An adorable light pink started at that alluring cleavage and crept up Harper’s throat. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before saying, “Thank you.”
“I’ve never seen you with your hair down. I like it.”
That pink tinge got redder, and Charlie tried not to grin. She liked knowing she had an effect on Harper. The more time they spent together, the more sparks flew between them, and the less Charlie wanted to resist it anymore, which, admittedly, was part of the reason she’d asked Harper to go to the Sunset Celebration with her.
Harper cleared her throat. “Yeah, it’s in the way at work, but sometimes I wear it down. Not often, just when…” She rolled her lips in rather than finishing whatever she was thinking and looked away. “Anyway, shall we go?”
“Sure. Do you want to walk? Or should we call a taxi?” Charlie was hoping she’d want to walk. It was only about a mile, after all.
“Walking would be good. I didn’t have a chance to run this morning, so getting a little more movement in would be a good thing. Plus, I love to walk around here, even if it is a little humid.” She gestured for Charlie to lead the way.
They walked in comfortable silence for a couple blocks. Charlie loved to people watch here. There were a lot of tourists in New York, but seeing them in a tropical location was more entertaining. She really wanted to give them all some sunscreen; the number of painful-looking sunburns made her cringe.
“Have you always gone by Charlie?” Harper said. “Your legal name is Charlotte, right?”
The way Charlotte rolled off Harper’s lips made her regret for a second that she didn’t go by Charlotte here. It was as if she was making love to the syllables. “Um, when I was a kid, my parents always called me Charlie, but when I left for college, everyone called me Charlotte, and I decided it sounded a lot more distinguished, so I embraced it professionally. But when it was time for a break, and I ended up here…” She fluttered her hand in the air. “I didn’t like who I’d become. Charlotte didn’t feel right anymore. It sounded like I should be the seventh generation of inherited wealth brought over from the old country. It was too…snooty. I needed a simpler life, so I went back to Charlie.”
Harper laughed. “I get it. Though, I don’t think Charlotte sounds snooty. But I like Charlie too. Both of them roll nicely off the tongue.”
Charlie almost saidshe’dprobably roll nicely off Harper’s tongue but stopped herself. But she couldn’t think of anything else to say now that those words were bouncing around in her head like a set of dice in a cup.
“Sodidyour name come from generations of wealth, perhaps coming over in the nineteenth century on a luxury ship?”
“Ha, no. My parents are college professors at UF. It’s why they live in Gainesville. And their parents were college professors before them. So definitely no generational wealth at play. I think my dad really likedCharlotte’s Web, and that’s where my name came from.”
“Huh,” Harper said, her brows knitted.
“What?” Charlie really wanted to know what she was thinking.
“Did it ever bother you that your parents named you after a spider? And more than that, a spider who never got any creditfor being extraordinary? She did all that fancy work trying to tell the world how radiant and terrific Wilbur was while all he did was sit on the ground and oink. Though he was kind.”
Charlie stopped in her tracks. “I’ve never thought about it like that, but maybe that’s why I’ve always been driven to be an overachiever. Wow. That’s a little disturbing. And here my parents just thought the name was pretty. Maybe they had second thoughts, and that’s why they called me Charlie when I was growing up.” She couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous a notion that was.
“Sorry if I’m giving you a complex. I didn’t mean it. I’m afraid of spiders, and that’s what would have bothered me the most.”
Charlie laughed even harder and squeezed her arm. “You’re not giving me a complex at all. I feel like you’re holding up a mirror to all my dysfunctions.”
“I’m not quite sure that’s any better.” She winced.
Wanting her to let it go, Charlie said, “It’s fine, I swear. But why don’t you tell me where Harper comes from? There aren’t a lot out there. In fact, you’re the first and only one I’ve met.”
“I’m named for Harper Lee, the author, because of my idealistic parents.” She sighed softly. “They were firm believers that there are some things worth fighting for, even if chances of success are slim. Very much like Atticus Finch. If I’d been a boy, they probably would’ve named me Atticus. Honestly, I think they thought about it anyway.”
Charlie laughed as she squinted. “I could actually see you as an Atticus.”
Harper rolled her eyes as she chuckled. “That makes one of us anyway. Happily, they came to their senses and also didn’t go with Scout or Jem but named me after the woman who created them all.”
“That’s maybe the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. And you said they were both attorneys too, right?”
“Yep.” Harper ran her hand up and down the arm close to Charlie, brushing her arm a few times. Charlie resisted leaning in for more contact.
“Are you cold?” Charlie couldn’t fathom that given the August heat radiating off everything.
“No, just a chill. My parents wanted me to follow in their footsteps and do public interest work, but I went into big law instead. They were always stressed about money, and I didn’t want that to be my life, you know?”
Charlie nodded because she absolutely knew.
“But, um.” She cleared her throat. “My wife, Kelly, and I volunteered at their pro bono community clinic at least once a week. Sometimes more. It’s why I took the bar exam down here. I’d thought about starting my own pro bono clinic, but that comes with too much admin and insurance and stuff, and with running the bar…” She shrugged. “So I volunteer at Legal Aid Florida a few mornings a week.”