“Good idea. I left mine in the car.” Allie recited the number.
Jack was trying to be cool. He could get Allie’s phone number from Charlotte, he supposed. He really wanted to see her again, but she was in the middle of some big family stuff with the wedding and now meeting Charlotte.
And he didn’t want to appear overeager.
“Where are you staying in town?” Jack asked Allie, trying to play it casual.
She named a popular downtown hotel. “I’ll be checking out in the morning.”
“Where do you live?” Charlotte asked before Jack could. “We never talked about that.”
“In Providence,” Allie said.
“Oh, good!” Charlotte was giddy with excitement. “I was afraid you flew in from halfway across the country. Jack and I both live here in Newport.”
“My office is in Providence,” Jack said, pleasantly surprised. “We should get together, maybe grab coffee or lunch this week.” He made the suggestion before thinking it through. Cool, Jack. Real cool.
Allie smiled, and he took that as a good sign. “I’d like that.”
Me, too, he mouthed.
Jack glanced at Charlotte and saw her satisfied grin—she’d obviously not missed his exchange with Allie. “You ready?” he asked Charlotte.
At her nod, he stepped back so the two women could say their goodbyes.
* * *
CHARLOTTE’S MIND WAS RACING as she sat in the passenger seat of Jack’s car on the way home. Amazing! There was someone else in the world whom she must be related to. She wasn’t sure yet how, but they’d soon find out. She was positive they were connected.
“You’re pretty quiet,” Jack said as they drove up Bellevue Avenue. “Are you okay? In shock, perhaps?”
Charlotte turned toward him and grinned. “I’m better than okay.” She was definitely more excited than she’d been in a while. “I’m really glad you asked me to come to the wedding with you.”
“I’m glad, too.” He gave her arm a pat. “Talk about a coincidental meeting.”
“I know. I’m not sure how Allie and I would ever have met otherwise.”
“And she lives so close,” Jack said. “It didn’t hit me until I asked where she was staying that she could have come in for the wedding from anywhere.”
“I’m sure that makes you very happy, too,” Charlotte teased.
“Of course it does. Now you two will be able to get together.”
“Uh-huh.”
He glanced at her quickly before returning his attention to the road. “What does that mean?”
She smirked, but it was too dark in the car for Jack to see her. “It means I’m not blind. I saw how attracted you are to her.”
The muscles in his jaw tensed. “Do you have a problem with that?”
She chuckled. “I think it’s great.” She paused a few seconds. “We are just friends, right? Nothing romantic going on?”
“Of course. I don’t mean that to sound harsh, but even I’m a little confused. You and I are friends, and I never considered you anything more.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“That wasn’t meant as an insult,” he said quickly. “I value friendship, probably more than any romantic stuff I’ve ever been involved in. So if I see you as my friend, then take that as the compliment it is.”
“Got it. Are you considering Allie as another friend?” She already knew the answer.
“Maybe.”
“Hah!” She was enjoying making him squirm.
“Okay, I’m attracted to her. A lot.” He stopped at a red light and looked at Charlotte. “I don’t get it. She looks almost identical to you, so why am I attracted to her and not you?”
“Again, gee, thanks.” Then she laughed because she really was teasing. “Good thing I’m not attracted to you, either, friend.” And that was the honest truth. She sobered and asked the question she’d wanted to ask for a while now. “Why are you so afraid of getting into a relationship, Jack?”
“With you?” His tone was teasing, but his resistance to answering honestly was blatant.
“No. And I don’t mean to pry. It just seems like you have a successful job, a newly renovated house. You’re what, early thirties?”
“Thirty-two.”
“So what’s keeping you from settling down? Not necessarily married, but in a committed relationship?”
“Simple. It’s an allergy.”
Charlotte laughed. “Allergy?”
“I’m allergic to relationships. I inherited it from my father.”
“He never settled down, either?”
“Just the opposite,” Jack told her. “He settled down over and over and over again.”
“And that’s what caused your allergy to commitment?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I think that’s ridiculous. We’ll have to work on that. Give me your cell phone.”
He pulled it from his pants pocket and gave it to her. “What are you doing?”
She took out her own phone, too. “I’m programming Allie’s phone number into your phone so you have no excuse for not calling her. In fact, I think you should call her as soon as we get home so you can make it clear that you and I are no more than friends.”
* * *
IT WAS WELL after midnight when Allie finally collapsed, fully clothed, on her hotel bed.
“What a day,” she said aloud to the ceiling, wiggling her bare toes to bring back the circulation.
She heard a noise that sounded like her cell phone vibrating from under the pile of things she had brought in from her car. She hauled herself up off the bed, hoping it wasn’t someone asking her to do something. Her energy was depleted.
She finally dug her phone from the bottom of a reusable tote bag where she’d put her shoes, makeup bag and anything else she’d thought she might need during the day while away from the hotel.
The phone number was unfamiliar. She opened the message, and a warmth went through her as she read it.
This is Jack. Got your number from Charlotte. Hope that’s okay. Hope to talk to you soon.
She immediately wrote back, careful not to sound too eager. After all, she was off men.
Of course it’s ok. Nice to meet you.
She hesitated before hitting Send. “Nice to meet you?” she said out loud. “How formal.” She erased it and tried again.
Of course it’s ok. Call me anytime.
Again, she hesitated. Now she sounded desperate. Or at least easy. She deleted it and considered what to say.
Maybe she should ignore his text until tomorrow morning. Pretend she was asleep when it came in.
No. She really wanted him to know she felt something with him, without actually telling him that. Even though she really was off men.
She took another approach. She texted