Page 28 of Love in Tandem
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Carter said, shooting a hesitant look at her husband. He shrugged and looked down at his grease-stained hands.
Sophia lunged forward. “Mom, if they weren’t really a couple, do you think Charlotte would have agreed to chaperone the youth group canoe trip with Zach?”
Both of Charlotte’s parents’ heads snapped up. “She did?”
“I did?” Charlotte said before Zach slid his palm from the top of her head down over her mouth.
“But Charlotte hates canoeing.” Mrs. Carter looked at Charlotte. “Honey, you hate canoeing.”
“But she obviously cares for Zach,” Sophia said.
“Oh, she cares a great deal,” Zach said, meeting Ben’s doubtful expression with his biggest grin as Charlotte tugged his hand away from her mouth, then didn’t seem to know what to do with his hand, which really, neither did he.
“But hey, if you think that’s crazy, get this,” Charlotte said as they continued some sort of weird thumb war with their intertwined fingers. “Zach agreed to help me raise money for the new band instruments this summer.”
“Oh my,” his mother said. “Things must be serious. Zach loathes fundraisers.”
“Zach certainly does,” Zach said with forced cheeriness. He disentangled his fingers from Charlotte’s and ran his palm up and down her arm as if warming her up. “Honey, I think you misremembered what I agreed to though. I thought we agreed I would simply help you try to stir up some donations this week.”
“Well, that was before the canoe trip came into effect, shnookums. Once I agreed to that, you then decided it was only fair to help me with at least five fundraising events this summer.”
“Five? Is that what I decided?”
“Oh yes, you were very emphatic.”
Fine. Be that way. Zach smiled, running both hands up and down her arms now. “Ah. Now I remember. We did have that conversation. It was right after I had asked you if we could extend the canoe trip into our own little camping trip, and you said yes.”
Charlotte cocked her head. “I don’t—”
Zach pulled her in for a hug, pressing his cheek next to hers. “Isn’t she the best? She knows how much I love spending time out in nature. When I told her the canoe trip was only one day, she said, ‘Why not stay longer and camp out for a couple of nights? That way we can have a little time, just the two of us.’”
Charlotte leaned far enough back to pinch his cheek. “And then this beautiful lug said, ‘Two nights together won’t be enough time to satisfy me. I’m helping you with every single fundraiser all summer long.’ Remember that?” She patted him lovingly on the cheek. Or at least that’s probably what she intended. His cheek burned from the smack she actually gave him.
Ben cleared his throat. “What about California, Zach? Seems like if you and Charlotte were serious, you would want to at least mention the amazing job opportunity you received that only a fool would turn down. You might want to at least get her take on it before you promise a summer of fundraisers.”
Zach’s knuckles had never itched so bad to knock the smirk off his brother’s face as they did in this moment. A warning bell deep in his gut warned him to walk away before he relieved the itch.
Too bad he’d never been good at listening to that warning bell. Probably why he did something even stupider. “I don’t need her take on it. You know why?” Pilgrim. “Because you’re right. Only a fool would turn it down. Which is why I guess you should consider me a fool in love.”
Zach wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s waist and dipped her into the type of kiss a man gives a woman before he goes off to war. But when the kiss was finished, rather than go off to war, Zach excused himself amidst the cheering and applause, ran for the back exit, and hid behind a dumpster.
“Charlotte, wait!” Sophia’s high heels clacked across the parking lot faster than a woman ought to be able to run in high heels. Certainly faster than Charlotte. Sophia circled around her and blocked Charlotte’s path. “Where are you going?”
“Home. The moon. Anywhere but back in there.” Charlotte pointed to the reception hall where a loud bass beat hummed.
“What about Zach?”
“What about Zach?”
Sophia folded her arms in the red dress that on closer inspection looked a lot like one of Charlotte’s. Had her sister raided her closet? “You don’t think it’s going to look a little strange that right after you two practically confess your eternal love, you peel out of the parking lot and he disappears behind a dumpster? And really, a dumpster? Who runs and hides behind a dumpster?”
“People who can’t find utility closets.”
Sophia squeezed Charlotte’s wrist. “Think about mom and dad.”
“Right now I’d rather think about fleeing the country.”
“Charlotte . . .” Sophia tugged her away from her car. “You’re being ridiculous.”
