Page 11 of Taming His Brat

For a second the woman said nothing, and then her eyes went wide, and her mouth worked silently until she finally found her words. “Charlotte? Is—is that you?”

Charlie couldn’t remember the last time someone had used her real name and she frowned. “Um, yeah. It’s Charlie though. Do I know you?”

The woman let out an ear-piercing squeal that made Charlie wince. “Oh, my gawd! I can’t believe it! Look at you—you’re all grown up and beautiful!”

Charlie blinked and tilted her head as she examined the stranger. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but she couldn’t place it. “Thanks. I’ve been grown up for a while now.”

“I know, I know. And I should have come before, but—” She paused and laughed, waving a perfectly-manicured hand. “you know how time flies. Before you know it, years have gone by. I knew you were grown up, of course, I just—I didn’t really believe it until now. Just look at you.” She seemed to realize she was rattling on and came to an abrupt stop, shaking her head.

None of that had made much sense to Charlie and she was more confused than ever. There was that embarrassed feeling too, when someone obviously knew you, but you didn’t remember them, and it left her feeling awkward. She couldn’t think of a subtle way to get the information so finally she just asked the blunt question, “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

The woman seemed startled and then her face fell. In the sadness the lines deepened, causing Charlie to move the age approximation upwards. She was now guessing she had to be more like forty-five. Not that it helped her figure out who the woman was.

The stranger’s eyes filled with tears and she sniffled. She looked down and began to root around in her designer purse, as she spoke. “I-I guess it was too much to expect you’d remember me. It’s been a long time since you last saw me, I know. Of course, Jimmy sent me plenty of pictures when you were growing up, and I sent some back, but I guess he decided not to share them with you.” She let out a long sigh, pulled a package of tissue out and began to dab at her eyes.

Somehow with all that talking she still hadn’t managed to actually say who she was, and Charlie was starting to get antsy. She shifted, waiting to be enlightened, but not wanting to be rude about it. “I’m sorry,” she said, because she wasn’t sure what else to say.

Another dramatic sniffle. “No, Charlotte,I’msorry. I should never have left you. A girl needs her mother, but at the time Jimmy was holding all the cards and it seemed like the best thing to do would be to leave.” She stopped, laughed with a brittle sound and shook her head. “And I’m an idiot because you clearly have no idea what’s going on and I keep babbling.” She took a long deep breath. “My name is Vicky. Vicky Townsend now, but it used to be Vicky McGee.”

Charlie stared at her blankly. Not because she wasn’t understanding, but because she was flat out stunned and in shock.

But Vicky must have felt she needed to explain further. “I’m your mother, Charlotte.”

“I—” Charlie stopped and closed her mouth. She knew she should be saying something, but she had no idea how she was supposed to respond. She didn’t doubt it was true; once the words were out it was obvious. The familiar appearance, if you added twenty years to what she remembered, then yes it could be her.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting … this is a shock,” she said finally. She took a deep breath to steady herself, but her face felt numb. She couldn’t make herself show the emotions she felt she should be expressing. A happy smile of welcome would be fake. Mother or not, she didn’t know this woman.

“I understand, baby. I do. I wish I hadn’t let things go on so long but there were reasons.” Vicky paused, and a frown crossed her lips. “Your father insisted it would be better if I just cut ties, and he has a way of getting what he wants. He can be quite a bully at times, but the important thing is I’m here now.” She dabbed under her eyes and tried to force a smile.

Charlie didn’t know what she was feeling. Everything felt muffled and strained so the words about her father barely penetrated at first. When they did, she felt a pang of irritation. Her father had his faults, but he was gone now and talking him down seemed wrong. And then she realized with painful clarity.

She didn’t know. Her mother didn’t know that Jimmy was dead.

“Vicky…”

The older woman cut her off with a pleading, hopeful smile. “Oh please, don’t. I know you haven’t seen me in a long time, but it seems so strange to hear you call me that. Can’t you call me mom?”

Charlie opened her mouth and then shut it with an audible snap. Mom? No, she definitely wasn’t going to call her that. Instead of arguing she ignored it. “You know Jimmy died, right?”

Charlie winced at how blunt the words sounded coming out of her mouth. She hadn’t meant them to be so cold, but shock had stolen away her ability to phrase things with more delicacy. The look on Vicky’s face as she took in the words was odd. Charlie almost thought she saw irritation there for a second, but then dark eyes welled up with tears and she decided she had imagined it.

“What? Oh, no! I didn’t … I’m so sorry to …” Her mother trailed off and she was back to dabbing at her eyes.

“Yeah, he had cancer. I guess no one knew where you were to let you know. It’s been a while now.” Charlie counted in her head and came up with just over four months since her father had died.

“Your father had my information, but I guess he didn’t pass it on. I’m—wow, Jimmy. I really didn’t expect … he was so full of life, you know?” She was shaking her head and looked floored by the news, but Charlie didn’t notice much grief.

Well, it had been a lot of years since they were married. Even before then they’d never seemed to get along very well, so it wasn’t really a surprise, she supposed. She couldn’t expect this stranger to feel the same level of hurt she did, just because once upon a time they’d been married and had a kid together.

Charlie hesitated and then stepped back and gestured inside. “Do you want to come in?”

Vicky nodded, offered her a slight smile, and preceded her through the door. She stopped just inside the door and looked around with a critical eye. “Not too much has changed on the old homestead, I see. Boy, this place brings back some memories.” She turned, taking it all in, including the half-painted walls. “Trying to fix things up a little?”

“I was, but it turned out to be a lot more work than I expected, so we’re hiring people to come in and give it a whole new look. Actually, you’re lucky you caught me here. I was just making some last-minute notes on what I wanted done,” Charlie explained.

Her hand went up in a nervous gesture, tucking her hair back behind her ears. She hadn’t bothered with her usual ponytail and she was very aware of how messy she was, especially next to her mother who would probably never be seen in public looking less than perfect.

Vicky stopped and turned to her. “Oh? You’re not staying here then?”

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