Page 112 of The Snuggle is Real
She didn’t put Charlie to bed or get up to have breakfast with her. She’d pop by around lunch, but she mostly talked about her frustrations with trying to find a job. She’d made a few road trips for interviews, but so far, nothing had worked out. Once, she’d stayed gone a couple of days to catch up with friends.
Ford had worried she might relapse—they’d argued when she got back—but she insisted that she’d stayed sober. Maybe she had. But it was obvious she was restless.
I knew Ford wanted her to stay in Christmas Falls—to get a jobhere—but LuAnne’s rants about small-town life made it pretty apparent she was itching to leave.
Charlie would have to start school again soon—and LuAnne was due to check in with a probation officer. The clock was ticking down on their time here, and Ford still hadn’t broached the subject of keeping Charlie.
I could tell he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and losing his chance.
“She just needs to see how happy and settled Charlie is with us first,” he’d told me. “I don’t want to rush this.”
He had a good point, but we were running out of time.
“I just got off the phone with Dirk,” LuAnne said with a grin. “He’s going to let me crash with him while I job hunt, so I can get out of your hair.”
“Dirk?” Ford said in a flat tone. “That asshole who threw you out with nothing when you two broke up a couple years ago?”
She shrugged. “That’s in the past. He’s cool now.”
“Didn’t he party a lot, though? What about your sobriety?”
She huffed. “If you must know, he’s sober now too, and besides, I don’t have many options.”
“You could stay here?—”
“No way. You know I hate Christmas Falls. Charlie loves it here. She’d stay forever, but I can’t do it.”
If ever there was an opening, this was it. Ford didn’t speak, seeming frozen, so I took a chance and hoped it wouldn’t backfire.
“Maybe she should stay,” I said tentatively. “With us.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Charlie can live with us,” Ford blurted in a rush, as if my words had freed his. “She wants to stay, and we want her to stay. We love her so much, Lu. She’s such a good kid.”
LuAnne started to shake her head. “Are you ser?—”
“Really?” Charlie burst out from the doorway to the hall. “I can stay?”
“That’s not…” LuAnne faltered at the smile lighting up Charlie’s face. “Do you want to stay?”
“Yeah! I mean, I love you, Mama, and I’d miss you. But I also love Dad and Mason and Peppermint Bark. Oh, and Grandma Dottie! Dad makes me breakfast every day, and Mason reads to me every night, and Grandma Dottie is teaching me how to knit, and?—”
Charlie stopped abruptly.
Tears spilled down LuAnne’s cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” Charlie said in a small voice. “If you don’t want me to stay, I won’t.”
LuAnne shook her head, mute, and held out her arms. Charlie rushed into them, hugging her mom tight. “I love you, Mama. I’m sorry. I’ll go, okay? I’ll go. Whatever you want.”
“No, no,” LuAnne murmured. “Don’t say—” Her voice broke and she took a shaky breath. “Don’t say you’re sorry, baby. I want you to be happy.”
LuAnne hugged Charlie long and hard while we looked on. I reached for Ford’s hand. He squeezed my fingers tight, giving away his nerves.
LuAnne swiped at her cheeks and turned to us. “Can you give us a few minutes? Charlie and I need to talk, just us.”
“You can use the guest room,” Dottie offered from her spot in the hallway.
