Lucy nodded vehemently in agreement.
Katherine said nothing now, only observing the scene in front of her, Charlotte noted.
And what was she to say, in the face of the three Spencer women in front of her? Other than… “All right. You lead the way, Lucy.”
Lucy giddily grinned before wrapping both of her smaller hands around Charlotte’s—just like she’d held Sutton’s as they’d walked down the stairs—and tugged her down the foyer.
She tossed Sutton one final look over her shoulder to find Sutton staring after her, biting down into her perfect, soft bottom lip.
For now, though, Sutton—and her answers—would have to wait.
The first andonly time Charlotte had ever attended a Spencer family New Year’s Eve party, she’d spent the first part of the night with Sutton, working as a political dream team. The second half of the night, she’d spent working the room on her own while tryingnotto stare too obviously at Sutton having fun with her friends.
This time around, she spent nearly the entire evening with Lucy.
The tour of the Spencer home, it turned out, was over two hours long and counting.
Admittedly, she was riveted.
Lucy put a particular emphasis on several rooms Charlotte wasn’t as fascinated by, such as the gigantic playroom, which was filled with toys and trinkets and truly was a child’s wonderland. “This wasn’t here when my mama grew up,” Lucy had explained, fiddling with a toy as they wandered through. “This was the second living room, but since they have me and all my cousins now, they made this for all of us to play in!”
That very much fit the narrative of Katherine and Jack Spencer that Charlotte had in her head.
She knew from her talks with Sutton over the last several months that all of her brothers had children—Oliver and his wife, Jane, had four; Lucas and his partner had two; and Ethan was a single father of two—and that they all lived locally, so she was certain this toy room saw a lot of action. Sutton had sighed wistfully when she’d told Charlotte. “I don’t regret Lucy in any way, so Ican’tregret the circumstances in having her, like being in D.C., but I do wish she could be closer to her cousins more often.”
Lucy had also showed her the upstairs, openingeverydoor they came across, whether it open onto a bedroom, bathroom, or linen closet.
Charlotte was interested, though, when Lucy had thrown open the door at the end of the long hallway, explaining, “This is my mama’s room! All my uncles’ rooms when they were growing up are guest rooms now, but they never redesigned my mom’s or Auntie Alex’s rooms. They don’t live around here, so they keep their rooms for when we’re here. I sleep in the room that used to be my uncle Ethan’s!”
Charlotte didn’t really get a good look at Sutton’s room, though, before they’d continued on their journey.
Lucy had then brought her down to the main floor again, to the rooms filled with the partygoers. Many were people Charlotte recognized; several were colleagues in some way.
They’d ran into Oliver, Sutton’s oldest brother, nearly immediately.
He grinned widely—a charming smile, which apparently the entire Spencer family shared—as he dipped down and tugged Lucy off her feet into a swinging lift that easily settled her onto his hip. He tickled her with his free hand, making her kick her feet out as she laughed loudly and wiggled against him.
“This is my uncle Oliver!” Lucy shouted through her giggles. “He wasn’t at Thanksgiving at my house, so you didn’t meet him yet.”
Oliver slowed his tickle attack down as he kept the easy smile on his face, but a far more thoughtful look swept over his face as he eyed Charlotte.
“Oliver Spencer.” He offered his hand. “Though, thanks to this perfect hostess, I suppose you now know that.”
“Charlotte Thompson,” she offered back, shaking his hand.
“My friend,” Lucy asserted Charlotte’s relation to her, wiggling enough against him that Oliver took the hint and set her back down on her feet.
“Nice to finally meet you, as both a senator and Lucy’s friend,” Oliver acknowledged as he dropped his hand back to his side.
“Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you.” And Charlotte wasn’t simply blowing smoke; Sutton had told her a lot about her family, both now and in the past. While Sutton was close to all her siblings in different ways, she felt closest to Oliver in many ways.
Charlotte could see by the look in Oliver’s eyes as he studied her that he was very well aware of her relationship—both past and present—with his sister. “Same here.”
His speculative tone frustratingly gave Charlotte no indication of what was going on with Sutton.
Lucy retook her hand then. “Come on, I wanna show you the Christmas tree. Not the one for show, for the party, but therealone, in the family den.”
Charlotte nodded, letting herself be pulled along. “It seems the time to get off the tour bus is over,” she told Oliver.