Page 48 of Charlie Takes a Chance

“Maybe.”

“Good enough.” Besides. Max is safe to say this to. He’ll never meet Bryce or cross paths with him. If I told Piper and Magnolia about this conversation, they might just show up at his house and do something that’s not completely legal.

“He told me he wanted to get back together and that he had made a mistake.”

“Obviously.”

I nod. “That’s not the good part. He said he realized this when he was out on a third date with a woman he’d met at the gym. He said he realized I wasn’t as strange as some otherpeople out there and that my eccentricities could possibly be an asset.”

Max blinks slowly. “Third date. So, was he dating other people while you were together?”

“Yes, there was some strange overlap there. But I think it was the eccentricities that bothered me the most. Listen, I know I’m weird. But it’s who I am. I’ve decided it’s a take it or leave it situation.”

Max clenches his jaw. “He sounds like a piece of work. Maybe he and my ex-girlfriend are related. They have similar moral codes.”

I scoff. “My grandma would call them tools.”

Max smirks at that.

“Max! Charlie!”

We turn to see Darlene hurrying toward us on the sidewalk. She’s lifting her legs high and stomping so that she doesn’t slip on the ice, her arms out at her sides to keep her balance.

Max points at me. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”

“Stop making it sound like I’m in trouble. Good grief,” I mutter as Darlene stops in front of us.

“Dancing. You two are coming dancing tomorrow night, right?” She says in an out of breath voice.

“What kind of dancing are we talking about?” I ask as I fold my arms over my chest.

“Swing dancing. Line dancing. It’s a tradition. Every December, we have a Christmas line dance. Every New Year’s Eve, too. It’s a fun time. Food’s free, but not the drinks. There’s a raffle for a prime rib, and—” she pauses to waggle her eyebrows at us. “There’s mistletoe.”

She nudges Max with her elbow.

I turn to give him a glare as if he has any control over what Darlene is saying. The woman really is a force to be reckoned with.

Max holds up his hands in surrender. “Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way between you and Henry at the mistletoe.”

Now, it’s Darlene’s turn to look uncomfortable. She blushes and tries to brush it off. “Are you two going to be there?”

“Yes, we’ll be there,” Max says tiredly. “Er, I guess I shouldn’t speak for Charlie.”

I smile at him. “I’ll be there. Sounds fun. We’ll watch out for the mistletoe, though. Max and I might end up in a fight.”

“I’d win,” Max whispers to me.

My heart thumps a little faster, and it annoys me when I feel his arm bump against mine, sending little goosebumps along my arm. “In your dreams,” I whisper back.

“Well, well, well. I guess I’ll see you two later,” Darlene says slyly.

We both jump apart like guilty teenagers. “Right. Yup. See you later, Darlene.”

It’s a bunch of mumbled goodbyes. And we’re back to standing a reasonable distance apart as we watch Darlene walk away.

“I’m going to pick up a tree from Hubert. If you want to use the dull ax, you can follow me there,” I tell Max.

“Lead the way, princess.”

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