Page 26 of Wilde Sanctuary

Charlie clenched her teeth so hard her jaw started to cramp. How dare they speak about Rhett like that?

“All we need is a little more leverage and he’ll have no choice but to sell,” her father said.

Leverage? Charlie leaned a hand on the door, trying to get closer.

Prescott laughed. “Who would have thought he would have been interested in Charlotte?”

“Indeed,” her father said, but this time he wasn’t laughing. “No daughter of mine will be involved with someone like him. She has some silly ideas, but that cannot happen. The Sinclairname will not be dragged into the mud. Make sure of it, and that promotion will be yours.”

Charlie gasped, her hand jerking where it rested on the door. The slight movement enough to push the door fully open. Her father and Prescott turned to face her.

“Oh, Charlotte. There you are. I’ll be with you in a minute.” Her father turned back to Prescott as if he hadn’t just been plotting to ruin her life.

“How could you?”

He stopped and sighed, turning to face her. “How could I what? Ensure your future? Ensure the future of this company? Easily, my dear. Very easily.”

She backed away, shaking her head. “You’re unbelievable.”

Her father scoffed. “How deluded. What kind of future would you have living in a hovel with that?—”

Charlie wouldn’t listen to another word. “He’s ten times the man you will ever be.”

Prescott opened his mouth and Charlie rounded on him. “Oh, and shut the fuck up, you absolute butt-kissing fool. Can’t you see he’s using you to do his dirty work,Paul?” She sneered his name, and he spluttered.

Charlie ignored him and turned on her heel to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She stopped in the doorway at her father’s words, resting a hand on the frame and turning her head to glare at him. “I have enough PTO to cover my notice period. I quit.”

It took far longer than Charlie expected to pack up her life in New York. When she’d finally tied up the last loose end, it was a week after she’d handed in her notice. She’d gotten into the habit of leaving her phone in her handbag, her father’s PA called her at least three times a day and there was no way she was takingthatcall. She took it out, expecting to see missed calls from the familiar number.

But there it was, just like she’d hoped. A message from Rhett.

She was standing in the foyer of her bank . Uncaring of where she was, her fingers had trembled as she’d held the phone. She’d played the message through three times; she was just so happy to hear his voice.

“Charlie… uh, I’d hoped to talk to you… I’m really sorry,” he’d said, his tone anguished. “I miss you so much. You’re right, you know.” At that point he laughed, a little self deprecatingly. “I was pushing you away. I did push you away.”

There was a pause, and as Charlie listened a tear slid down her cheek. She sniffed, wiping it away with the back of her fingers, torn between happiness that Rhett had reached out and pure anxiety over why.

“I want to be with you. I need you. Charlie, all I want is for you to be happy.” He drew in a ragged breath. “I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but do you think you could give me one, anyway?” He laughed sadly. “Please call me back.”

Charlie sank down on the cold marble of the bank’s floor and sobbed.

And then she called him back.

Chapter Thirteen

Rhett

Summer passed into fall, and with the changing of the seasons came the changing of Wilde Outdoor Adventures’ clients. Fewer families on camping trips with their kids, and more older couples looking to catch sight of Maine’s famous fall colors.

The morning sun reflected off the water as Rhett stepped out of the shop and slipped on his sunglasses. It looked like any other morning, but he felt with every part of his being that today was going to change his life.

Today he’d see Charlie again.

Today he’d make it all up to her… if she let him.

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