Page 70 of A Night To Remember

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do, Char. You’ve fought so hard to not fall in love with him, but it ended up happening anyway. And now because of your insane decision, you may have lost any opportunity you may have had with him.”

“I don’t love him!” Her voice rose louder than she meant it to, drawing stares from the other diners.

“If you say so.”

“I do, so can we please drop the subject.”

Laura reached across the table and grabbed Charlie’s hand. “I’m not trying to be a pest, but I’m only bringing this up because I care about you.”

“I know you do, Laura, but trust me to know my own feelings. I do appreciate your concern, but can we just let it go?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Laura gave her a skeptical look. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

So do I, Charlie thought.

Charlie was furious. She knew Jake was upset with her, but he could at least have granted her the courtesy of calling her to tell her he’d be running late. Jake said he would be there before eight to pick Kristy up, but when ten o’clock rolled around there was still no sign of him. Charlie grew angrier with each passing minute.

Kristy was especially upset, crying as Charlie bathed and put her to bed. “Where’s Daddy?” she asked Charlie between sobs.

“I don’t know, honey. Daddy is just running late.”

“Daddy won’t come?” Kristy asked tearfully.

“When you wake up, he should be here.” Charlie kept her fingers crossed on that one. Damn you, Jake. She had been so sure Jake was sincere about spending time with Kristy so where the hell was he?

Eventually, Kristy drifted off to sleep and Charlie tried to phone Jake to see what the deal was. She tried his home phone and his cell phone. She received no answer on both lines. When she saw him again, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. Kristy had cried herself to sleep, and it was all Jake’s fault. You just couldn’t play with a little kid’s affections like this.

By midnight Charlie finally decided to go to bed herself. As she was getting undressed the phone rang. If it were Jake, he was in for it she thought.

“Hello?” She answered the phone aggressively thinking it was Jake.

“Charlie, is that you?” A female voice anxiously asked on the other end. The voice was familiar but Charlie couldn’t quite place who it belonged to.

“Yes, who is this?”

“It’s Moira Fox.” Jake’s mother? Why in the world was she calling at this time of night?

“Hi, Moira. Is everything okay?”

“No. Everything is not okay. Jake’s been in an automobile accident. They’re saying he won’t make it through the night.” Moira began to sob through the phone.

“Oh my God!”

“Will you please come? Bring Kristy with you. Bill and I want close friends and family around before he goes,” Moira said between sobs.

“Of course. What hospital is he in?”

“Fairfax Memorial.”

“I’ll be there in a half an hour.”

“Thank you, Charlie.

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