COMPLETE ✓| Charlotte Hastings found herself between a rock and a hard place when she aged out of the foster system. With only a car to her name, she set out on the open road, hoping to find long lost relatives. Winter hits her hard. When she meets...
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN | THE RIGHT THING
Elijah Blackwood
I sat in my truck after a long day of work, during which I'd managed to do precisely one thing: fix Lottie's car. I'd spent nearly every moment of the last day with Lottie's words ringing through my head. I'm falling for your son. I should have gone to her right then and asked her to stay. I should have done something -- anything -- to keep her with me.
But instead, I was sitting in my truck spinning her keys in my hands and debating what I was going to do. The right thing to do would be to hand over her keys and let her go. But every time I thought of that, my heart knotted in my chest. How do I let her go?
My phone chimed with the alert I'd set to make sure I picked Lottie up on time. I drove as slowly as possible, giving myself as long as possible to prepare myself for the eventual conversation. I took the whole five minutes steeling myself to tell her that her car was ready. I have to let her go.
I parked the truck in front of the diner and took a deep breath. After throwing Lottie's keys into my pocket, I jogged through the increasing snow storm and opened the door to the cafe.
"Oh my!" Lottie ran up to me and wrapped her hands around my neck. "I thought you might be stuck somewhere. I was worried, but your mom said to just wait and... Hi," she said, reaching up and placing a kiss on my cheek. My skin warmed where she touched and her cheeks turned a vibrant red. I slid my thumb across her cheek and pulled her up towards me, placing a small kiss on her forehead as she hugged me. I can't let her go.
"What do you say we have a..." I swallowed my fear. "What do you think about going on a date? With me. Tonight." I kissed her again, not ready to see her response just then. Finally, she pushed me off her and stared up at me, the biggest sparkle in her eye as her mouth spread into a wide smile.
"I'd say let's go!" she giggled and pulled me over to the staff room so she could grab her coat and purse. As she kept reminding me, we hadn't known each other very long. But that wasn't stopping me from feeling drawn to her more strongly with every passing moment.
"I'm ready!" she said, smiling and holding out her hand. 'Where are we going?"
She had become so much brighter since I'd met her. I wanted to let myself believe it was because of me. "Sorry," I said when I noticed her smile wane slightly, "I was thinking of a surprise."
I felt my breath hitch in my chest as her smile returned and she nodded, pulling herself closer into my arms.
"Bye, Mom!" I called as I held the door open for Lottie. "See you!"
"Goodbye, Dear," Mom said, wiping her hands off on her apron.
When we stepped through the door, I pulled my zipper up on my jacket and ran towards the truck, pulling a scarf and toque out of the back. Lottie was halfway into the passenger seat when I noticed. "We aren't driving," I called to her. "I'm taking you somewhere close. Just grab your scarf and we'll go."
