Sequel of "Come Back...Be Here - Charles Leclerc"
Four years later, Mary and Charles inevitably cross paths again.
Will they rekindle their love? Or are the scars too deep?
A few days had passed and I hadn't seen or heard from Charles or his brothers. I was on my way to Nice now to catch my plane to Dublin where I would get a connecting flight to Boston. There, I picked up a small rental Kia for the week and drove south to Cape Cod.
Easter with the Kennedys was something else. I had been last year with Bobby and it was intense: family tennis tournament, sailing basically every day and booze galore. Virginia was already waiting for me at the gates and waving her arms frantically. "Ready to return to Europe with a damaged liver?" she asked me as I rolled down the window to greet her. "So ready" I chuckled and parked the car behind the other ones already assembled in the driveway.
On Monday, Carolyne and I visited Bobby's grave together. The anniversary of his death would be at the end of next month and we also planned his remembrance mass. Joe was going to announce his candidacy for Senate the day after and that meant that everything would have to be perfect. That night, I laid awake and read the letter Bobby had written to me for the gazillionth time and I couldn't help but wonder if he had also left one for Joe. As I couldn't fall asleep anyways, I went out into the garden for some fresh air when I saw a figure sitting on one of the outdoor chairs in the shadows.
"Just the person I was thinking about" I chuckled as I sat down next to Joe. "You? Thinking about me? To what do I owe the honour?" he chuckled, but even in the dark I recognised that he had a worried look on his face. "Joe, it's going to be alright. You were all born for this and Bobby will be at your side every step of the way" I said and took his hand. "Yeah, that's what he wrote to me too..." he replied. "He wrote to you?" I asked curiously. "Yeah... Found the letter behind his painting of JFK that he left me, he knew it was my favourite painting" he chuckled. He pulled out his letter and simultaneously I did the same with mine.
"Wanna swap?" I asked and he nodded. His letter was just as crumpled as mine, showing that he also read it frequently:
"Dear Joe,
A terrible turn of events now made you the oldest of our family. I never wanted this burden to fall onto you, but fate had other plans. A million thoughts will be going through your head when Grandpa will look at you sooner or later the way he had looked at me on his 21st birthday, ready to pass the baton onto the next generation.
You may not be as witty with words as I am, but you have double the brains. Which makes you probably a greater hope for our beloved America than me. This country doesn't need words, it needs a man that unites the people. Aim to unite the country as our family is united.
Talking about family, keep an eye out on the sisters, take care of Mother and Father and keep Mary close. Every decision I took in the past years turned only out well, because of her advice. And you will need her advice too. Be happy for her when she finds happiness with another man, she has all of my blessings. When you will be ready to find a girl and get married, look for someone like Mary. And get her approval stamp before putting a ring on it.
God bless you. God bless our family. God bless America.
Yours, Bobby"
We looked back at each other after finishing reading and we both had tears in our eyes. "My stamp of approval, huh?" I chuckled. "Charles Leclerc, huh?" he joked back. "Don't get me started on him..." I said and rolled my eyes. "So there are some feelings left?" he laughed and wiggled with his eyebrows. "I'm still mourning Bobby." I replied sternly and Joe nodded. "Come on, let's get back inside, we should definitely get some sleep or they will destroy us at tennis tomorrow" he said and we both stood up.
The next morning, I was dead. Everyone was already dressed in white tennis gear when I got downstairs for breakfast. "Ugh, you look like hell, let's hope you're not on my team" Tory joked when she saw me. She was lucky and I was put in a team with Johnny and some other cousins. Our team still managed to finish second with six victories and two losses.
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📍 Hyannisport Club mary.wright98 Few things worse than American hard courts 🇺🇸🎾
virginia.kennedy Excuses excuses excuses arthur_leclerc Bullshit, you're good on every court!!!!!! alicebecket You look so... American not playing on grass 😜
The rest of the week included sailing, heavy drinking and lots of food. It was great to spend time with the whole bunch and I was happy that they also liked me for me and weren't just pretending for Bobby's sake. On Sunday, his siblings, except for Kate, who had spent the holidays in Europe, and I went sailing for one last time before I was flying back to Monaco.
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joe.kenn00 ❤️ nick.rothsch What a bunch of good-looking people! carmenmmundt You are glowing! 😘
I returned to Monte-Carlo on Tuesday night and was ready for bed, already dreading the jet-lag. I definitely felt the weight of being 30. When I got inside my apartment, I immediately noticed a big basket on my kitchen counter, which wasn't there when I left. I removed the wrapping and saw that it was full of Easter sweets and chocolate as well as a stuffed Peter Rabbit. There was also a letter and I immediately opened it, not having a clue about who would send me this.
"Dear Mary,
I'm sorry for upsetting you the last time we saw each other. Funnily enough, your housekeeper also cleans at Arthur's place and I was so bold to ask her to leave this peace offering at your apartment.
Happy Easter, Carlo"
My eyes welled up. He had not only remembered that I had told him ages ago that Peter Rabbit was my favourite book as a small kid, but also the nickname I had given him for fun. I decided to leave the basket on the counter for tonight as I was knackered and wanted to close my eyes immediately. Unfortunately, after all the events of the week and of this evening, I wasn't able to find sleep. When I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, the stuffed bunny caught my eye. I went over to the counter, took it and cuddled myself to bed with it. I had the best night of sleep in ages after that.
