Shattered Hearts

Chapter 17

Louis sat in his car with the engine idling as he waited for his mom to collect Lucy from school. As he finished work early on a Friday he'd started offering to pick his niece up, partly to get to know her, partly to take advantage of her proximity to Charlotte. However the past few weeks his mom had insisted on coming along saying they should spend more time together and he didn't see how he could object. Not without revealing his true intentions.

He watched his mom and Lucy make their way out of the school, Charlotte was further behind them holding the hand of a little boy he assumed was her son. The boy's blond/brown wavy hair was not dissimilar to her own. Smiling he remembered how she used to hate it, complaining it was neither something nor nothing, just blah. His smile turned to a grimace as a man approached her taking the boy's other hand. He guessed the man was Nick and he gripped the car's steering wheel tightly.

His mom yanked the passenger door open and he gave her the briefest of greetings, his attention still on Charlotte.

"Well that was rude," his mom huffed as she helped Lucy into the back seat, throwing her purse down as she did so.

"Huh?" he asked barely listening. He watched Nick through narrowed eyes, taken aback by his benign appearance. He was about average height, nondescript, not at all threatening, not like the kind of guy who'd hit their wife. He smacked his hand to his forehead telling himself not to be so stupid. Like wife-beaters' have a dress code.

"Charlotte Harper, what a stuck up little bitch she is," his mom hissed getting into the passenger seat beside him.

"Why'd you say that?" His eyes were still on Charlotte, his mom's words nothing more than background noise.

She made a loud 'humph' noise. "I asked if I could speak to her and she said she didn't have the time. Very unprofessional."

"What did you want to talk to her about?" He watched Charlotte help her child into the back of a car - presumedly her ex-husband's - and then get into the front. What the hell?

"It doesn't matter what I wanted to talk about," his mom said frowning as she followed his eyes. "The point is she was unavailable to talk about one of her pupils"

"She does have a life," he said lighting a cigarette and forcing his hands to relax. "And I bet it wasn't a school matter you wanted to discuss."

His mom pursed her lips and he knew he was right, it had been a mistake letting her come along. He suspected that she'd never particularly liked Charlotte; she'd been wary from their first introduction. She was usually warm and welcoming to his friends but on this occasion, she'd been coldly polite. Charlotte had brushed it off joking, 'wait till you meet my mom,' but he knew she'd been hurt, and he'd seen his mom in a different light ever since. To be fair, his meeting with her parents had evened things up. Her father had barely looked up from his wheelchair and her mom had appraised him with ill-disguised contempt.

"Can you please leave Lottie alone? For my sake?" He fixed his eyes on Nick's car, waiting for him to back out of the parking lot. As soon as he began to manoeuvre, he put his car into gear, following closely behind. It would be such a shame if his foot were to slip.

"Louis?" His mom touched his arm. "You're tailgating Mrs McKenna."

He eased off on the accelerator, flicking the ash from his cigarette out of the window. "Am I? I think they're going too slow." He watched as they exited the parking lot taking a right turn. He could have followed, there were two routes home, but he purposely turned left not wanting to arouse his mother's suspicions any further.

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"Jamie, run inside and get your things," Charlotte said once Nick had parked his car outside her brother's house. She tried to keep her voice as light as possible even though she felt like a tightly coiled spring.

"So this is what you want?" Nick asked inclining his head towards hers.

She took a couple of deep breaths, looking out of the window. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Getting divorced? Is it really what you want?" He sat back as if it were a casual inquiry.

"I wouldn't have gone this far if it wasn't." His hand touched her arm and she snatched it back instinctively.

"Are you sure," he asked oblivious to her reaction. "I mean things got pretty rough, losing Caroline-"

"That was your fault!" She turned to face him, anger coursing through her veins. "If you hadn't pushed me she wouldn't have died, it's down to you. There is no coming back from that."

She was satisfied to see the colour drain from his face. "Is that what you think? Even now? You still believe it's my fault she was stillborn?"

Charlotte closed her eyes, willing the ready tears away. "I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't have been holding onto me in the first place."

"Well there you go," Nick said smoothly and she thought he sounded almost smug. "I was holding your arm, I was trying to steady you. I tried to stop you from falling."

She looked at him in confusion. He sounded so reasonable but she knew that wasn't how it was. He hadn't held her arm as a loving husband, he'd grabbed onto her and then he'd shoved her. Or had he? She shook her head, she couldn't allow herself to relive that day again.

"Charlotte, I understand you're confused about what happened and to be honest so am I. And that's without having a concussion." He laughed softly, yet again so reasonable. "Look, how about this weekend you meet up with me and Jamie and we go to the zoo or something?"

She looked at him incredulously. "You want us to go to the zoo?"

"Yeah or the park or the movies. Let's do something together as a family."

She closed her eyes, his words unexpectedly painful. "Do you not remember how many times I wanted us to do something as a family? How many times I begged you, and you were always too busy for us."

He reached his hand out, lightly touching her arm. "I do remember and I'm hearing you now. It's not too late."

"It's too late for me," she said her throat constricting, making her sound less assured than she was. "Take Jamie to his grandparents' house, that was the agreement." She sat up straighter. "They want to spend time with him and I'm far happier knowing he's with people who'll properly look after him."

She was satisfied with Nick's sharp intake of breath. "I'll look after him. I only agreed to him spending the weekend at my parents' house to keep you happy." He let out an exasperated sigh. "God, I wish you could see how I'm bending over backwards to accommodate your wishes. I don't have to take him to my parents, I do it for your peace of mind. I'm no risk to the boy but while you have this paranoia about me, I'm doing my darndest to work with it." He fixed her with a hard stare. "I don't have to Charlotte." The threat was left hanging in the air.

"I think you do it for yourself, not me," she said trying not to let on how unnerved she was. "You're busy, you have marking to do, your weekends aren't your own." She recited his old excuses for not spending time with her when they were together.

Nick looked away. "That's right but Jamie comes first with me and with my parents. Don't forget my folks moved to California to stay close to us, your mom wouldn't have made a sacrifice like that. She never visited us when we were in Ohio."

Her eyes welled up, as her mixed feeling about her mother rose to the surface. "When we first got together my mom was nursing my dad through his final days. She couldn't have relocated even if she wanted to."

Nick squeezed her hand, taking her by surprise. "I know sweetheart, and I know the past few years have been so hard for you, you've had so much to contend with. All I ask is you don't make a hasty decision about the future."

She tried to pull her hand away, not looking at him. "I've made my decision, please don't make it harder than it already is."

He gave her hand a small squeeze before releasing it. "Your home is with me Charlotte, we're a family. In time you'll come to realise that."

She swallowed hard, not sure if his words were a threat or a promise?

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