Consequences

Part 47

For a second both women simply stood in silence. Charlie wasn't sure how to rescue the situation. Isabelle wasn't sure that she could hold onto her composure for much longer.

Eventually, on a revealing sigh Isabelle spoke. "But your brother-in-law did." Isabelle pointed out and could do little to hide the hurt in those three words. "You have spent less time than Doug has with me, yet you did not reach the same conclusion he did." Charlie winced at that blunt assessment. Isabelle's lips quivered but she managed not to cry as she asked, "Based on what?" She asked as her eyes filled with tears. "My appearance? What he knew of my character? My family?" She licked her lips and then caught her lower lip between her teeth and reminded herself not to cry.

Neither woman said anything for several seconds. Charlie could see that Isabelle was just about holding onto her equanimity. Charlie was also trying to think up how she could defend Doug. She knew that Isabelle's questions were highlighting elements he should have considered fully before reaching his conclusion.

Isabelle squared her shoulders as the injustice of it all returned to help her vanquish her tears. She flicked a finger beneath her nose before she said, "He believed the worst. The time we have spent together clearly made no impression. Yet one night, on the basis of appearances on one night, he decided." It was easy to hear the anger in her voice and Isabelle did nothing to hide the fact that she was devastated. "He decided."

"You need to give him a break." Charlie suggested quietly and plaintively.

"You mean like he's given me a break?" Isabelle retorted quietly.

Charlie sighed. She could understand Isabelle's position. But she also wanted Isabelle to understand what had driven Doug to reach those conclusions. Charlie was pretty sure that Isabelle did not know about Doug's early childhood. The Hawke brothers did not broadcast the fact their childhoods were tough. Charlie remembered the early stages of her relationship with Ryan. It had been her journalistic nose that had taken her past his barriers. She had looked past the walls those men had put up. And behind them she had found two genuinely strong men with good hearts. Now all she had to do was convince Isabelle to look past the wall.

"He wasn't thinking straight! He'd been woken up in the middle of the night. He sees you dressed to the nines and behind bars. He was thinking emotionally not rationally. You must know that! He was gutted."

There was so much sincerity in Charlie's explanation. Of course Isabelle had provided Doug with those very same excuses. It must have been a shock. She knew that. But what she had difficulty accepting was the fact that he had crucified her without bothering to listen.

Looking at Charlie with eyes that revealed just how hurt Isabelle was, Isabelle found herself explaining, "I was dressed like a hooker to avoid being recognised by your journo friend..."

"I worked that out." Charlie replied quietly.

"I was stopping a fight." Isabelle said, now on a roll.

"Yeah, so I've been told." Charlie nodded. It was good that they were at least talking about the events that night. Now all she had to do was persuade Isabelle to have this conversation with Doug.

"You've been busy." Isabelle's lips quirked. She did not know much about this young woman, but she was coming to see that she was a determined young woman. Something they had in common. That had Isabelle's lips forming a tentative rueful smile. They would have had a surname in common too. That removed the smile for Isabelle knew that the engagement would not have resulted in marriage and pretending was just silly.

Puzzled by the gamut of emotions that flitted through Isabelle's eyes, Charlie decided to explain her own role in the current situation. "Look, Taylor is a real jerk. He's known for his stories skirting the truth! I knew there was something fishy about his story. Of course he kept to the facts, you were picked up with prostitutes in the middle of a fight about turf, taken to the station and released. He just left it to moronic readers to put two and two together and make any number but four."

"The same conclusion that Doug came to, and he was there to hear the truth from the girls. He didn't believe them or me." Isabelle knew she sounded forlorn and sad. She couldn't help it. She had put so much faith in the man. Despite barely knowing him she had instinctively and intuitively assumed he would be fair-minded.

"What did you expect? The guy was in shock!" Charlie said with a wry smile, hoping to cajole Isabelle along. If she could just get Isabelle to forgive Doug jumping to conclusions, they might just be able to put this debacle behind them. "Honestly! Think about it! Why would you expect your rich, society fiancée to have women who work the streets as friends?"

Isabelle, unfortunately for Charlie was not quite ready to forgive Doug. It had hurt. Seriously hurt when she realized that the man she was falling for thought so little of her. But what hurt more than that was the fact that he had simply written her off. There and then, she was off his mailing list!

"What do you want?" Isabelle asked quietly.

"I want you to explain this to Doug." Charlie stated forthrightly. She watched the impact her words had on Isabelle. It was just a shame that Isabelle had developed a decent shield over the years and could when called for, hide her emotions behind a polite but ambiguous expression. Charlie could not read her.

"Why?"

"Because I love him. He's the best brother-in-law I have."

"He's the only brother-in-law you have." Isabelle pointed out somewhat dryly.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "You are the best thing that has happened to him. I can't explain it, but since he's met you, and yes, I know it hasn't been long, but since he's met you, there's been this look in his eyes. Like he is genuinely, one hundred percent happy. Or at least there was that look in his eyes. But right now he is hurting." Charlie winced, clasped both hands on her thickened waistline and then blew out a sigh. She was hurting too. But her pain was much more physical "Would you mind if I came in and sat down?" She blew out a long breath. Something wasn't quite right. Must be all that walking she'd done. " I've been on my feet for hours."

Despite wanting to turn Charlie away, Isabelle held the door open and waited for Charlie to step in. Then Isabelle closed the door.