clearly recalled seeing him in Macey's ice cream parlour whenever she thought back to Christmas in 1961.
"Louis isn't here," Mrs Kinsella said as she hovered in the hallway, her older son Mark standing behind her.
"Oh, okay," Charlotte said feeling deflated. So much for surprising him.
"I think he went to Macey's Icecream Parlour. He only left an hour ago, you can probably catch him there."
Mark shook his head. "I'm don't think he's there, he mentioned something about going to the movies. You don't want to have a wasted journey, Lottie."
His mother frowned at him. "No, he definitely said he was going to Macey's."
"Well, I might head to Macey's anyway," Charlotte said trying to hide her disappointment. "I'm sure there'll be someone I can hang out with if he's not there."
"Exactly," Mrs Kinsella said showing her out. "You should do that, don't let your evening go to waste."
"Bye Lottie," Mark said shooting his mother an irritated look that Charlotte didn't understand.
She shrugged her shoulders and walked briskly away, hoping that Mark had got it wrong. She guessed it served her right for wanting to surprise Louis, he was bound to go out on a Friday night. As she approached the ice cream parlour she felt inexplicably nervous. What if he wasn't as pleased to see her as she was hoping?
Getting a grip on her nerves she strode forward, pushing open the candy pink door of the ice cream parlour. Immediately her ears were assaulted by a Chubby Checker song that was blasting from the jukebox while her eyes scanned the room. It took her no more than a few seconds to locate Louis sat a table with Brad and two girls. The smile on her face faded as she watched one of the girls shuffle closer to Louis, their heads bent down together as they studied the menu she was holding. Feeling her eyes well up Charlotte quickly stepped back through the door, ignoring the protests from a couple she pushed past. Out of sight, she leaned against the wall of Macey's, her humiliation complete.
"Yes, you're right," Charlotte said when she realised Louis was waiting for her to speak. "I'm getting mixed up."
"I guess I'm not that unforgettable," Louis said and again she could not tell how to take his comment.
"It's been a long time." She looked at a point past his shoulder, conscious that Darlene was gawping at them both.
Louis shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "So what are you doing back here? I thought you were living out west with your husband?"
She inhaled sharply, surprised by his directness. "No, we relocated here a couple of years ago. He got a job teaching at California University," she said being deliberately obtuse.
Louis pulled a face. "So you married one of your professors," he stated flatly. "I never did get a chance to congratulate you."
In the background, John coughed loudly giving Charlotte a moment to compose herself before she said something she'd regret. "Much as I'd love to catch up, I have to go, I'm late as it is." She looked at her watch for good measure.
"Why don't I give you a ride, Charlotte," John said with a glance at Darlene seeking her permission. "You've got no chance of catching the next bus."
"He's right," Darlene said while Charlotte hesitated. "I'll keep Louis company for half an hour."
"If you honestly don't mind," Charlotte said looking from Darlene to John.
"No problem," John said grabbing his car keys. "Let's go."
Charlotte quickly hugged Darlene before giving Louis the briefest of goodbyes. Of all the times to have run into him...
She followed John out and waited while he unlocked the car, holding the passenger door open for her. She had to admit he was solicitous despite his many faults. "Thanks for getting me out of there, I take it that was what you were doing?"
John grinned. "Guilty as charged, and besides you're probably the only woman Darlene trusts me alone with."
"Yeah, it helps that I'm hideously ugly."
"That's not true. Darlene trusts you, she knows you'd turn me down. It's me she doesn't trust."
She rolled her eyes. "I hope this isn't a pitch for my sympathy? But she's right, I would turn you down."
"I'm wounded," he said holding a hand to his heart.
Charlotte laughed. "We both know you're not."
"Only cos I've learnt my lesson," he said more seriously. "I crossed a line getting involved with one of Darlene's friends."
"I think you crossed a line getting involved with another woman period." She gave John a hard look and he nodded.
"Yeah, I did and with Ros of all people...God, I was stupid."
"I don't know what either of you was thinking," she said her mouth turning down. She knew it was irrational but she couldn't help apportioning more of the blame to Rosalind, friends shouldn't betray each other like that.
John cleared his throat. "I'm not making excuses but sometimes it's easy to slip into something you shouldn't, especially when old feelings come into play."
"That sounds like a textbook excuse," she said scoffing. "And I don't think either of you can justify the pain you caused Darlene."
"No we can't but I'm also thinking about you and Louis here," John said keeping his eyes on the road. "I saw how you were looking at each other."
"Oh, please."
"I'm serious, I wouldn't want you to get hurt again. And Louis, well he has a shit load of baggage, you don't want to go there."
Despite herself, her interest was piqued. "And what baggage is that?"
John paused for a moment. "Vietnam's changed him. He won't even talk to me about it and I'm his best friend. At least I thought I was."
"I don't think that's so unusual," she said feeling sympathy for Louis that she didn't particularly want to. "How could any of us understand what those guys have gone through? And then they come home to people protesting the war, calling them baby killers."
"I didn't mean to get you on your soapbox," John said chuckling. "But what I'm trying to say is, you've been to hell and back, you need a nice, simple guy to look after you."
Charlotte snorted. "I don't need or want a guy. I'm done with relationships."
"You say that now."
She shook her head. "I mean it, the only thing that matters to me is my son." She chewed her lip as she thought of her poor boy, barely five years old and already the product of a broken home. "I messed up with his dad but I'll do my darndest to be the best mother I can be."
"You didn't mess up," John said as he pulled into the parking lot outside her lawyer's premises. "That's on Nick. He messed up."
Charlotte closed her eyes, her emotions bubbling up. "Thank you," she said touching John's arm. "I don't know what I would have done without you and Darlene."
"We'll always be here for you, you're like family to us." He suddenly smirked. "And if you ever need a man for anything else, look no further."
She gently elbowed him. "I assume you're referring to the help I might need for the more masculine jobs around the house."
"Of course," John said winking at her. "I'm a reformed character, what else could I mean?"
~~~
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