“I know you are both currently deluding yourselves into that, for now, yeah.”
She wasn’t even going to argue the point. Because she was now positive that she wasn’t hiding anything, from anyone. ExceptmaybeSutton herself.
“Perhaps you would like to make your vaguely threatening commentary now. I vividly recall you were good at things like that.”
Regan didn’t walk into the opening she gave her, though. Instead, she hit Charlotte with a much softer look than she’deverseen on her in the past. “No,” she said, simply. “Because, like Katherine, I was there, too. Every single day. And Ireallysaw how you looked at Sutton.”
Charlotte refused to be embarrassed by these statements about the past.Refused. She told the heating of her cheeks as much.
“And honestly, she was right: It’s still here. But ifI’mbeing honest? I’d rather have Sutton be falling back into something with someone who looks at her that the way you do, than anything else. Even Layla didn’t get that same…look.Ever.” Regan scowled as she stated the name.
Jesus, was Charlotte going to have to have Autumn photograph her when Sutton walked into a room to discover this look?
“Regardless of what happens as a result of it, I’m not as worried about it this time around. That’s allI’msaying, so you can take that for what you will.”
It really shouldn’t have meant as much to her as it did. Truly. And yet…
“Thank you.” The words rasped out of her honestly.
Regan shrugged. “A best friend’s duty.” She nodded her chin out to the other room. “By the way,A Charlie Brown Thanksgivingis about to be played. Tradition. You should join.”
“Maybe,” she murmured. She desperately needed a minute.
Regan shrugged again before she took a step toward the door.
“Do your in-laws…” She swallowed, clearing her throat, but she was unable to help her curiosity. “Are you speaking from experience? About Emma’s family?”
Regan crowed with laughter. “As if! They fucking love me.” That cackle followed her out into the living room.
Charlotte would lie if she said it didn’t lift her spirits in some way.
She remained there, in the kitchen, for she wasn’t sure how long, replaying both conversations in her mind. She tried to sort them, organize them, and figure out how they made her feel and then what todowith it all.
A warm touch landed on her wrist, dragging her out of her introspection, and she turned to face Sutton.
“Hey.” A big, genuine smile washed over Sutton’s face, lighting her up at the same time that it shot right through everything inside of Charlotte. “We’re watching a movie in there. Tradition.” A quiet, uncertain look filtered over her face. “Do?—”
The thoughts that had been circling everything Katherine had said came to the forefront of her mind. “Sutton, I…” she began, “I want to tell you that I am so sorry. For the past. And I hope you know that.”
You shattered her heart. The sentence echoed in her ears, and she didn’t want to be that person. She didn’t want to be the person who had shattered Sutton Spencer’s heart, even if she already was.
A flurry of emotions moved over Sutton’s face—surprise, confusion, contemplation, and then, finally, a flash of irritated exasperation. “Who said something to you, and what was it?” Her hand squeezed gently, encouragingly at Charlotte’s wrist. “Was it my mom?”
Charlotte shook her head. “Honestly, it’s not important.”
“Itis, because I invited you here. Because I want you here. And I don’t want someone to say something that makes you look like—like that.” Sutton gestured at her face. “Like you’re sad.” She slid her hand up Charlotte’s arm, stroking it.
The touch was comforting, bafflingly so. Reassuring. And still, she latched onto it.
Still, she shook her head. “Really, darling, it’s fine.”
She realized as she said it that she meant it.
At the end of the day, Charlotte had no intentions of leaving Sutton’s life, in whatever capacity Sutton was ready to allow her in it. If Katherine needed to air her grievances, Charlotte would take it. She wasn’t someone who wilted down; she could handle whatever came her way.
“I just… we have never properly talked about it. And that’s all right. But I hope you know,” she repeated quietly.
Sutton was quiet, too, taking her in, her own expression somber as she whispered, “I know.”