Page 1 of Second Time's the Charm

One

“Charm Outlaw has arrived! Now the real party can begin.” Charm circled the room as she greeted everyone at the bachelorette party. Women she’d known since college or other female acquaintances she’d met through the bride-to-be, Lacey Kilgore. All of them were here at the luxurious five-star Crystalline Resort in Cancún for Lacey’s destination wedding.

It didn’t take Charm long to work the room, giving hugs to everyone she knew and meeting those she didn’t. She wasn’t bothered in the least that some thought she was a party girl, although their perception was far from the truth. Granted she liked to have fun, but she knew when, where and how to draw the line. She didn’t do drugs, didn’t frequent nightclubs, nor did she have sex with men just for the hell of it. Most would gasp in shock to know that at twenty-eight, she’d slept with only one man.

She grabbed a drink off the tray of a passing waiter while being introduced to female relatives of Lacey’s fiancé, Vernon Lamont, then headed to the buffet table.

“I can’t wait for the wedding tomorrow,” Ola Cunningham said, joining Charm.

Ola, Lacey, Charm and Piper Akron had been housemates all four years of college while attending the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Charm smiled at Ola, feeling excited as well. When they’d first become housemates, Charm hadn’t been sure how to handle Ola, a forever cheerful, pleasant and agreeable human. She later discovered Ola’s positive attitude was contagious. There was no way anyone could be around her for long and not see the bright side to almost everything.

“Neither can I. I just got a text from Garth. He and Regan will arrive in the morning.” Charm had five older brothers. Garth was her oldest and Regan was his wife.

“Are any of your other brothers coming?” Piper asked, coming up to join them.

Charm couldn’t help but grin as she took a sip of her drink. She’d heard the hopeful sound in Piper’s voice. While they were housemates, Lacey, Piper and Ola had always looked forward to Charm’s brothers’ visits. At the time all five of them had been single. Now they were all happily married. Garth was forty, Jess was thirty-eight, Cash was thirty-six, Sloan was thirty-four and Maverick was thirty-two. And Charm would admit they were brothers she adored.

Maverick, who’d been a junior attending the same university in Anchorage, was supposed to have been one of their housemates as well. At least that had been her father’s, Bart Outlaw’s, plan when he’d purchased the three-story, five-bedroom house for his daughter’s accelerated admission to college. He hadn’t wanted his sixteen-year-old to live on campus. What better way of safeguarding Charm than to have one of her brothers live under the same roof? However, little did Bart know, after the first month, Maverick found other beds he preferred sleeping in.

Some people found it amazing that the six Outlaw siblings were so close, considering each of them had a different mother. Charm’s mother, Claudia Dermotte, was the only woman Bart had ever loved, and the only one Bart hadn’t married...but not for lack of trying. Charm smiled at the thought that twenty-nine years later her father was still trying.

During Charm’s turbulent teen years, she’d begun cutting school and getting into all kinds of mischief, including talking back to her mother. That’s when Claudia, who had reached her wits’ end, contacted the father who hadn’t known Charm existed. At fourteen, she’d stood beside her mother at the door of a monstrosity of a house in Fairbanks and come face to face with her father, Bart Outlaw. Her mother’s words to him had been... “This is your daughter Charm. I can’t handle her sassy mouth anymore. Now you deal with her.”

Charm smiled remembering how Bart had dealt with her. He’d spoiled her rotten, which only made matters worse. It had taken her five brothers to give her an attitude adjustment.

“Charm?”

It was then she realized her thoughts had drifted to the past and she hadn’t answered Piper’s question. “Garth is the only one attending the wedding. The others couldn’t make it. Now that they’re all married, their wives are keeping them busy. Or should I say, they are keeping their wives busy. Cash’s wife, Brianna, is pregnant again, and Sloan became a father earlier this month. True to his word, he and Leslie gave Dad his first granddaughter, and I’m just crazy about my beautiful niece.”

“What’s her name?”

“Cassidy. Leslie gave their daughter her maiden name.”

“Oh, how nice. What about Maverick? His wife is pregnant, too, right?”

“Yes. Maverick and Phire are having a boy next month.”

Moments later Brittany, one of Vernon’s younger sisters, her face showing her excitement, came up to Charm and asked, “Is it true you know Dylan Emanuel?”

Charm hadn’t been expecting that question about the guy who had broken her heart at eighteen. After drawing in a deep breath, she took a sip of her wine before pasting a smile on her face. “Yes, I know Dylan. We met a long time ago when he attended the University of Alaska’s Fairbanks Summer Music Academy.”

“Wow! That is so cool,” Brittany said in awe. It was easy to see the young woman was one of Dylan’s adoring fans. There was no way Charm would burst Brittany’s bubble by letting her know Charm wasn’t one of them.

Before Brittany could ask her anything else about Dylan, Piper interceded by grabbing hold of Brittany’s hand and saying, “I need help setting up tonight’s first game.”

“Sure.”

When Charm and Ola were alone again, Ola leaned in to say, “I should have warned you that might happen. Last night at the bar, when one of Dylan’s songs began playing, Lacey mentioned to everyone at the table that the two of you knew each other.”

Charm took another sip of her drink. “No harm done. Like I told Brittany, that was a long time ago. I’d almost forgotten about it.”

“Liar.”

Yes, she was lying. She hated to admit that whenever she heard one of Dylan’s songs, she remembered the summer they’d met and the long-distance romance that had lasted two years. For her, it had been love the moment her gaze had met that of the long-haired and super-cute Dylan Emanuel. That day, at sixteen, she’d been convinced he was her soulmate.

“Are you okay, Charm?”

She forced a smile to her lips as she looked into Ola’s concerned eyes. “Yes, Ola, I’m fine. Memories are just hard to fight sometimes. The only thing I appreciate about being with Dylan is that we outsmarted Bart that summer.”

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