Page 95 of An Unexpected Love

Charlotte mulled it over. That didn’t sound so unreasonable. She’d have a chance to meet the boy’s father when he came to get Carrie, and it wasn’t as if the two kids would be alone in the car—or at the dance.

“I… I’d be willing to agree to that.”

Charlotte thought Carrie would be grateful or relieved; instead she broke into giant hiccuping sobs. Her daughter slumped in a kitchen chair and buried her face in her arms and wept as if she’d lost her best friend.

“Carrie.” Charlotte placed her hand on Carrie’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

She raised her head and brushed the tears from her face, her shoulders heaving with the effort to stop crying. “You should never have said those things to Jason.”

“Carrie, he intruded in my affairs.”

“But I was the one who asked him to talk to you. If you’re going to be angry with anyone, it should be me, not him.”

Charlotte realized Carrie didn’t understand the nuances of a male-female relationship. Frankly, she wasn’t that well acquainted with them herself. She’d admit that she’d reacted in anger, but it was justified. Jason had simply assumed too much.

“But Jason didn’t want to interfere,” Carrie sobbed. “It took me forever to get him to agree and…and he only did it because I was desperate.”

“He overstepped the bounds.” Charlotte tried to remain adamant.

“You made him leave without even bothering to listen.”

Charlotte said nothing.

“I like Jason—and you do, too,” Carrie added unnecessarily. “He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Higgins is alive because of him and…and he took us to meet his family. Saturday was the most fun day I’ve ever had. It…it was like we belonged with Jason and his brothers.”

Charlotte had felt the same way.

“Jason wasn’t minding your business, Mom, at least not the way you think. He…he was helping a friend. Me. And you hated him for that.”

“I don’t hate Jason.” Far from it. She was falling in love with him.

“He’s the one who came up with the idea of Brad’s father driving one way and you driving the other. He…he suggested you chaperone the dance just so you’d feel comfortable about everything.” She drew in a shaky breath. “When I told him you’d need a date for the dance if you were going to be a chaperone, he saidhe’dtake you. I mean, Jason isn’t the kind of man who dances…but he’d be willing to do it, for me, because he’s myfriend. And for you, too, so you’d be comfortable at the dance. And what did he get for being so nice?”

“My anger,” Charlotte whispered, feeling wretched.

“You kicked him out of the house, and I don’t think he’ll ever want to come back. I know I wouldn’t.”

Charlotte sat down next to her daughter, feeling strangely like weeping herself.

“I wanted to go to the dance with Brad more than anything,” Carrie admitted, “but now I don’t care if I do or not.”

“Carrie, this isn’t the end of the world.”

“Ireallylike Jason,” she said emphatically. “When I asked him if he’d ask you out, I did it for selfish reasons, and I apologize for that…but I’m glad I did it. You’re happier when you’re with him, Mom. You don’t think I notice, but I do. Jason makes you smile and laugh and forget how much you don’t like your job.”

Charlotte folded her arms around her middle. What Carrie said was true. It was as if her life had started all over again when Jason first kissed her.

“I don’t care about the dance anymore,” Carrie murmured. “But I care what happens with you and Jason. Go to him, Mom. Tell him you’re sorry. Please.”

Her daughter’s entreaty affected Charlotte more than any regrets she might feel about what she’d said and done. For one thing, she hadn’t realized how fond Carrie was of Jason.

“Will you do it, Mom?”

It didn’t take Charlotte long to decide. “Yes,” she said. She would apologize, for not giving him the benefit of the doubt, for not being willing to listen to him and Carrie, but mostly for the rude way in which she’d told him to leave her apartment.

It was the second time she’d had to apologize to this man.

“When?” Carrie asked.

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